CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga – A total of 61 local government units (LGUs) in Central Luzon have made it to the list of this year's passers for the prestigious Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) of the Department of the Interior and Local and Government (DILG).
Based on the list released by the DILG on Thursday, Central Luzon has the most number of awardees this year, followed by Region 1 with 54 awardees.
Out of the 61 SGLG awardees, four were provincial governments, six were city governments, and 51 were municipal governments.
“Kudos to all your hard work and let us all continue to uplift the quality of local governance in Central Luzon,” DILG-3 Regional Director Anthony Nuyda said in a social media post on Friday.
Nuyda called on local chief executives in the region to continuously deliver the best services to the people.
Meanwhile, six LGUs in the region were already awarded the SGLG six times. These are the provincial government of Bulacan, Balanga City in Bataan, Mabalacat City in Pampanga, Plaridel in Bulacan, Floridablanca in Pampanga, and Victoria in Tarlac.
“Being a Seal of Good Local Governance awardee is, in itself, a significant achievement and being a consistent passer is a rare feat that only six LGUS from our region has accomplished since 2015,” the DILG official said.
On the other hand, the four provinces in the region that were awarded the SGLG were Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija and Tarlac.
The cities were Balanga in Bataan; San Fernando and Mabalacat in Pampanga; San Jose del Monte in Bulacan; San Jose in Nueva Ecija; and Tarlac City, in Tarlac.
The municipal governments in the region that were conferred with the prestigious award, meanwhile, were Baler, Dingalan, Maria Aurora, and San Luis in Aurora; Bagac, Dinalupihan, Hermosa, Morong, Orani, Orion, Pilar, and Samal in Bataan; Balagtas, Baliuag, Guinguinto, Plaridel, Pulilan, and Santa Maria in Bulacan;
Cabiao, Cuyapo, Guimba, Llanera, Rizal, San Antonio, San Leonardo, Sta. Rosa, Talavera, and Zaragoza, in Nueva Ecija; Apalit, Arayat, Bacolor, Candaba, Floridablanca, Guagua, Lubao, Magalang, Mexico, Porac, San Luis, and Sto. Tomas in Pampanga; Bamban, Capas, Gerona, Moncada, Paniqui, Pura, San Clemente, Sta. Ignacia, and Victoria in Tarlac; and Botalan, and San Antonio in Zambales.
The Seal of Good Local Governance, also known as "Pagkilala sa Katapatan at Kahusayan ng Pamahalaang Lokal", is awarded by the DILG annually to deserving provinces, cities, and municipalities that perform well in various fields.
Due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, the assessment and awarding ceremonies were halted in years 2020 and 2021.
The SGLG 2022 requires LGUs to pass all 10 governance areas -- financial administration; disaster preparedness; social protection and sensitivity; health compliance and responsiveness; sustainable education; business-friendliness and competitiveness; safety, peace and order; environmental management; tourism, heritage development, culture and arts; and youth development.
LGUs that meet the minimum criteria will not only be conferred with the Seal of Good Local Governance but will also be entitled to a package of incentives to finance their local development initiatives and access to other programs and capacity development assistance from the DILG. (PNA)
