The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG)-10, in coordination with the Department of Budget and Management (DBM)-10 and Philippine Information Agency (PIA)-10, will conduct the annual Dagyaw Open Government Town Hall Meetings in October.

     With the continued threat posed by COVID-19 affecting the lives and livelihood of the people throughout the world, Dagyaw 2021 shall focus on topics and issues surrounding local service delivery, in the context of the COVID-19 recovery efforts of the country as well as the changes being implemented under the Supreme Court ruling on the Mandanas-Garcia petition.

     Moreover, this year’s Dagyaw emphasizes localization of the Town Halls by having provincial governments conduct their own Dagyaw Town Hall Meetings. This is in line with DILG Memorandum Circular 2019-56 wherein all LGUs are enjoined to conduct town hall meetings every quarter, to serve as a platform in informing citizens of the state of local governance in their respective localities.

     This year’s Dagyaw intends to inform the citizens with up-to-date information of the government’s undertakings and efforts the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, it aims to build mutual trust between the government and the Filipino people by providing an open, neutral, and protected space for dialogue.

     Representatives from the civic society organizations, development sectors, academe, business groups, public sector unions, people’s organizations, and regular citizens are targeted to participate in the activity.

     Dagyaw is a Hiligaynon term meaning “togetherness” emphasizing the importance of “Bayanihan” as we pursue a better and effective services delivery to the Filipino people. The program started in 2018 through the initiative of the Participatory Governance Cluster.

     The Regional Town Hall Meeting will be held virtually via Zoom platform and will also be available live at DILG X’s Facebook page. Interested individuals may register through this link: https://www.dagyaw-re-portal.com/regional/10. (DILG 10/LGCDD/Colleen B. Dimaano and Merryane Rose S. Bacud)(Revised copy/DILG-10/Jia Artajo)