ILOILO CITY — Iloilo province reaped various awards and availed of million-peso projects under the administration of Governor Arthur Defensor, Sr.
This was presented by Defensor before members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, employees and visitors when he delivered his State of the Province Address (SOPA) during the council’s regular session Tuesday afternoon at the Iloilo Provincial Capitol here.
He cited the province won an incentive from the Performance Challenge Fund (PCF) after it was consistently cited as Best Performing Province in the Excellence in Local Governance (EXCELL) Awards of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) since 2014.
The province is now DILG’s Hall of Fame awardee.
This recognition did not only give the province the PCF that was used to improve roads but likewise provided performance-based programs like the “Sagana at Ligtas na Tubig sa Lahat Program” (SALINTUBIG) and the Bottoms-up Budgeting, he said.
He revealed that this year, the province is again a recipient of the Seal of Good Local Governance, making Iloilo a Grand Slam winner of the prestigious award. Automatically, the province is now out of the competition.
The governor also cited the accomplishments of individual departments in areas of treasury and assessment, environment, agriculture, social welfare, youth development, and employment generation.
The province’s Public Employment Service Office (PESO) was awarded for the second time as the Most Outstanding PESO in the country while it is already a grand slam winner in the region.
Moreover, the province was a national winner of the 2017 ApolinarioMabini Award for the Local Government given by the Philippine Foundation for the Rehabilitation of the Disabled Inc., for its services to the citizens with disabilities within its jurisdiction in the last two years.
The provincial social welfare and development office (PSWDO) won three awards from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) namely, the “Gawad sa Makabayang Teknolohiyang Panlipunan for Persons with Disabilities (PWD)” and the “ GAPAS Award” as an LGU Model for the implementation of “ Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).”
The province was also conferred the 2017 GAWAD EMB by the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) in recognition of its effective management and implementation of Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.
Secretary Roy Cimatu conferred the province with an Environmental Champion award.
The lloilo Provincial Bantay Dagat has earned praises internationally for its relentless campaign against illegal fishing. It received commendations from the Institute of Governance and Sustainable Development based in Washington DC, and the United Nations Environment Programme in Bangkok, Thailand.
“This is our contribution to environmental conservation as we give special attention to the Visayan Sea and renew our commitment with the Governors of Cebu, Negros Occidental and Masbate to protect and restore this body of water that used to be the “Center of Marine Biodiversity.”
Other environmental programs of the province are the reforestation of 100 hectares of mangrove areas in the province; the Action for Regreening and Transformation for Climate Change Adaptation (ART for CCA) program that has planted 1.7 million indigenous trees all over the province; and the massive planting of Cacao and Coffee; among others.
Iloilo was also a recipient of millions worth of projects under the KALSADA Program of DILG, the Philippine Rural Development Program (PRDP) of the Department of Agriculture, and the Bottom-Up Budgeting ( BUB) of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
In terms of health, the provincial government upgraded 12 hospitals in the province towards making these become “real hospitals for the poor.”
Other projects were funded by international partners like the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and the United States Assistance for International Development (USAID).
The provincial government in support to peace and order campaign has provided funds and equipment to the Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO). The IPPO played a role in the neutralization of Richard Prevendido, the top drug personality in Western Visayas.
The governor also lauded members of the SP led by Vice governor Christine Garin for the passage of provincial legislations that will help sustain the gains of the province like the Revised Revenue Code of Iloilo, the Code of General Ordinances and the Code of Parental Responsibility.
Meantime, Defensor assured the completion of the Iloilo Provincial Capitol Complex Redevelopment Project before the end of his term in 2019. The provincial government has allotted Php400 million for the project that will make major developments from the Capitol grounds to the Metro Iloilo Water District Compound.
“We have come so far because we have traveled down the road hand- in-hand together. The road stretches far ahead of us into where we could not see. But we will always get to where we want to be if we simply set our hearts on it,” he added. (Cindy Ferrer/PNA)
