P100 M allocated for ARMM ‘performance incentive’

Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse M. Robredo. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The government has allocated P100 million in performance incentives for local government units in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, one of the country’s poorest regions, according to the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

The fund will be awarded to local chief executives in the region’s five provinces who accomplish performance objectives, such as compliance with the government’s full disclosure policy and prompt delivery of basic services, Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo said in a statement.

The funds are intended for use by the local government units, not individual officials.

Robredo said local leaders must be able to pass certain DILG criteria to receive the “Performance Challenge Fund” (PCF), including “accountable governance, transparent governance, participatory governance, commitment to public interest; and structure of governance and development.”

The PCF, Robredo said, was not intended to drive competition among local governments but to reward them for helping the government  reduce poverty in compliance with the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals.

Qualified local government units and their leaders will need to seek an endorsement from the ARMM regional governor, and this shall be assessed by Robredo for approval.

“Once approved, the concerned LCE (local chief executive) will be awarded with a Seal of Good Housekeeping (SGH) which is a pre-requisite to be able to avail of the PCF funds,” he said.

“The SGH-ARMM intends to recognize local governments within the region that accord primacy to principles of performance, accountability, transparency and participation,” he added.

The funds will be sourced from the ARMM’s P8.5 billion transition and investment support funds out of the P72 billion “stimulus funds” allotted by President Benigno Aquino in early 2011.

Congress earlier allotted some P500 million for the DILG’s PCF funds for the various SGH-compliant LGUs, giving out from P1 to P7 million each to qualified recipients.