LGU Tacurong City stamped with DILG’s Silver Seal of Good Housekeeping

(February 20, 2013) The Local Government Unit (LGU) of Tacurong City wrapped up its outstanding performance for year 2012 by earning the Silver Seal of Good Housekeeping (SGH) conferred by the Department of Interior and Local government (DILG).

DILG Provincial Director Abdulgani Tekoken officially informed the office of Mayor Lina Montilla that the city government passed the criteria for the silver seal. The DILG even cited Tacurong for getting the highest rating among LGUs in Region XII in the Report Card Survey of the Anti-Red Tape Act implementation. Tacurong received an RCS final score of 97 percent, which is equivalent to an ‘excellent’ descriptive rating.

The SGH is a mechanism comprising a set of criteria aimed at recognizing LGUs with good performance in internal housekeeping particularly in the areas of Planning, Sound Fiscal Management, Transparency and Accountability, and Valuing Performance Management.

Among the key components of the SGH criteria are compliance to the mandates of the Anti-Red Tape Act as well as to the Full Disclosure Policy of the DILG. Further, LGUs stamped with Good Housekeeping Seal should have “no adverse” report from the Commission on Audit, which means that they should have complied with all the requirements of the government’s auditing agency.

For 2012, the criteria for SGH are scaled up and with three categories called Bronze, Silver and Gold Seals. The criteria for the Silver Seal are:  good or excellent performance as indicated in the CSC Report Card Survey on the ARTA (anti-red tape) implementation, Functionality of the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) and compliance to the Full Disclosure Policy.

The highest an LGU could receive for 2012 is the Silver Seal. The Gold Seal is up for grabs for 2013.

As recipient of the Silver Seal, Tacurong is eligible to access the DILG’s Performance Challenge Fund, a support fund used to finance local development initiatives in furtherance of national government goals and strategic thrusts.

In September 2012, the DILG declared Tacurong City as the regional winner of the Gawad Pamana ng Lahi (GPL) Awards under the cities category. GPL, a total concept award given to best-performing LGUs, uses various criteria in selection of winners among which are the Silver SGH, the Local Government Performance Management System (LGPMS), and outstanding innovations.

As GPL regional awardee, Tacurong automatically became the entry for the national awards and has already been selected as one of the top five national finalists. (Allan Freno)