MANILA, Philippines — A total of 380 local government units (LGUs) have been recognized with a Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) this year, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said Wednesday.
In a statement, the DILG said that the 380 LGUs, composed of 17 provinces, 57 cities, and 306 municipalities, passed the redefined “All-in” assessment criteria composed of the following: financial administration, disaster preparedness, social protection, peace and order, business friendliness and competitiveness; environmental protection; and tourism, culture, and the arts.
Region I was recognized as the leading SGLG passer with a total of 65 LGUs, followed by Region III with 63. Region II, Calabarzon and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) rounded up the top five with 40, 33 and 28 LGUs, respectively.
DILG Secretary Eduardo Año said that this year’s passers were 44 percent higher than last year’s number of 263.
“As much as we can, we make certain that we update the SGLG criteria and 2019 is no different, yet, it is noteworthy that despite a harder set of criteria, we gained a 44 percent increase of awardees,” Año said.
Año said that aside from receiving the 2019 SGLG marker, the recipients will also have “eligibility to the DILG performance challenge fund to finance their local development projects, and priority access to other programs and capacity development assistance from the DILG.”
The conferment of The Seal will be held at The Manila Hotel on Nov. 4 for Regions I, II, CAR, Mimaropa and NCR. As for the remaining regions, the conferment is scheduled on Nov. 5