Bacolod gets seal of good governance

By: Dolly Yasa

BACOLOD City – This city is among the 57 out of the 145 cities in the country that was awarded by the Department of Interior and Local Government the 2019 Seal of Good Local Governance.

The award is in recognition of its excellence and continuous improvement of local governance, the City of Bacolod received the much-coveted 2019 Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) award from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

DILG Region- 6 announced on social media that Bacolod is one of only five cities in Western Visayas to pass the SGLG Awards.

Only 57 out of 145 cities around the country have passed the 2019 SGLG Awards, the DILG list also showed.

The other cities are Passi, San Carlos, Silay, and Victorias.

“We recognize your efforts in practicing good governance and providing better public service. Mahusay!” the DILG-Region 6 said on its Facebook page, referring to the awardees.

Mayor Evelio Leonardia said, “The SGLG is the barometer of an LGU’s performance. For us, this is a validation of all the other awards we earned.”

Last month, Bacolod was recognized as the Top Philippine Model City 2019 by The Manila Times, the oldest newspaper in the county. Aside from this major award, Bacolod received two special awards: Business-Friendly/High Returns, and Retirement Haven.

This week, Bacolod received a Special Citation in the 2019 Most Business-Friendly LGU Awards under City Level 1B category for cities outside Meto 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.

The SGLG criteria has 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 results 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.