DAGUPAN CITY -- A town mayor in Pangasinan said it is now a lot easier to secure funding for local projects from the national government than before.
Laoac Mayor Silverio Alarcio Jr., who is president of the Pangasinan Mayors' League (PML), called on his fellow mayors to only align their projects with the Philippine Development Plan in order to avail of funding from the national government.
Speaking during the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas (KBP) forum on Thursday, Alarcio said the national government is implementing various programs to help municipalities, especially the poor ones.
But he clarified that all projects of municipalities must be aligned with the Philippine Development Plan and even the Ambisyon 2040 which the Duterte administration is pursuing.
“It is not good if the municipalities will veer on the left side when the national government is going on the right side," he added.
Alarcio cited the Assistance to Municipalities Program (AMP), formerly called the Bottom Up Budgeting (BUB) program, which is benefiting local government units (LGUs).
The BUB of the past administration was enhanced in the AMP to assist more municipalities that are in need of funds, he added.
Previously, under BUB, it was the national government which did the planning and just downloaded the projects to LGUs. Now, it is the LGUs that are doing the planning as they know best what their needs are, Alarcio said.
He cited the case of Laoac which received a PHP23-million fund from the national government for its various projects that are aligned with the programs being pursued by the present administration.
Another “source” of funding, he said, is the Seal of Good Local Governance (SLGG) which gives out PHP3 million to recipients of the award, which they can utilize for their additional development projects.
In 2017, there were 27 out of the 44 municipalities of Pangasinan that received the SGLG.
Alarcio said the SGLG is an excellence award for top performing municipalities and as the president of PML, it is his hope that more towns of Pangasinan, if not all of them, will get the award this year.
Moreover, he said there are national government agencies which programs are in support of the Philippine Development Plan which local governments can also tap.
These agencies, he said, have convergence projects which can be downloaded to the provinces, cities, municipalities and even the barangays.
These agencies include the Departments of Tourism, Agriculture, Public Works and Highways, Trade and Industry, among others, Alarcio said. (PNA)
