DILG sees no adverse COA report on Ormoc

THE Department of Interior and Local Government has identified Ormoc as one of the few local government units (LGU) that will receive the Seal of Good Housekeeping (SGH) in recognition of the LGU’s excellent performance in governance. Ormoc is the only city in Region 8 to receive the Seal.

This latest feat of the city government was posted on its website on Sept. 1 and is based on DILG’s assessment. The SGH is a mechanism comprising a set of criteria that recognizes LGUs’ good performance in internal housekeeping in the areas of planning, sound fiscal management, transparency and accountability, and valuing performance management.

Only LGUs that have been fully compliant of the requirements and standards are given the Seal to include compliance to the Anti-Red Tape Act and the DILG’s Full Disclosure Policy. Further, LGUs should have no adverse report from the Commission on Audit in 2010 which means they should have complied with all the government auditing requirements.

Other requirements include full disclosure or compliance with the directive to post in conspicuous places the 12 important documents on fund utilization, procurement and other financial transactions for public consumption. “These documents are not new. These are supposed to be done for transparency and accountability,” Local Government Operating Officer V Myles Colasito said.

Meanwhile, Leyte is the only province in Region 8 that will also receive the SGH. In the municipal level, the towns of Alang-alang, Burauen and Jaro in Leyte; Hinunangan, Southern Leyte; Naval, Biliran; Laoang, Northern Samar; and Guiuan, Eastern Samar will also receive the same Seal.

Kawayan was the first LGU in Region 8 to receive the Seal in January while Biliran and Almeria towns were given the same recognition during the DILG Tapatan Roadshow in July this year. The three municipalities are in Biliran province which has the most number of SGH town recipients in the region.

The LGUs that receive the Seal are eligible for a Performance Challenge Fund (PCF) project cost sharing scheme for projects within their comprehensive development plan. The national government will match the LGUs’ investment up to P7 million for provinces, P3 million for cities and P1 million for municipalities.

Projects eligible for the PCF subsidy are those aligned to the achievement of Millennium Development Goals such as school buildings, health centers and birthing facilities; or for Local Economic Development such as roads, bridges, tourism facilities, irrigation systems, post harvest facilities, cold storage facilities, ports and wharves, and other economic infrastructures; or for Adaptation to Climate Change and Disaster Preparedness projects such as flood control, reforestation, solid waste management facilities, storm drainage and related flood protection measures.

No less than President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino Jr. will give the awards to the chosen LGUs in Manila on October at the 20th anniversary of the Local Government Code.
(WLWE issue of Sept. 5-11, 2011)