MAYOR Evelio Leonardia will receive for Bacolod City the 2019 Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) Award from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) at The Manila Hotel on November 5.
The DILG has congratulated Bacolod as one of the only 57 out of 145 cities in the country to receive the SGLG award for 2019.
"The SGLG is the barometer of an LGU's performance. For us, this is a validation of all the other awards we earned," Leonardia said.
Bacolod is one of the only five cities in Western Visayas that passed the said award. The other cities are Passi, San Carlos, Silay, and Victorias.
There are 17 provinces, 57 cities, and 306 municipalities out of 1,706 local government units (LGUs) that will be conferred of the SGLG award, according to DILG.
"We recognize your efforts in practicing good governance and providing better public service. Mahusay!" the DILG-Western Visayas said on its Facebook page, referring to the awardees.
Core areas
The SGLG criteria have seven governance core areas: financial administration, disaster preparedness, social protection, peace and order, business friendliness and competitiveness, environmental protection, and tourism culture and the arts.
DILG Secretary Eduardo Año said SGLG 2019 presents a more challenging requisite of hitting the minimum criteria in SGLG's seven governance areas.
The LGU also has to demonstrate positive result out of its reform efforts taking into account local leadership and the cohesive action of the entire workforce.
Deserving SGLG recipients from the 81 provinces, 145 cities and 1489 municipalities will be conferred with the SGLG marker; eligibility to the Performance Challenge Fund (PCF) to finance their local development initiatives; and an access to other programs and capacity development assistance from DILG.
Other awards of Bacolod
Last September, Bacolod was recognized as the Top Philippine Model City 2019 by The Manila Times, the oldest newspaper in the country. Aside from this major award, Bacolod received two special awards: Business-Friendly/High Returns, and Retirement Haven.
Last week, Bacolod received a Special Citation in the 2019 Most Business-Friendly LGU Awards under City Level 1B category for cities outside Metro Manila.
In 2018, the PCCI had awarded Bacolod a Special Citation in the Most Business-Friendly LGU Awards under the City Level 1 category.
In 2017, Bacolod was one of the Top 3 finalists in the same contest. It was the HUC outside of Metro Manila included in the Top 3.
In 2018, Bacolod was No. 1 in the Visayas and No. 8 in the country in the Most Competitive Highly Urbanized City in the Philippines, and No. 3 Most Improved Highly Urbanized City in the Philippines, at the 6th Competitiveness Summit and Awards of the National Competitiveness Council. (PR)