A TOP official of the Department of Interior and Local Government-Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (DILG-Armm) said Tuesday they are doing all they can to peel away from being tagged as "failed experiment."
In an interview at the sidelines of the 2nd Quarterly National Executive Officers and National Board Meeting of the Philippine Councilors' League (PCL) at the SMX Convetion Center, SM Lanang Premier, DILG-Armm secretary Lawyer Anwar A. Lang, told reporters that they have devised some mechanism to empower the local government units (LGUs) to bring its performance a notch higher.
Some of these include the performance audit and functionality assessment, programs that implemented only within Armm to gauge how LGUs there are performing.
He admitted that most of their LGUs have not yet reached the benchmark provided for by the DILG-Armm.
"Marami (LGUs) but we are expecting that within this year, all of these LGUs will reach the benchmark of their functionality, one of the things nakailanganiangat," he said.
"We try to overcome that 'failed experiment'. Gusto namin makawala, that's what we are trying to do," he added.
The DILG-Armm hopes to improve the performance of their LGUs, at least to keep up with other LGUs across the country.
"Sa kanila naman they want it. They want to improve their performance," he added.
The official, meanwhile, added that whoever is proposing for the substitute bill of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) should do it fast and reflective of the real needs of the people there.
"We hope whoever is proposing the substitute bill should do it better. If you notice, sabuong Southeast Asia, tayo nalang yata ang may insurgency problem," he added.
"Sad to say mabagal at hindi yata nila matatapos sa oras," he said of the Senate and House of Representatives (HOR).
Should the two chambers fail to pass the BBL, the Armm will continue to exist. Even then, the official added they will strive hard to improve on the peace and security issues.
"The congress and senate should look into the passage of the law as if you're looking at the concerns of other Filipinos. Once and for all, we have to settle all the issues," he said.