LGUs asked to submit action plans vs poverty

NAAWAN, Misamis Oriental—Local government units (LGUs) must submit action plans to stem poverty in their areas before they can have access to or receive funds for their proposed projects to national agencies next year, an official of the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) said here on Friday.

Jocelyn Apag, NAPC senior technical officer, told town executives during the Municipal Civil Society and Basic Sector Organization Assembly here that the requirement was in line with the Aquino administration’s campaign against corruption and would ensure that development programs are really felt by grassroots communities.

The LGUs have only until Feb. 15 to submit their action plans to the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Apag said. Those which fail to do so will not get their share from the national budget next year, she said.

“Our role in the NAPC is to ensure that the bottoms-up planning and budgeting of priority projects by LGUs, with genuine participatory process, will be undertaken. It should help the poverty reduction program of the government,” she said. She said her agency was committed to help them map out their plans.

“The idea of development is not a monopoly of the government, as there are more brilliant ideas from the people and the civil society,” Mayor Jaime Roa agreed. Tito Fiel, Inquirer Mindanao