P5B for top performing LGUs

MANILA, Philippines—Some 344 towns and cities stand to benefit from half a billion pesos worth of fund subsidies this year for the construction of school buildings, roads and bridges, flood control facilities, and slaughterhouses, among other projects, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) said.

Interior Secretary Jesse M. Robredo said the P500 million Performance Challenge Fund (PCF) would reward high-performing local government units (LGUs) by financing their proposed local development projects.

“We hope that through the PCF, we will be able to motivate LGUs to further enhance their local government systems and procedures and improve their services to their constituents,” he said in a statement.

The PCF is a financial incentive awarded to qualified LGUs to start projects aligned with the national government’s programs for the attainment of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, tourism and local economic development, disaster risk reduction and management and solid waste management.

Projects that may be financed include school buildings, rural health units, water and sanitation system, local roads and bridges, slaughterhouses, flood control, reforestation, post-harvest facilities and cold storage facilities.

Of the P500 million, Robredo said P303 million will go to fourth- to sixth-class municipalities; P75 million to fourth- to sixth-class cities and P112 million to fourth- to sixth-class provinces. The remaining P10 million will be allocated to higher-income LGUs.

The PCF subsidy will amount to P1 million for each municipality, P3 million per city and P7 million per province, he said.