Bikol Towns Get P1M Good Housekeeping Incentive from DILG

LEGAZPI CITY, Dec. 22, 2010  – Two lowly municipalities of Bikol have been awarded an amount of P1 million each by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) as Performance Challenge Funds (PCF) for meeting the benchmark of good local government housekeeping.

These municipalities are Sto. Domingo, Albay and Mobo, Masbate which, along with 13 other considered top ranked local government units (LGUs) nationwide are being esteemed by the DILG for their good performance in internal housekeeping focused on good planning, sound fiscal management, transparency and accountability and valuing of performance information.

Sto. Domingo in Albay that sits near the southeastern foot of Mt. Mayon is a fourth class coastal town of nearly 35,000 population based on the 2007 official count conducted by the National Statistics Office (NSO). It has 23 barangays whose residents as mostly farmers and fishermen.

This municipality under the stewardship of its local chief executive, Mayor Herbie Aguas has been excellent in the Housekeeping area of good planning, transparency and accountability, valuing performance information and sound fiscal management, according to the DILG.

Mobo, Masbate under the leadership of its lawyer-mayor, Percival Castillo is also a fourth class town located around six kilometers next to Masbate city, the provincial capital. It has a population of about 33,000 during the 2007 census distributed among its 29 barangays whose economies are mostly dependent on agriculture and fishery.

This municipality has also been showing exceptional performances in planning, fiscal management, transparency and accountability and valuing performance information, the DILG said.

The 15 LGUs including Sto. Domingo and Mobo that are within the 4th to 6th class groups were recently given formal recognition and awarded the Seal of Good Housekeeping (SGH) in line with the DILG’s commitment to aggressively scale up interventions to elevate the practice of governance that values transparency, accountability, participation and performance into an institutionalized status.

The other municipalities are Anilao, Iloilo; Balete, Aklan; Balilihan, Bohol; Catigbian, Bohol; Clarin, Misamis Occidental; Dumulog, Bukidnon; Datu Paglas, Maguindanao; Leon B. Postigo, Zamboanga del Norte; Naawan, Misamis Oriental; Pitogo, Quezon; San Agustin, Surigao del Sur; Santol, La Union; and Tampilisan, Zamboanga del Norte.

Wearing the SGH also entitles each LGU of the PCF that will be utilized as a counterpart fund to LGU’s allocation from the 20 percent development fund for the implementation of projects that are consistent with national objective to achieve the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals (MDG), DILG regional director for Bikol Blandino Maceda on Wednesday said.