(PNA)
LINGAYEN, Pangasinan — Governor Amado Espino III attributed the regional award, a special recognition and three national awards Pangasinan received in October and November to the province’s transparency, integrity and excellent service delivery.
In an interview with newsmen on Monday, Espino admitted the standards to attain the Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) award becomes higher each year.
“Last year, there were 33 local government units (LGUs) and the provincial government in Pangasinan that qualified for SGLG, but this year, there are only 24 LGUs and the provincial government,” he said.
Espino further said the provincial government will start preparing for SGLG 2019 next month as “the preparation for such award is actually year-round.”
The province has been an awardee from 2011 to 2013 and 2015 to 2018, Provincial Planning and Development Coordinator Benita Pizzaro said.
“Pangasinan is the only recipient in Region 1 (Ilocos) of the Katangi-tanging Pagpupugay sa Lokal na Pamahalaan sa Pagsasakatuparan ng Performance Challenge Fund (PCF) in recognition of the province’s exemplary performance and in appreciation of its long-term contribution to the development of the PCF,” she added.
Aside from the SGLG award, the province recently won as the Best National Statistics Month (NSM) province implementer in Region 1 and the nationwide Best Local Government Unit (LGU) advocate for statistics (province level), which were awarded by the Philippine Statistics Authority on October 29.
“It can be recalled that the province of Pangasinan has been cited as Best NSM province implementer for three consecutive years covering the following periods: 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2014, 2015, 2016 following the successful conduct of provincial NSM celebration. The second regional NSM hall of fame of the province was conferred last year,” the Pangasinan Provincial Information Office (PIO) said in a statement.
The Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce (FCCC) also gave special recognition to the province for being a finalist in the 2018 search for Most Business Friendly LGU (province level).
“The plaque cited Pangasinan under the leadership of Governor Espino for exemplifying commendable initiatives towards good governance reforms that promote trade and investments and significantly contribute to local economic development,” PIO added.
