DILG: 1,715 LGU peace and order councils to undergo security performance audit
By Chito Chavez
A total of 1,715 peace and order councils (POCs) of the local government units (LGUs) will be subjected, anew, to the annual performance audit to ensure that they are compliant with the government’s security measures, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said on Thursday, May 11.
“Through this yearly audit, we want to make sure that our regional, provincial, city and municipal POCs are functional and are carrying out strategies and interventions to further improve the peace and order situation in their areas,” DILG Secretary Benjamin “Benhur” C. Abalos, Jr. noted.
In this year’s performance audit, the DILG stressed that local POCs need to have grades of at least 70 percent rating compared to the 2022 passing rate of 65 percent for the LGUs to considered ‘functional’ based on the pillars in ‘organization, meetings, policies, plan and budget, reports and general supervision.
“Ang mas mataas na functionality rate ng POCs ay repleksyon ng mas kaaya-ayang mga LGUs (The higher the functionality rate of the PCO is a reflection of a more pleasurable LGUs),’’ Abalos stressed.
“POCs will bring meaningful development in their areas such as increase in participation and engagements of various sectors,” he added.
The DILG chief bared that ‘bonus points’ await the POCs that have made innovations or new programs that contribute dramatically in maintaining peace, order and security in their respective localities.
Based on Executive Order No. 773, the POCs are required to meet every three months, must have a three-term based plan in peace and order and public safety (POPS), allocate yearly budget in the illegal drug campaign and submit accomplishment reports using the POPS Plan Policy Compliance Monitoring System.
In this year’s audit performance, the DILG, for the first time, will add ‘development indicators’ like the effectiveness in addressing criminality issues, citizens satisfaction on peace and order and public safety and women’s participation in POCs.
However, Abalos clarified that the said indicator will only serve as the ‘baseline data’ and will not be part of the overall performance scores.
The National Audit Team (NAT) is led by the Bureau of Local Government Supervision (BLGS) of the DILG with the various government agencies and civil society organizations (CSO) representatives acting as members.