SORSOGON
CITY, March 23 (PIA) – On November 14, 2011, Department of Interior and Local
Government’s (DILG) Assistant Secretary Rolando M. Acosta issued a memorandum
to each and every DILG Regional Director (Regions 1 to 8, CAR and NCR) and to
ARMM Regional Secretary Haroun l-Rashid Lucman Jr. on the subject of the Seal
of Good Housekeeping’s (SGH) third round of assessment and validation for
additional potential recipients, which was conducted until November 30 of the
same year, at one with the Unnumbered Memorandum signed by Undersecretary
Austere A. Panadero, dated November 9, 2011, referred to as Passing the Seal of Good Housekeeping for Local
Governments. This was to give chance to the provinces, cities, and
municipalities which fell short to act in accordance with the information
requirements of the Seal.
As
said by Assistant Secretary Acosta in his memo, the information requirements
used in the first and second rounds were similarly appropriate for the third
round, specifically: 1.compliance to the full disclosure policy in either one
of the following modalities of posting: set A – in all modes (conspicuous place
within public building, print media, website);
set B – either in website and conspicuous place within public buildings,
or in website and print media; set C – in conspicuous place within public
building; or set D – in print media and conspicuous place within public
buildings; and 2.the absence of disclaimer or adverse opinion rendered by the
Commission on Audit on the Local Government Unit’s (LGU) financial statements
for Calendar Year (CY) 2010.
The
DILG memo further said that the standard assessment and validation process
detailed in Memorandum Circular Number 2011-95, dated July 1, 2011, labeled as
Seal of Good Housekeeping for Local Governments CY 2011 Implementation will
strictly remain in the third round. The forms used for these were SGH Form 1
(Data Capture Form), SGH Form 2 (Field Validation), and SGH Form 3 (Regional
Validation Form).
On
April 25, 2012, then DILG Secretary Jesse M. Robredo issued Memorandum Circular
Number 2012-78 to all Provincial Governors, City Mayors, Municipal Mayors, as
well as Regional Directors in Regions 1 to 8, CAR and NCR which stated the
commitment of the DILG, through its SGH to insistently move forward and value the
brass tacks of good governance necessary in local public administration and
development.
The
late Secretary Robredo said in his memo that the Seal advances major performance, accountability, transparency and
participation because after all, such standards are decisive in building the
strategic foundation of a responsible local government system in the country.
Back
in 2011, the assessment focused on sound financial
management measured through the absence
of an adverse or disclaimer COA
petition on local financial transactions and on transparency and accountability measured through the observance of the full disclosure policy.
For
CY 2012, assessment criteria are those which are prescribed under SGH Bronze
and SGH Silver. Local governments that did not succeed in CY 2011 are to be
assessed at the SGH Bronze level. CY 2011 recipients meanwhile are to be
covered under SGH Silver. The SGH Gold
might also be opened for CY 2012, Robredo’s memo further said. Starting CY
2013, provinces cities and municipalities are to be assessed using the SGH Gold
Criteria
Consequently,
on June 2012, the Seal of Good Housekeeping for Local Governments (SGH Bronze
Level) was conferred to the Provincial Government of Sorsogon in recognition of
exemplary performance in its internal housekeeping for CY 2011 in the areas of
good planning, sound fiscal management, transparency and accountability, and
valuing performance management. In a letter from DILG Provincial Director Ruben
Esq. Baldeo, the official informed Sorsogon Governor Raul R. Lee that accordingly,
the province will receive P15M from the Local Government Support Fund. Subsequently,
this will be used as capital expenditure and adjoin the approved 2012 Annual
Investment Plan.
Seeing
that the Provincial Government of Sorsogon is a CY 2011 recipient, it makes the
grade for the next level to be covered under SGH Silver which has the following
criteria: 1.accountable governance – “unqualified”
or “qualified COA opinion on financial transactions of the immediately
preceding year; 2.transparent governance
– a. full compliance to the full disclosure policy of local budget and
finances, bids and public offerings as stated in DILG Memorandum Circular
Number 2011-134 dated September 19, 2011 and section 84 of FY 2012 General
Appropriations Act.
Required
documents are those to be posted during the 1st and 2nd
quarters of the current year on billboards in all publicly accessible and
conspicuous places in the LGU, in its website and/or in newspaper of general
circulation within its territorial
jurisdiction; b. compliance to the Government Procurement Act; organized and
functional Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) pursuant to the policy standards set
by law; and compliance to on-line posting requirement through the Philippine
Government Electronic Procurement System: (i) bid notice abstract, and (ii)
award notice abstract; 3.frontline
service performance – excellent or good rating as indicated in the Anti-Red
Tape Act report card survey of the Civil Service Commission.
Aside
from Sorsogon, other provinces which made it eligible for the 2012 SGH Silver
Assessment are Albay, Camarines Norte and Catanduanes.
For
the municipal level, here in the Province of Sorsogon, seven LGUs qualified for
the SGH Silver Assessment, namely: Matnog, Castilla, Casiguran, Juban, Santa Magdalena,
Irosin and Prieto Diaz. (VAELabalan SoR-PIO/PIA Sorsogon)
