Davao City—Thirty awards of provincial and municipal recognition have sent the Bangsamoro to the country’s top five and the first in Mindanao’s list of winning regions of the Seal of Good Local Governance and the Seal of Child-Friendly Local Government.
The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) honored two provinces and 30 towns in a dinner that regional officials recentlyl hosted here for the local chief executives of the winning local government units.
BARMM Interior and Local Governments Minister Naguib Sinarimbo said he and Executive Secretary Abdulraof Macacua added P2.5 million in incentives to each of the 28 SGLG and two SCFLG Awards recipient-municipalities on the instruction of Chief Minister Al Haj Murad Ebrahim.
Macacua, who is also a member of the Bangsamoro Parliament, said the feat “celebrates a milestone for the Bangsamoro for which he and other officials were grateful for.”
BARMM provinces awarded with the SGLG this year are Basilan and Maguindanao. In the city category, Lamitan in Basilan is the sole recipient of the award in the region.
The municipal level winners are Maluso and Sumisip in Basilan; Balabagan, Buadiposo Buntong, Calanugas, Kapatagan, Piagapo, and Taraka in Lanao del Sur; Barira, Buldon, Datu Abdullah Sangki, Datu Paglas, Datu Piang, Guindulungan, Kabuntalan, Matanog, Paglat, Shariff Aguak, South Upi, Sultan Kudarat, Sultan sa Barongis, and Upi in Maguindanao; Talipao in Sulu; and Sibutu and Simunul in Tawi-Tawi.
“We honor, recognize, promote, provide incentives to our performing LGUs CFLG, P2.5 million in incentives which our LGUs can use to support their priority projects for each of the winning local government,” Sinarimbo told mayors and representatives of international and local civil society organizations.
More than its monetary value, the incentives provide support to the local governments’ priority social undertakings that can unify the leaders and the constituents as one, Macacua said.
“Imagine what more we can do as a people when we are united and what we could lose if we are not,” Macacua said.
The DILG national gave the awards during ceremonies at the Manila Hotel last November 6. Of the country’s 17 regions, BARMM placed fifth in overall standing. Only three in Mindanao made it to the top 10: Region X is sixth with 23 SGLGs, and Region XIII (Caraga) is eighth with 19 awards.
Region I garnered the most awards at 65, followed by Region III at 63, Region II at 40 and Region IV-A at 33.
Like the other winners, BARMM towns were rated in the national tabulations of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on the basis of the criteria of 1) financial administration; 2) local peace and order situation; 3) state of education; 4) business-friendliness, among others for the SGLG.
“We preserve, promote the best practices If we create the proper synergy between the regional and local governments; if we are to truly develop as one; in that way we can quicken the phase of development in the region,” Sinarimbo added
The BARMM average of 18.5 percent even surpassed that of the 14 percent national average in the scale of the awards rating, Sinarimbo noted.
These amount will be used by the LGUs to support their projects to further their service delivery to our people.