Difference between revisions of "Southern Leyte Province, Philippines"

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Southern Leyte Province, Philippines (view source)

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==[[Southern Leyte News]]==
==[[Southern Leyte News]]==
'''Military vows to keep Visayas insurgent-free'''
'''11 Eastern Visayas LGUs yet to comply with policy on disclosure'''
*Source: http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Nation&title=Military-vows-to-keep-Visayas-insurgent-free&id=49937
*Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/177299/11-eastern-visayas-lgus-yet-to-comply-with-policy-on-disclosure
*April 13, 2012 07:25:50 PM
*10:08 pm | Sunday, April 15th, 2012
:by Sarwell Q. Meniano
:by   Joey Gabieta
Inquirer Visayas




LIMASAWA, SOUTHERN LEYTE -- A military official vowed to block rebels’ efforts to retake insurgent-free Visayas provinces as they shift their thrust to implementation of development projects from counter-insurgency efforts.
TACLOBAN CITY—Only 11 of the over 140 local government units (LGUs) in Eastern Visayas have yet to comply with the national government’s policy on full disclosure of financial transactions, according to a Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) official.
Col. John S. Bonafos, commander of 802nd brigade of the Philippine Army based in Camp Downes, Ormoc City, said they are stepping up efforts to coordinate with local government units and other government agencies in undertaking development projects. "We will continue our support operations particularly in the development aspects needed by people. After we have attained peace, we will move to development phase like construction of classrooms, road repair and road widening," Mr. Bonafos told BusinessWorld.
Pedro Noval Jr., DILG Eastern Visayas director, said the 11 LGUs were only missing one or two documents mandated to be posted under the full disclosure policy being implemented by the department.
 
These LGUs were Pintuyan in Southern Leyte; Lapinig in Northern Samar; and the towns of Almagro, Gandara, Hinabangan, Jiabong, Matuginao, Motiong, Tagapul-an, Tarangnan and Zumarraga, all in Samar province.
The brigade covers the insurgent-free provinces of Cebu, Bohol, Leyte, Southern Leyte, and Biliran. It is the only Philippine Army headquarters in the entire country with all covered areas officially declared as rebel-cleared.
Eastern Visayas has about 149 LGUs constituting provinces, cities and municipalities. This means that 138 LGUs across the region have fully complied with the policy.
 
The full disclosure policy program requires LGUs to post several documents, including their budgets and finances, and bids and public offerings in government websites, newspapers of general circulation and in other conspicuous and appropriate places.
Among the five provinces, Biliran was the first to gain the insurgent-free status as jointly declared by the army and local government unit in December 2008. Cebu and Bohol were declared free of rebel activities in March 2010 while Southern Leyte and Leyte attained the same status in September 2011 and December 2011, respectively.
Full disclosure
 
Based on the provisions of Republic Act No. 10147, or the General Appropriations Act of 2011, adherence to the full disclosure policy is now compulsory.
"The situation of these Visayas provinces exemplifies that we can attain the insurgent-free status through multi-stakeholders participation," Mr. Bonafos said.
Local governments without a website should also post the required information on the website of the DILG regional office concerned on www.dilg.gov.ph, the website of the DILG central office.
 
Noval cited the document on items to bid as the most common instrument that the 11 LGUs have not yet posted so they could not be considered as having complied with the full disclosure policy.
For insurgent-free areas, the military turned over the lead role in maintaining the internal security to its local executives and police.  
He said that based on their explanations, the LGUs said they lacked the time to prepare the said document.
 
“But I expect within this month that all the 11 LGUs will be able to fully comply with the full disclosure policy,” said Noval who has been monitoring the LGUs’ compliance.
A province is categorized as insurgency-free when the threat posed by the Communist Party of the Philippines - New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) is successfully downgraded into a mere law and order problem.
He added that the failure of the LGUs to observe the full disclosure policy could mean the filing of administrative charges.
“(Officials) should be held accountable and responsible with their actions to the people they serve,” Noval said.
Earlier this year, DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo ordered the DILG field offices to send “show cause” orders to the executives of the LGUs concerned to explain or face sanctions for noncompliance with the provisions of the 2011 General Appropriations Act.
The full disclosure of financial transactions aims to minimize, if not totally, eradicate corruption and misuse of public funds.


==Photo Gallery of Southern Leyte, Philippines==
==Photo Gallery of Southern Leyte, Philippines==
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