THE Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) will bring the Seal of Good Local Governance down to the barangay level to gauge and asses the performance of barangay governments nationwide.
DILG Secretary Eduardo Año said the Seal of Good Local Governance for Barangay (SGLGB) will be the “gold standard” in assessing the performance of a barangay as they fulfill their mandate to deliver excellent service to the people.
“The DILG is fully cognizant of the vital role of barangays in the overall development and transformation of the communities and the nation. SGLGB will encourage and challenge barangays to scale-up their performance and practices of good governance," Año said.
"We are very excited to roll this out in our barangays. Hangad natin na sa pamamagitan ng SGLGB ay lalo pang mapataas ang antas ng paglilingkod sa ating mga kababayan sa mga komunidad," he added.
Año said the barangay must pass all three core areas namely peace and order, financial administration and disaster preparedness.
He said peace and order programs covers the efforts and activities of a barangay to ensure the safety and security of the people in their area against any possible threats to life including illegal drugs.
Año said the functionality of Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council (BADAC) and Barangay Peace and Order Committee will be the success indicators of the peace and order in an area.
He said the practice of accountability and transparency by adhering with accounting and auditing standards and compliance with the Barangay Full Disclosure Policy plus the percentage increase in local resources will be the indicators for a barangay’s success in financial administration.
Meanwhile, the barangay’s efforts and activities before, during and after disaster will be the measurement for disaster preparedness.
Año noted that in disaster preparedness, the barangay should take into consideration the functionality of the Barangay Disaster Risk Reduction Management Committee, extent of risk assessment and Early Warning System, extent of preparedness for effective response and recovery and accomplishment rate of projects reflected in the Barangay Disaster Risk Reduction and Management unit or any similar plan.
Meanwhile, barangays must pass at least one of the essential areas to qualify for the SGLGB.
Año said the barangay should also pass in the at least one of the three essential areas such as social protection, business-friendliness and competitiveness of environmental management in order to qualify for the SGLGB.
Social Protection seeks to gauge barangays' sensitivity to the needs of the disadvantaged sector including the functionality of the Violence Against Women Desk and Barangay Development Council, access to health services in the barangay, and representation of civil service offices in the barangays.
Business Friendliness and Competitiveness will look into the barangays' efforts and programs in encouraging business and employment with the enactment of Barangay Tax Ordinance and issuance of barangay Clearance within seven working days as indicators.
Environmental Management will tackle barangays' compliance with the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 while looking into the presence of materials recovery facility, the presence of a collection system to ensure segregation of wastes and source, and functionality of the barangay ecological solid waste management committee.
Año said the assessment will begin by the gathering of data provided by the barangay officials which will be validated and certified by the city or municipal assessment team.
The SGLGB online database shall then be utilized to process the data wherein the Provincial and Regional Offices shall ensure the correctness of the submitted data to be forwarded to the National Quality Committee (NQC).
The recommendation of the NQC will determine the official list of SGLGB 2018 qualifiers while winners will be announced in the last quarter of 2019.
"Gaya ng SGLG, magiging mahigpit din ang aming pagsala sa mga magkapapasa sa SGLGB 2019. We will maintain the same level of stringent assessment process," Año said.
Año said they are hoping that the SGLGB will imitate the success of the SGLG for local government units which promotes good and honest performance in all the smallest unit of the government.
"SGLG is a proven mechanism that inspires LGUs towards innovation and improved governance which is why it's on its way to becoming a law. It's time that we have that in the barangays," he said. (SunStar Philippines)