BOTH the City Government of Cagayan de Oro and Provincial Government of Misamis Oriental have been recognized for their financial transparency and instituted public reporting of budget and expenditure.
Cagayan de Oro and Misamis Oriental made it to the Department of the Interior and Local Government's (DILG) official list of 2019 Good Financial Housekeeping.
The Good Financial Housekeeping refers to the compliance of the local government unit with accounting and auditing standards, rules and regulations.
The DILG's Bureau of Local Government Supervision (BLGS) issued the list after its year-long assessment of all the provinces, cities and municipalities in the country.
Out of the 98 local government units evaluated by BLGS in Northern Mindanao, 94 local governments or 96 percent passed the assessment, which includes the five provinces, nine cities and 80 municipalities.
Last year, only 74 local governments or 76 percent passed the assessment.
Alongside Cagayan de Oro City, the neighboring cities that also made it to the official list are El Salvador City, Gingoog City, Iligan City, Malaybalay City, Oroquieta City, Ozamiz City, Tangub City, and Valencia City.
Meanwhile, 23 municipalities in Misamis Oriental passed the evaluation.
"I thank everybody for sharing the vision that we have for Misamis Oriental, not only a transparent government but an honest to goodness public service to our people," Misamis Oriental Governor Yevgeny Emano said.
The Good Financial Housekeeping is a project of the DILG that recognizes local government units with good performance in internal financial housekeeping, particularly in the areas of local legislation, development planning, resource generation, allocation and utilization, customer service, human resource management and development, and valuing fundamental governance.
Making it to the list means a local government unit is one step closer to the prestigious Seal of Good Local Governance award.