San Francisco still best LGU in province

CEBU, Philippines - The municipality of San Francisco in Camotes Island remains best among top performing local government units in the province this year under the "Our Cebu Program".

The town received P1 million and a trophy during the awarding at the Capitol Social Hall yesterday.

It bested nine other LGUs, namely Liloan (2nd), Naga City (3rd), Dalaguete (4th), Barili (5th), Oslob (6th), Tudela (7th), Medellin (8th), Cordova (9th), and Poro (10th).

Liloan and Naga received P750,000 and P500,000, respectively, and trophies, while the other LGUs got P300,000 each.

San Francisco Vice Mayor Aaron Capao who received the award credited the town's achievement to his colleagues and residents of the town.

He said the program, which sets guidelines in good governance, has helped in empowering his constituents and triggered active participation from them.

He said some chose not to be involved due to political reasons, but this did not hamper the town from achieving its goals.

"Di man kaayo babag ang politika, naa gyoy mga tawo nga mo-discourage, moingon nga sayop na pero ang importante naa gihapoy panaghiusa," he said.

He mentioned the "purok system," a sub-village, as a big contributor to their success. He said the purok helps the municipal government cascade its programs to the grassroots level easily and disseminate information more efficiently especially during calamities.

He said the cash reward they receive may be used to further enhance the purok system depending on the agreement among the town officials.

The purok system also helped San Francisco bag the prestigious United Nations (UN) Sasakawa Award for Disaster Risk Reduction in 2013.

Governor Hilario Davide III challenged the LGUs to live up to the standards of the program.

"Making Cebu a better place to live in is a mission of every Sugbuanon," he said.

The Our Cebu Program was known formerly as the Expanded Green and Wholesome Environment that Nurtures (E-Gwen) initiated in 2009 in partnership with the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI).

It aims to strengthen governance system and structures of local government units, improve livability and access to basic services, protect the natural environment, and promote Cebu's eco-tourism, among others.

Under the Our Cebu Program, LGUs were screened according to the indicators set in its scorecard and is anchored on the seven pillars of sustainable development: spiritual, human, social, cultural, political, economic, and ecological.

LGUs are ranked based on the scores they garnered.

Apart from the top performing towns and cities, awards were also conferred to the 15 outstanding barangays, 15 top performing schools, with rewards ranging from P75,000 to P500,000 for LGUs and television set for each school.

Special awards were also given to Liloan as outstanding LGU in Green Category, San Francisco in Livability (category), Oslob in Tourism and Culture and Heritage, Barili in Governance, and Bogo City in Resiliency. Each of the awards came with P100,000. – (FREEMAN)