Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benjamin ‘Benhur’ Abalos Jr. urged local chief executives to take some initiatives in development and investment plans to improve the services to their respective constituents.
He made the statement during a meeting with 63 local chief executives (LCEs) in Northern Mindanao during the ‘Basic Newly Elected Officials (NEO) Orientation in Cagayan de Oro City.
"In these trying times the local chief executives should be innovative, imaginative and creative in coming up with ideas that will enable them to provide a much improved service to their constituents," said Abalos.
"Governors and mayors should always think outside the box and explore ways and means on how to get things done with the support from the private sector and other stakeholders," he added.
DILG 10 Regional Director Arnel M. Agabe explained that through the orientation, the department aims to provide an avenue for the LCEs to personally interact with Abalos and enable them to raise pressing concerns to the DILG chief more expeditiously.
The DILG-10 and the Local Government Academy (LGA) said that the Regional NEO Orientation aims to help the newly elected officials weather their first 100 days in office and introduce them to various local governance and leadership topics, prepare them for their responsibilities, and manage their LGUs.
Among the topics discussed were the local development and investment plan, DILG functionality audit programs, duties and responsibilities of elected officials, and the program frameworks of partner regional line agencies (RLAs). (Chito A. Chavez)