The House of Representatives approved on second reading House Bill 8719 which seeks to establish and institutionalize the Seal of Good Local Governance for local government units.
Rep. Jose Enrique Garcia III (2nd District, Bataan), principal author of the measure, explained the Seal of Good Local Governance first introduced in 2014 was a way of assessing local government units (LGUs) on whether or not they attain minimum government standards.
“As a means of providing incentives for LGUs, they must receive the seal before receiving a grant from the Performance Challenge Fund,” he said.
The bill creates the Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) as an award, incentive, honor and recognition-based program for all LGUs and is a continuing commitment for LGUs to continually progress and improve their performance in the areas classified in theh Act.
It establishes a Council of Good Local Governance (the “Council”) which shall be composed of the respective Secretaries of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG); Department of Budget and Management (DBM); Department of Finance (DOF); Department of Health (DOH); Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD); and Department of Education (DepEd).
The Secretary of the Department of Tourism (DOT); Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR); Director-General of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA); and Administrator of the Office of Civil Defense are also part of the Council.
Under the bill, the Council, as a policy-making and advisory body that ensures the proper implementation of the SGLG, is mandated to develop and promulgate the performance indicators that shall serve as standards for evaluating the LGUs’ compliance and/or satisfaction of each of the criteria prescribed in the Act.
It is also directed to review and/or revise the performance indicators consistent with the long-term development plans of the National Government.
Furthermore, the Council is tasked to conduct an evaluation of the impact of the Act on the performance of the LGUs for purposes of determining the need for enhancing or continuing the SGLG and recommending any remedial legislation.
It shall create technical working groups, upon the recommendation of the Council member concerned, composed of experts from government agencies, representatives from the leagues of provinces, cities and municipalities, and other sectors, to assist the Council members in the performance of their respective functions as provided for in the Act.
The Council shall submit to the President of the Philippines, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, on an annual basis, copies of the performance indicators approved by the Council together with the performance indicators developed and recommended by the lead Council member, and the result of the impact assessment conducted pursuant to the provision in the Act.
The bill mandates the DILG to be the implementing agency of this Act and shall, through its relevant bureaus and offices, and in consultation and coordination with partner agencies or sectors, be responsible for the assessment and evaluation of each LGU relative to its compliance with the criteria, and recommend to the Council whether an LGU qualifies to be conferred or awarded the SGLG.
The criteria for evaluating the LGUs qualified to be conferred the SGLG shall include good fiscal or financial administration or financial sustainability; disaster preparedness; social protection and sensitivity program; health compliance and responsiveness; programs for sustainable education; business friendliness and competitiveness; safety, peace and order; environmental management; tourism, heritage development, culture and arts.
A local government unit, which, according to the assessment of the DILG, complies, qualifies, and passes all assessment criteria as provided in the Act shall be conferred and awarded the SGLG and granted the corresponding incentives.
The bill states that to ensure and preserve the prestige of the SGLG, in the interpretation of the provisions of the Act, all definitions of the criteria and all rules and regulations issued pursuant to the Act shall be strictly construed against the LGUs. It shall be the burden of an LGU to show that it qualifies for the SGLG.
The proposal establishes the SGLG Incentive Fund with an allocation of at least P3 billion to cover the incentives to LGUs that qualify for the SGLG.
The Council shall have the authority to determine the monetary incentives for LGUs based on the number of awardees.
It shall also have the authority to re-evaluate and increase the amount of SGLG incentive to be awarded to LGUs subject to the sufficiency of the Fund at the time the increment is implemented.
Other authors of the bill are Deputy Speaker Ferdinand Hernandez, Reps. Luis Raymund Villafuerte Jr., Pedro Acharon Jr., Aurora Cerilles, Mark Go, Celso Lobregat, Makmod Mending Jr., Pablo Ortega, Strike Revilla, Victor Yap, Gabriel Bordado Jr., Orestes Salon, Wilter Wee Palma III, Ma. Lourdes Aggabao, Federico Sandoval II, Fernando Gonzalez, John Marvin Nieto, Johnny Ty Pimentel, Carlito Marquez, Jocelyn Limkaichong, Arlene Arcillas, Maria Lourdes Acosta-Alba, Francisco Datol Jr., and Maximo Rodriguez Jr. | Ma. Victoria Palomar
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