SAN JUAN City, historically known as the site of the first battle of the Katipunan, has notched twin honors in less than a week from government agencies.
It received from the Department of the Interior and Local Government on Oct. 27 the coveted Seal of Good Local Governance and, six days later, an “Excellent” rating from the Civil Service Commission as contained in its Anti-Red Tape Act Report Card.
Arta is an instruction to all government offices and agencies, directing them to provide frontline services and regularly undertake time and motion studies, undergo evaluation and improvement of their transaction systems and procedures and reengineer the same if deemed necessary to reduce bureaucratic red tape and processing time.
San Juan’s record covered compliance with Arta provisions, including anti-fixer campaign and the publication of a citizen’s charter, and graded as well in overall client satisfaction by field officers of the Civil Service Commission.
San Juan City, headed by Mayor Guia Gomez, was one of five of the 17 cities in Metro Manila awarded to have successfully fulfilled SGLG’s requirement of passing its core and essential areas.
The four others were Caloocan, Mandaluyong, Pasay and Pasig.
Interior Secretary Ismael Sueno lauded the five city-awardees “for their hard work and dedication.”
The DILG follows the “3+1” principle in awarding the seal, in which an LGU is required to passs all the core assessment areas and at least one essential area to win the desired citation.
Gomez herself said in a press statement the Seal “shows how dedicated the San Juan City government is in serving our constituents (and) it is through team effort that we have garnered such recognition from the DILG.”
The award entitles the awardees to access the Performance Challenge Fund, facilitation of loan approval through the issuance of Good Financial Housekeeping Certification, and other program windows subject to specific program guidelines.
