LUCENA CITY—The provincial government of Quezon bagged the 2017 Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) award from the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) in the Calabarzon Region.
Also winning were the provinces of Laguna and Rizal.
Calabarzon is composed of the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon.
This was disclosed by Webster Letargo, provincial government chief of staff to Gov. David “Jayjay” Suarez, who posted it in his Facebook account on Wednesday.
The award was certified and signed by Director Manuel Gotis and Girlie Zara of the Bureau of Local Government Supervision and Melany Quiton, Local Government Operation Officer 5.
The SGLG was formerly called the Seal of Good Housekeeping conferred by the DILG on local government units in advancing the principles of accountability and transparency.
Nine cities and 23 municipal governments in Calabarzon also got the SGLG award this year from the DILG.
The nine cities are Antipolo in Rizal province; Batangas City in Batangas province; Biñan, Calamba, San Pedro and Santa Rosa cities in Laguna province; and Bacoor, Dasmariñas and Imus in Cavite province.
Seven municipal governments of Quezon—Gumaca, Mauban, Mulanay, Pagbilao, Panukulan, San Antonio and Unisan—were among the 23 municipal government awardees.
Other awardees were Bauan and Malvar in Batangas; Carmona, Kawit, Magallanes, Maragondon, Naic, Rosario and Silang in Cavite; Kalayaaan, Nagcarlan and Pagsanjan in Laguna; and Angono, Binangonan, Tanay and Taytay in Rizal.
Suarez has received the Seal of Good Housekeeping for Quezon province in 2011 signed by then Interior Secretary Jesse M. Robredo.
The four major core areas of the SGLG are social protection, disaster preparedness, financial administration and peace and order.
Aside from the four major core areas of the SGLG, it also focuses on three essential areas: local tourism, environmental management and business friendliness and competitiveness.
In June the Regional Assessment Team (RAT) of the DILG in the Calabarzon region started its annual search for qualified provinces to be awarded with the SGLG.
Various department heads of the provincial government of Quezon led by Executive Assistant Juanito Diaz of the provincial governor’s office, along with Quezon Police Director Senior Supt. Roderick Armamento and representatives of the Armed Forces’s Southern Luzon Command gathered at the Kalilayan Hall here, and were interviewed by the team led by DILG Region 4A Assistant Regional Director Ariel Iglesia.
Members of the RAT—composed of provincial directors of DILG in the region, the academe represented by Cavite State University and civil society group represented by Tanggol Kalikasan—quizzed the department heads on the four major core areas of the SGLG.
RAT members talked with Armamento on peace and order, Dr. Henry Buzar of the provincial disaster risk reduction and management council on disaster preparedness of the province, Manuel Belozo of the provincial government environment resources office on solid-waste disposal, Sonia Leyson of the provincial social welfare department office on social protection and with budget and treasurer officers on financial management, accountability and transparency.
The RAT members also conducted on-site visits and inspection on various target areas and programs of the province, such as evacuation center, emergency response and relief operation on disaster preparedness; looked into anti-criminality plan, handling and disposition of funds, posting of full disclosure policy, peace and order council meetings, care and treatment of persons with disabilities and senior citizens; among others.
“There is vast improvement and development in various core areas in Quezon,” said Iglesia, chairman of RAT-Calabarzon, after the documentation adding that their findings in the province would be up for regional deliberation and calibration, and will be endorsed to the National Assessment Team for its own determination.
The Provincial Planning and Development Office of Quezon headed by Maria Odessa Perez acted as the secretariat and facilitated the documentation and assessment of the various provincial government offices.