Once again, San Pedro City under Mayor Art Mercado has been shortlisted by the DILG to receive the 2023 Seal of Good Local Governance Award – a testament of how the LGU has continued to uphold its commitment to become “Una sa Laguna” in terms of excellence in local governance.
Over the years, the Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) Award has become one of the most coveted awards for local government units (LGUs) in the Philippines.
This award, given by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), seeks to encourage LGUs to foster a culture of transparency, accountability and good governance through incentivizing and honoring good local governance practices.
And once again, the city government of San Pedro City, Laguna under Mayor Art Mercado has been shortlisted by the DILG to receive the 2023 Seal of Good Local Governance Award.
For the city government, receiving this prestigious award seven years in a row is a testament of how, amid the recent changes in leadership, the LGU has continued to uphold its commitment to become “Una sa Laguna” in terms of excellence in local governance.
“[Ang SGLG Award na ito] ay patunay ng ating mabuting pamamahala sa nakalipas na taon. Congratulations po lalo na sa ating mga kawani na nagsumikap at naglingkod nang tapat upang makamit natin ang pagkilala na ito," Mercado said in his social media page.
Governance areas
In a message to OpinYon Laguna, Yvonne Geolingo, officer-in-charge of the San Pedro City Planning and Development Coordinator’s Office, said the San Pedro City LGU has met all ten governance areas to qualify for the SGLG Award, based on recent assessments made by the DILG.
These governance areas include financial administration and sustainability; disaster preparedness; social protection and sensitivity; health compliance and responsiveness; sustainable education; business-friendliness and competitiveness; safety, peace and order; environmental management; tourism, heritage development, culture and arts; and youth development.
“The City of San Pedro has proven its outstanding performance in governance and delivery of basic services to its constituents which resulted in the achievement of SGLG for 7 consecutive years from 2015 to 2023,” Geolingo said.
ISO-Certified
Another factor in San Pedro City’s bagging the SGLG Award, Geolingo added, is the fact that the LGU under Mercado is now certified with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), one of the highest global standards for quality management.
In order to ensure that the city government upholds this high standard of management, the Project Monitoring and Evaluation Committee, along with the City Planning and Development Coordinator’s Office, to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the city government’s projects and activities.
“Since this is our initial certification as an ISO 9001:2015 Certified City of San Pedro, we can still continue to improve on our implementation of the Quality Management System, and thus sustain our certification in the succeeding years. The bottom line of this is to help the LGU meet the needs of our constituents and other stakeholders more effectively, and to ensure consistent quality in providing goods and/or services to our people,” Geolingo added.
Incentives
The SGLG recognition comes with an “incentive fund” from the DILG which LGUs can use as additional resources for their projects.
And since this is the seventh time the city of San Pedro has received the SGLG awards, Geolingo noted that the city government has been able, through these incentives, to fund additional projects and equipment.
“The SGLG award comes with an incentive fund which the City Government can utilize for various projects for the benefit of our constituents; aside from physically benefiting from the projects, every San Pedrense is assured that the taxes they pay will go back to them in terms of social services, economic sources, environment, and infrastructure projects, among others,” she said.
Future projects
In line with ensuring accountability, transparency and efficient governance in their push to make San Pedro City a “smART City,” the city government is now embarking on its planned programs to digitize transactions at the City Hall, Jhe-rico Sam Colina, head of the San Pedro City Public Affairs and Information Office, added.
“As part of the efforts of the Mercado Administration to digitize programs and social services of the City, nasa first phase na kami ng Green Card — registration. We started with the City Government Employees then Senior Citizens, PWDs, Scholars, and to the general public,” Colina told OpinYon Laguna.
Meanwhile, the city government is also fast-tracking the completion of important infrastructure projects, including the rehabilitation of the San Pedro City Plaza; the San Pedro Medical Center in Barangay Narra; and the development of a San Pedro Sports Complex.
“By next year hopefully mag-materialize yung mga inaasikaso ko ngayon na pondo para sa evacuation centers, parks and open space redevelopment, gayundin po ang rehabilitasyon ng ating major roads," Engr. Allan Christopher Dela Cruz, officer-in-charge of the San Pedro City Engineering Office, said.
Disaster preparedness, too
And as if to add to the “winning streak” for San Pedro City, the LGU also recently received a “Beyond Compliant” rating at the recent Gawad Kalasag (KAlamidad at Sakuna LAbanan, SAriling Galing ang Kaligtasan) Awards.
This award from the National Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) aims to recognize programs, activities and projects that protect high risk communities against hazards and provide more capabilities in addressing vulnerabilities and coping from disasters.
According to Nico Pavino, head of the San Pedro City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO), this award was borne out of the continuing efforts by the city government under Mercado to boost their disaster response capabilities.
“Sa nakalipas po na isang taon sa pamumuno ni Mayor Art Mercado, na siya ring local CDRRMC chairperson, tuluy-tuloy po ang ating Capacity Building Trainings Seminars at Disaster Preparedness Simulation Drills para sa mga miyembro ng CDRRMC, mga Barangays, Volunteer Groups, NGOs/CSOs at mga komunidad. Patuloy rin po ang pagdaragdag natin ng mga disaster/rescue supplies, equipment and vehicles para mapalakas ang disaster response at early recovery,” Pavino said in a message to OpinYon Laguna.
Part of its programs to further enhance its disaster risk reduction facilities is the construction of a state-of-the-art CDRRM Building Command Center/ Operations Center, complete with a local 911 emergency hotline, Pavino added.
Moreover, the San Pedro CDRRMO is planning to launch “emergency substations” in strategic locations in the city, each with its own rescue equipment and facilities, to deliver faster assistance to the city’s 27 barangays.
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PHOTO CAPTION FOR PAGE 5:
San Pedro City Mayor Art Mercado (third from right) receives from Interior and Local Government Secretary Benjamin "Benhur" Abalos, Jr. (fourth from left) the Seal of Good Local Governance Award for San Pedro City at the SGLG Awards night at the Manila Hotel last December 13. (Photo courtesy of the San Pedro City Public Affairs and Information Office)
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