493 LGUs to get good governance award

MANILA, Philippines — At least 493 local government units will be conferred the 2023 Seal of Good Local Governance in recognition of their commitment to outstanding public service.

Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos said 28 provinces, 64 cities and 401 municipalities met the criteria for this year’s SGLG assessment.

Abalos said 94 LGUs would receive the award for the first time.

He said 22 LGUs have been able to sustain their good performance since 2015 when the SGLG was first awarded.

Central Luzon has the highest number of SGLG awardees with 84 LGUs followed by Ilocos, 50, and Cagayan Valley, 41.

Awardees will receive SGLG markers and SGLG incentive fund of P4 million for provinces, P2.3 million for cities and P1.8 million for municipalities.

The SGLG is an institutionalized award and recognition-based program that encourages LGUs to improve their performance along various governance areas as mandated under Republic Act 11292 or the Seal of Good Local Governance Act.

Abalos said the Department of the Interior and Local Government upgraded the performance measures this year to focus on outcome-oriented efforts to address current challenges in local administration and public service delivery.

He said the SGLG serves as a guide for direction-setting and enhancing performance information as it assesses LGUs on various governance areas, including financial administration, disaster preparedness, social protection and sensitivity.

Other areas include health compliance and responsiveness, sustainable education, business-friendliness and competitiveness as well as safety, peace and order, environmental management, tourism, heritage development, culture and arts and youth development.