91 percent of Cordi LGUs cited: ‘good housekeeping’

BAGUIO CITY – Ninety one percent of local governments in the Cordillera have been cited for adherence to the Aquino administration’s Seal of Good Housekeeping (SGH)

Aside from Apayao, Benguet, Ifugao and Baguio City which received a 100 percent rating that led to the issuance of the seal, the provincial government of Mountain Province was also awarded the Seal of Good Housekeeping.

           

In Mountain Province, the towns which were given the Seal of Good Housekeeping were Bauko, Natonin, Paracelis and Sadanga.

  

Also awarded the seal were the towns of Bangued, Bucloc, Danglas, La Paz, Lacob, Langiden, Licuan-Baay, Luba, Malibcong, Manabo, Penarrubia, Pidigan, Sallapadan, San Quintin and the provincial government of Abra.

            

This year, the town of Pudtol received its Seal of Good Housekeeping while Luna, Cooner, Cabugao, Flora, Sta. Marcela and Calanasan received their respective seal last year.

            

In Benguet, the towns of Atok, Kabayan, Kapangan, La Trinidad and Mankayan received their SGH this year while the towns of Aguinaldo, Alfonzo Lista and Hungduan in Ifugao completed the list of the towns that received their SGH.

            

In Kalinga, the towns of Balbalan, Pasil and Tinglayan already received their SGH with the provincial government while the towns of Tanudan, Lubuagan, Tinglayan, Pinukpok, Rizal and the City of Tabuk received their SGH last year.

Department of Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Austere Panaderosaid the Seal of Good Housekeeping is issued by the agency to local governments nationwide with good performances based on annual Commission on Audit reports and the posting of government expenditures on bulletin boards, websites and newspapers in compliance to the Aquino administration’s transparent and accountable governance.

           

 Furthermore, the compliance and adherence of local governments to the requirements of the Anti-Red Tape Act (ARTA), particularly in the compliance with the required citizen’s charter and report card surveys conducted by the Civil Service Commission (CSC), will be an added criteria in the selection of awardees next year.

“Local governments that receive the Seal of Good Housekeeping are entitled to financial assistance through the Performance Challenge Fund,” Panadero said, adding that in getting the seal, a local government must score high in planning, budgeting, revenue mobilization, financial management and budget execution, procurement and resource mobilization.

            

According to him, local governments must come up with comprehensive land use development plans and annual investment plan are updated and duly approved for proper implementation.

            

“Each local government must also have sound fiscal management which is reflected in how the town city or province prepares its annual budget and in the growth of local revenues over a period of three years,” he added, citing that local governments must practice transparency in the procurement process and full disclosure in its finances and comply with the ARTA.

            

He pointed out full disclosure promotes the honest, orderly management of public funds and helps minimize corruption and misuse of public funds and resources.

           

 Panadero explained the funds awarded to local governments will go to projects in line with the Millennium Development Goals, local economic development program and the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010.

            

He cited local governments will receive P1 million for municipalities, P3 million for cities and P7 million for provinces.

               

Meanwhile, a top officials of the Regional Development Council said Cordillera LGIs’ adherence to the government’s good governanceis a plus factor in convincing the national government in supporting the region’s renewed quest for autonomous status since local officials proved they can effectively perform functions of government to the Aquino administration’s thrust of transparent and accountable governance.

           

 Dr. Virgilio C. Bautista, RDC co-chairman, said the outstanding performance of the region’s LGUs in complying with transparent and accountable governance is a significant indicator towards realizing regional self-governance.

            

“Our good showing in complying with the government’s transparent and accountable governance should convince the national leadership to support our renewed quest for regional autonomy so that the development and socio-economic condition of the Cordillera will be accelerated,” Bautista said.

               

He added the overflowing support of different sectors in the region to the call for self-determination should also awaken the national government to support the thrust of self-rule.

            

The clamor for regional autonomy was strengthened when the Cory administration issued Executive Order No. 220 that created the Cordillera Administrative Region composed of the provinces of Abra, Benguet, Mountain Province and Baguio City from Region I and the provinces of Ifugao, Kalinga and Apayao from Region II.

          

House Bill 5595 authored by Baguio City Rep. Bernardo M. Vergara, Apayao Rep. Eleanor Bulut-Begtang, Kalinga Rep. Manuel S. Agyao, Ifugao Rep. TeodoroBaguilat, Jr. and Mountain Province Rep. MaximoDalog seeking the creation of a Cordillera Autonomous Region is now pending approval in the House committee on appropriations after it was unanimously passed by the House committee on local government.

                

Its counterpart bill, Senate Bill (SB) 3115 authored by Senator Aquilino Pimentel III is also awaiting deliberation by the Senate committee on local government chaired by Senator Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr..

            

Dr. Jay Prospero de Vera III, vice president for public affairs of the University of the Philippines, said Autonomy has a better chance of succeeding in the Cordillera once it will be able to correct the failure of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao and benefit from the development that it brings coupled with brilliant local governance.

            

“Every peso invested by the government in the Cordillera translates to better development because of the peace being enjoyed by the region,” Jay Prospero de Vera III, said.

           

 According to him, “the failed ARMM experience is making it difficult for Cordillera autonomy advocates to convince the people to support the renewed quest for self-determination because there is no model which could be used by the region to achieve the desired structure of an autonomous regional government, thus, the best way for the Cordillerans to experiment on possible provisions that will correct the wrongful provisions of the ARMM law.”

            

De Vera explained “the ARMM set up was copied from the structure of the central government, thus, the autonomous regional government became an employment agency for political supporters resulting to the waste of public funds that were downloaded for the development of the neglected areas in the area.”

            

In the Cordillera setting, de Vera suggested “the proposed autonomy bills must be able to contain a mechanism on how to explicitly define the allocation of the available resources to prevent the practice of patronage politics and that a mechanism must also be put in place to make sure that less developed areas will be able to receive bigger resources so that they will be able to catch up with the developed areas in the autonomous region.”