CEBU CITY — Cebu Province still needs 28 barangays to be declared drug-free in order to win the Department of Interior and Local Government’s (DILG) Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) Award this year.
Based on the requirements in the peace and order criteria, a provincial government unit must have 20 percent of its barangays cleared of drugs to earn the SGLG plum.
Cebu Province has 1,066 barangays and it needs to have 213 of its barangays cleared of the drug menace to meet the 20 percent requirement.
So far, 185 barangays in the province were declared drug-cleared, including the 25 recently-declared drug-free villages.
Next month, the DILG is set to start its assessment and evaluation of the more than 1,700 local government units (LGU) in the country for this year’s SGLG Awards.
Governor Hilario Davide III, however, on Saturday said he is not worried if Cebu Province won’t be able to pass the test of good governance this year since the province has clinched the SGLG awards for three consecutive years.
The governor said they have done everything they could muster but still fell short of the requirements, adding that a fourth SGLG would have been a bonus for the Cebu Provincial Government who has truly strived to improve governance and provide better service to its constituents.
Aside from the SGLG, recognized LGUs also get a share of the Performance Challenge Fund, a millions-of-pesos incentive for local development projects.
To qualify for the SGLG, LGUs must exemplary perform in the fields of financial administration, disaster preparedness, social protection, and peace and order. (PNA)