• CHERYL G. CRUZ
The Department of the Interior and Local lauded the 1,028 outstanding barangays nationwide, eight of them from Negros Occidental, that passed the first-ever 2023 Seal of Good Local Governance for Barangay (SGLGB).
“Congratulations to the 1,028 barangays across the country that responded to the call for excellence in public service and bagged the 2023 SGLGB,” DILG Secretary Benhur Abalos said in a statement.
In Negros Occidental, the SGLGB passers are barangays Alianza, Atipuluan, Binubuhan, Dulao, and Lag-asan, all in Bago City; Nataban and Rizal in San Carlos City; and Barangay I in Pontevedra.
SGLGB is a performance assessment and recognition system designed to distinguish barangays with outstanding performance across various governance areas, namely financial administration and sustainability; disaster preparedness; and safety and peace and order, the DILG said.
Barangays must also pass at least one of the essential governance areas, such as social protection and sensitivity; business-friendliness and competitiveness; and environmental management.
The assessment covered 94.25 percent, or 39,623 barangays nationwide, with 1,028 or 2.59 percent barangays hurdling the stringent qualifications and achieving the National Passers status.
The DILG shall present the passers with a Certificate of Recognition, while provincial, city, and municipal governments are encouraged to give rewards or incentives to their respective barangay passers.
Abalos said he hopes that more barangays will make it to the passers list this year following the initial launch of the SGLGB in 2023. | CGC
