The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has commended 15 local government units (LGUs) for adapting digital measures in a bid to improve the delivery of basic public services in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
DILG Secretary Eduardo M. Año said that the 15 LGUs that bagged this year's Digital Governance Awards (DGA) for their remarkable Information Communication Technology (ICT) practices and innovations will effectively render their assigned tasks under the new normal with the virus still lurking in the environment.
“Amid all the present trials, LGUs heeded the call of the DILG to innovate and to help us overcome the adversities of the new and unfamiliar normal. LGUs embraced IT solutions not only to continue working and operating but also to advance strategies in reaching out to their constituents and stakeholders,” said Año.
The DILG secretary stressed that the 15 LGUs will serve as role models to other localities because they showed a viable system of delivering the appropriate public services during the health crisis.
Together with the officials of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and the National ICT Confederation of the Philippines (NICP), Año virtually awarded the DGA 2020 winners via Zoom conference.
DGA Winners
The DILG noted that 108 local government-led programs competed in this year’s DGA which where awards were given in five categories namely, Best in Customer Empowerment (G2C) Award, Best in Business Empowerment (G2B) Award, Best in LGU Empowerment (G2G) Award, Best in Government Internal Process (G2I) Award, and Best in COVID-19 Pandemic Response (G2P) Award.
The following are the winners in their respective categories:
G2C category - municipality of San Fabian in Pangasinan for its Tech4Ed centers (municipal level); City of San Juan for its Education in the Time of COVID project (city-level); and Laguna for its Project Iskolar Information System (province level).
Also recognized for placing second in the G2C category were Bambang, Pangasinan, City of Manila and Province of La Union.
Those garnering third place in the G2C category were the Municipality of Baras, Rizal; City of Cauayan, Isabela; and the Province of Davao de Oro.
G2B category - Municipality of Mina, Iloilo bagged the first place for its MAIS-FARMS; the City of Valenzuela won first place for its Paspas permit; and at the provincial level, the Province of Agusan del Sur earned a special citation for its Hatud App.
Second place awardees in the G2B category were the Municipality of Moncada, Tarlac and Cebu City.
Third place awardees are the Municipality of Odiongan, Romblon, and Tagbilaran City, Bohol.
In the G2G category, the municipality of Guagua, Pampanga, won first place for its Guagua Geographic Information System; the City of Tuguegarao for its Tuguegarao City Command Center; and the Province of Davao de Oro for its One DDO Helpline.
In second place in the G2G category were the municipality of Libertad, Antique; Quezon City; and the Province of Laguna.
Third placers are the municipality of Pulilan, Bulacan; Cauayan City, Isabela; and the Province of La Union.
In the G2I category, the first place winners were the municipality of Bayambang, Pangasinan for its Integrated Local Government Unit System; On the city level, the City of Legazpi, Albay won first place for its Automated Building Permit System; On the provincial level, the Province of Davao de Oro won first place for its Funds Utilization Monitoring System.
“Second place awardees of the G2I category are the Municipality of Taytay, Rizal; City of Manila; and the Province of Bohol. Third placers are the Municipality of Bacnotan, La Union; Alaminos City, Pangasinan; and the Province of La Union. Finally, for the G2P category, the winners are the Municipality of Baliwag, Bulacan for its iAmSafe online application; the City of Valenzuela for its ValTrace app; and the Province of Iloilo for its Reverse Isolation and Contact Tracing Application. In the second place of G2P awards are the Municipality of Magallanes, Cavite; City of Parañaque; and the Province of South Cotabato. Third placers are the Municipality of Loon, Bohol; City of Baguio; and the Province of Davao de Oro,’’ the DILG said.
Raising the bar
Año urged all LGUs to persevere in scaling up public service in the new normal by going digital.
“Take this as a challenge not only to continue but to innovate and move forward. I am certain that there is still so much that we can do in the future. With your ingeniousness and sharing of best practices, I know that our country will soon see the rise of the technological boom in governance,” he added.
“The joint project of the DILG, DICT, and NICP shares the vision of establishing indices for LGUs across the country in harnessing the potentials of ICT towards raising the bar in delivering public service,’’ the DILG ended.