LANAO DEL NORTE, Jun 16 – In a continuous effort in upholding the commitment to bringing inclusive and people-oriented reforms that enable local government units (LGUs) to foster a culture of good governance, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) – Lanao del Norte officially opens the Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) regional assessment to the municipalities of the province beginning on June 13, 2023.

With the intention to bring out the highest potential in efficiently and effectively providing excellent public service, the SGLG Regional Assessment Teams (RATs) prompt municipalities to be relentless in sustaining accountable, transparent, socially-protective, business-friendly and competitive, environment-protective local government units, where people live in a peaceful, orderly and safe communities, with high cognizance in citizen participation.

The municipalities of Sapad, Tagoloan, Poona Piagapo, Baroy, Magsaysay, Nunungan, Sultan Naga Dimaporo, and Tubod successfully hurdled the regional assessment scheduled on June 12-16. All the remaining municipalities of the province were assessed until June 27, 2023.

𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 RA 𝟭𝟭𝟮𝟵𝟮

Since its institutionalization in 2019, the Seal has only been implemented in 2022 since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In last year’s assessment, the province of Lanao del Norte garnered the highest number of passers in Northern Mindanao, coveting eight (8) municipal awardees. 

The drive for continual improvement and excellence has led the DILG provincial office to initiate and integrate a mechanism to sustain the gains of the Seal, among the local government units of the province, through the conduct of pre-assessment, coaching, and validation.

As early as January of this year, the province conducted a thorough pre-assessment, anticipating possible indicator and governance area upgrades for the CY 2023 SGLG implementation.

“The Department regards the Seal as the mother assessment among all the functionality assessments and audits it implements since it covers various sectors and areas. We want to institutionalize the culture of excellence to our local government units not just during assessments but as a way of life. Our initiatives in the provincial office, do not only nurture the gains but also inspire those (LGUs) that are still far from this journey,” said Provincial Director Bruce A. Colao.

𝗕𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗼, 𝗠𝗮𝗵𝘂𝘀𝗮𝘆, 𝗮𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗮𝗮𝘀𝗮𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴 𝗞𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗻𝗶

Prior to the deployment of our RATs, a series of pre-deployment meetings and dialogues were conducted to ensure the same understanding of the assessment criteria. The provincial office also seeks guidance from the regional level specially to matters that are peculiar to a certain area.

In this year’s implementation, two (2) teams were formed to conduct the regional assessment and shall cover one (1) LGU per day. The teams were headed by Cluster Head Mary Jean Y. Quibranza and Local Government Operations Officer (LGOO) VI Merychell A. Seronay respectively, together with the select municipal LGOOs. The expertise of Local Resource Institute Christian Bryll A. Laping and Hyra Dave P. Gempeso from Tubod College was also tapped

As LGUs hustle the process of assessment, the office ensures that continued technical and administrative assistance is given to all municipalities to uphold the Department’s mandate. (DILG Lanao del Norte / P. Monteron)