The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has rewarded 17 local government units (LGUs) in Caraga region with a minimum of P5 million financial incentives as part of the deal for bagging the Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) award.
DILG Caraga Regional Director Lilibeth Famacion expressed hope that the financial grant would improve performance in all governance areas and carry on with the challenge of passing next year’s SGLG assessment.
“The financial grant that you have received is an attestation that all your hard work and perseverance in the past two years have not been all for naught,” Famacion said during a ceremony in Butuan City.
Through the SGLGIF, formerly known as the Performance Challenge Fund (PCF), the LGU awardees in the region were given financial grants worth P9.5-million for provinces, P7-million for cities, and P5-million for municipalities for their respective high-impact local development projects.
Out of the 17 SGLG awardees granted with the SGLGIF in the region, one is a provincial government, two are city governments, and 14 are municipal governments.
“The SGLG awardees in Caraga are Province of Agusan del Norte and Municipality of Santiago, Agusan del Norte; City of Surigao and the municipalities of Claver, Del Carmen, and Sison, all in Surigao del Norte; City of Tandag and municipalities of Cagwait, Carmen, and Hinatuan, all in Surigao del Sur; municipalities of Talacogon, Trento, and Veruela, all in Agusan del Sur; and the municipalities of Basilisa, Cagdianao, San Jose, and Tubajon, all in Dinagat Islands,’’ the DILG noted.
Following the downloading of the financial subsidy, the LGU awardees were also oriented on the guidelines for the implementation of the SGLGIF to ensure that the program-funded projects chosen by the LGUs will be effectively and efficiently implemented in their respective localities.
The LGU awardees expressed their sincere appreciation to the DILG and dedicated their feat to their constituents.
“Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic and Typhoon Odette, we rose to our feet little by little and improved the delivery of services to our people so we can recover together. With pride and honor, we are here to receive this cash incentive as proof that even with all the adversities that we have encountered, our local government still performed and excelled,” Municipal Treasurer Steven Cyro Roma of Basilisa, Dinagat Islands said.
This year is the first full implementation of Republic Act (RA) 11292 or the SGLG Act of 2019 which requires the LGUs pass all ten assessment areas from the previous seven in 2019. (Chito A. Chavez)