By Bernardo B. Ver II
Contributor
LAOAG CITY – Seven of the 21 municipalities and two cities in Ilocos Norte namely: Bacarra, Bangui, Banna, Burgos, Currimao, San Nicolas and Vintar received the Department of Interior and Local Government’s (DILG) Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) awards for 2019.
The DILG conducted its national validation in the different local government units (LGUs) in the entire Philippines after passing the assessment criteria and qualifications for the SGLG screening. In 2018, the towns of Piddig, Bacarra, Currimao, Paoay, and San Nicolas received the same award.
The SGLG qualifiers must attain the criteria on a progressive assessment system such as: financial administration: foster transparency and accountability; disaster preparedness: prepare for challenges posed by disasters; social protection: broaden access to social services especially the marginalized and most vulnerable in the community; peace and order: protect the community from threats to life and security; business-friendliness and competitiveness: attract more businesses for investments and employment; environmental protection: uphold the integrity of the environment; and tourism, culture and the arts: 0ptimize tourism potential, and enrich cultural heritage and community.
The SGLG symbolizes the integrity and good performance of the local governments through continuing governance reform and sustained local development.
The DILG continues to recognize local governments by primarily looking at existing structures, systems and processes that promote transparency, integrity and quality service delivery.
These LGUs will get a Performance Challenge Fund as an incentive and will be able to access other DILG projects amounting to more or less PHP200,000.