Mayor basks in SGLG award

By: Dolly Yasa

BACOLOD City – Mayor Evelio Leonardia said on Monday that the awarding ceremony for the 2019 Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) Awards, where Bacolod is one of the national awardees, is like an “honor’s assembly.”

Leonardia is set to receive the award for the city government today, Nov. 5 with Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran and DILG-Bacolod director Ma. Joy Maredith Madayag at The Manila Hotel.

The award is bestowed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to local government units (LGUs) for exemplary performance and good governance.

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.”

Earlier, the DILG congratulated Bacolod for their “remarkable achievement” as one of the only 57 out of 145 cities in the country to receive the SGLG award for 2019.

Bacolod is one of the only five cities in Western Visayas that passed the said award.

The other cities are Passi in Iloilo, and  San Carlos, Silay, and Victorias in Negros Occidental.

17 provinces, 57 cities, and 306 municipalities out of 1,706 LGUs will receive the SGLG award.

The SGLG criteria have 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.

SGLG recipients 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.

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

Last October, Bacolod received a Special Citation in the 2019 Most Business-Friendly LGU Awards under City Level 1B category for cities outside Metro Manila.