DILG SEC. JESSE M. ROBREDO LAUDS LAUNCHING OF “SEAL OF GOOD HOUSEKEEPING FOR BARANGAY GOVERNANCE”

The program of Congressman Irvin M. Alcala of the Second District of Quezon Province dubbed as “Seal of Good Housekeeping for Barangay Governance” was successfully launched last March 30, 2011, Wednesday, at the Grand Riviera Hotel in the Grand Central Terminal Complex of Lucena City, with Secretary Jesse M. Robredo of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG)  as the Keynote Speaker.

The said program is a partnership between DILG CALABARZON, the Rotary Clubs and Congressman Irvin M. Alcala.  It is a pilot implementation in the barangays of Second District of Quezon Province and is the first of its kind to be launched in the whole country.  All the barangay captains of the 168 barangays in the Municipalities of Tiaong, Dolores, San Antonio, Candelaria, Sariaya and Lucena City were present in the affair and warmly accepted the challenge as the program will be implemented in the form of a contest.

The parameters involved are contained in six (6) areas of barangay governance which include good planning, sound fiscal management, transparency and accountability, valuing of performance information and policy audit and compliance tracking system.  Each area has its own indicators and sub-indicators which will be summed up using points system.  All the areas and indicators were explained by DILG-Quezon Provincial Director Pedro M. Mendoza, DPA in the program briefing.  PD Mendoza also announced that municipal/city level winners will receive P100,000;  P200,000 and P300,000 worth of barangay projects for the third, second and first prize winners, respectively.  The district-wide winners will receive P1M, P1.5M and P2M worth of projects for the 3rd, 2nd and 1st prize winners in the same order.

Regional Director Josefina E. Castilla-Go, CESO III of DILG CALABARZON introduced Sec. Robredo who lauded the project and congratulated Congressman Irvin for having initiated this program partnership.  He disclosed that only three weeks earlier, his department re-launched the Performance Challenge to all LGUs with two main ingredients - no adverse findings from the COA audit report and adherence to full disclosure of  LGU finances.  “With expanded parameters in this Pilot Launching of Seal of Good Housekeeping for Barangay Governance in this Second District of Quezon Province, I am much delighted and I volunteer to come back on reckoning time next year to witness the awarding of prizes.  I will also see if I can source some funds to increase the prizes at stake” said Secretary Robredo.  This announcement was met by the gleeful and thunderous applause of the barangays captains.

Under the program, there will be two assessment periods - the first to be conducted on April to May, 2011 which will be used to determine the presence or absence of the requirements on good housekeeping and the second, to be conducted on January to February, 2012 to compare the accomplishments using the indicators in the tally sheet.

Each municipality/city shall have its own Assessment Team (CAT/MAT) composed of the DILG Officer as the chairman with the following members:  municipal coordinator of Congressman Irvin M. Alcala, city/municipal accountant and the representative of the Rotary Club thereat.  There will also be a District Assessment Team (DAT) which will be composed of DILG-Quezon Provincial Director Pedro M. Mendaza as the chairman, the district coordinator of Congressman Irvin M. Alcala and the NGO representative from the Rotary Clubs.

President Rhodencio L. Tolentino of the Rotary Club of Lucena South represented the different Rotary clubs in the program launching.  Leading their respective barangay captains to the affair are Mayor Ruby Talaga of Lucena City, Mayor Rosauro Masilang of Sariaya, Quezon;  Vice Mayor Atienza of Candelaria, Quezon; Mayor Roderick Umali of Tiaong, Quezon; Mayor Renato “Doc” Alillio of Dolores, Quezon and Mayor Aniano Wagan of San Antonio, Quezon.  Provincial Governor David “Jayjay” Suarez was represented by Provincial Administrator Rommel Edaño.  All the municipal and city DILG officers,  PNP Provincial  Director Erickson Velasquez, BJMP Col. Nelson Jalbuena and Fire Chief Abastillas officials were also present in the morning program.

he commitment and support of DILG officials, mayors, barangay captains, other government officials and members of the Rotary movement were  exhibited thru the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement innovatively printed on a tarpaulin.

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