INQUIRER FILES
TACLOBAN CITY – At least 53 local governments in Eastern Visayas have been given the 2024 Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) for their “excellence, transparency, and accountability in local governance.”
READ: 493 local governments get incentive fund for good performance
DILG Regional Director Arnel Agabe commended the awardees for their dedication and unwavering commitment to transparency, accountability, and excellence.
“By setting such high standards, these LGUs (local governments units) have become role models of exemplary governance, inspiring others across the region to uphold the principles of good local governance,” he said in a statement on Thursday, Nov. 14.
Last year, there were only 33 LGUs in the region which received the recognition.
The awarded localities excelled in 10 areas of governance: financial administration and sustainability, disaster preparedness, social protection and sensitivity, health compliance and responsiveness, sustainable education, business-friendliness and competitiveness, safety, peace and order, environmental management, tourism, heritage development, culture and arts, and youth development.
Recipients of the SGLG will be granted the SGLG Incentive Fund, designed to support infrastructure, service delivery projects, and other initiatives that enhance community development.
This incentive aims to foster innovation and sustainability, benefiting residents throughout Eastern Visayas.
Of the six provinces of the region, three of them received the SGLG: Northern Samar, Samar, and Southern Leyte.
In the city category, the winners were Baybay, Ormoc, and Tacloban, all in Leyte; and Maasin in Southern Leyte. The region has seven cities.
In the municipal level, three were from Biliran – Almeria, Kawayan, Naval; five from Eastern Samar, Arteche, Gen. MacArthur, Guiuan, Quinapondan, Sulat; seven from Leyte,namely, Alangalang, Albuera, Barugo, Hilongos, Kananga, San Miguel, Tabontabon; 10 from Northern Samar, Bobon, Catarman, Gamay, Laoang, Lapinig, Mapanas, Palapag, Pambujan, San Antonio, and San Roque; six from Samar – Basey, Calbiga, Jiabong, Marabut, Motiong, and Paranas.
At least 14 municipalities from Southern Leyte were also recognized: Bontoc, Hinunangan, Hinundayan, Libagon, Liloan, Macrohon, Malitbog, Padre Burgos, Pintuyan, San Juan, Silago, Sogod, St. Bernard, and Tomas Oppus.
The official awards ceremony is tentatively set in December 2024 at the Manila Hotel, Metro Manila.