AT LEAST 13 barangays in Southern Leyte were declared national passers in the pilot implementation of the 2021 Seal of Good Local Governance for Barangays (SGLGB) awards of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).

The barangays are Pasay (Maasin City), Catublian (Hinunangan), Nahulid (Libagon), Pres. Quezon (Liloan), Triana (Limasawa), Sindangan (Macrohon), Poblacion (Padre Burgos), Ponod (Pintuyan), Panian (Saint Bernard), San Jose-Poblacion (San Juan), Bitoon (San Ricardo), Zone 1-Poblacion (Sogod), and Cambite-Poblacion (Tomas Oppus).

According to DILG in Southern Leyte, the SGLGB requires the barangays to pass all the three core areas, namely: safety, peace and order; financial administration and sustainability; and disaster preparedness.

“In addition, pass at least one among the three essential areas, namely: social protection and sensitivity; business-friendliness and competitiveness; and environment management,” it added.

The SGLGB National Quality Committee has selected 549 barangays nationwide as national passers following a thorough evaluation of the 2021 SGLGB regional barangay entries.

In Eastern Visayas, there were 43 barangays that were selected, including 13 barangays from the Province of Southern Leyte.

“The SGLGB is a progressive assessment system that gives distinction to the remarkable performance of barangays in various governance areas, putting primacy integrity and good performance in pursuit for meaningful local autonomy and development,” the DILG said. (SunStar Philippines)