GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews / 28 April) — Eight local government units (LGUs) in South Cotabato province are set to receive around P16 million in incentives for fully complying with the national government’s financial housekeeping policies.
Reynaldo Bungubung, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Region 12 director, announced the incentives on Monday after conferring the Seal of Good Financial Housekeeping awards on the provincial government of South Cotabato and seven of its component LGUs.
He said the provincial government, the city government of Koronadal and the municipal governments of Banga, Lake Sebu, Polomolok, Surallah, T’boli and Tupi have all passed the eligibility criteria for the award based on the series of assessments conducted last year by the agency.
“They achieved 100 percent passing rates for the Seal of Good Financial Housekeeping Award,” he said.
Bungubung said the eight LGUs specifically complied with the full disclosure policy and received acceptable level of findings from the Commission on Audit in 2014.
He said the full disclosure policy covers the local budget and finances as well as bids and public offerings.
These are the annual budget, statement of receipts and expenditures, annual procurement plan or procurement list and bid and awarding processes on civil works, goods and services, consulting services, among others.
“The award recognizes their efforts in promoting transparency and accountability with the financial elements of good governance,” Bungubung said.
As part of the award, the official said the eight LGUs will receive financial incentives from the Performance Challenge Fund (PCF) for 2014.
He said the provincial government of South Cotabato will get P7 million while the city government of Koronadal will receive P3 million.
The six municipal governments will receive P1 million each, he said.
South Cotabato Gov. Daisy Avance-Fuentes said the award shows that the governance reforms being implemented by the provincial government has been gaining ground.
“We’re very grateful for this award as it encourages us to do better in terms of achieving excellence in public service,” she said.
The Seal of Good Financial Housekeeping Award is a component of the DILG’s flagship Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) program.
For an LGU to become an SGLG recipient, it needs to pass all the three core assessment areas — Good Financial Housekeeping, Social Protection and Disaster Preparedness and one of the essential assessment areas that includes Business-Friendliness and Competitiveness, Peace and Order, and Environmental Management.
LGUs meeting the minimum criteria will be conferred with the SGLG and entitled to a package of incentives, such as the PCF and access to other national performance-based programs. (MindaNews)