SGLG award encourages LGUs to perform better, says Lapuyan mayor

• Source: http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?nid=7&rid=817232
• Tuesday, October 20, 2015

By Gideon C. Corgue (ALT/GCC/PIA9-Zamboanga del Sur)

LAPUYAN, Zamboanga del Sur, Oct. 20 (PIA) – Mayor Daylinda Sulong expressed her gratefulness for the award recently bestowed to the municipality of Lapuyan by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), besting other municipalities of the province.

“We did not expect to win the Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) 2015. We just complied with the assessment criteria and we feel honored to receive the award,” Mayor Sulong said in an interview with Philippine Information Agency.

“The award is not only an honor for our municipality but will serve as a continuing challenge for us (local government units) to perform better and ultimately, to achieve our goals for the good of our constituents through transparency and accountability in the use of public funds and in the delivery of basic services to the people,” Sulong proudly said.

The lady chief executive said they were able to meet the six basic components required by the department to win the award, namely: 1) good financial keeping, 2) disaster preparedness, 3) social protection, 4) business friendliness and competitiveness, 5) environment management, and 6) peace and order.

She said no less than DILG Regional Director Faisal Abutazil personally handed the award in a simple ceremony held recently at the Lapuyan municipal grounds before the presence of municipal and barangay officials, sectoral representatives, educators and residents.

Sulong said the municipality received a check worth P3-M from the performance challenge fund (PCF), a financial incentive given to LGUs to jumpstart development initiatives that are aligned with the national government’s programs for the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), disaster risk reduction and management, solid waste management, tourism and economic development.

She also received a plaque of recognition and the seal of good governance from Dir. Abutazil.

The SGLG is bestowed to LGUs that demonstrate excellent internal housekeeping.

Asked on what she would do with the prize, Sulong said she will spend the prize money for the reconstruction of the commercial building, particularly the carenderia section which was razed by fire a year ago.

She is optimistic that with the new building to be constructed soon, the affected stall owners can start their business and uplift their living condition.