DILG Releases About P 5-B Incentives to 2,529 Deserving LGUs

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has released close to P5-billion as a form of incentive to a total of 2,529 good performing local government units (LGUs) to support their local development initiatives since 2010. DILG Secretary Ismael ‘Mike’ D. Sueno said the granting of financial incentives to deserving LGUs was made through the Department’s Performance Challenge Fund (PCF) program which seeks to recognize good governance performance particularly in the areas of transparency, accountability, participation and service delivery.

“We are elated that as we move forward to 2017, we were able to grant more qualified LGUs the financial backing they need, through PCF, to further execute their projects towards the fulfillment of their mandate to their constituents,” said Sueno.

The DILG Secretary said that through the PCF, the 2,529 LGUs have implemented a total of 2,689 local development projects across the country. Of the 2,689 projects, 2,500 or 93% have already been completed, while the remaining projects are in different stages of implementation.

He further said that the 2,689 PCF projects comprise different categories – 863 projects supported the achievement of Millennium Development Goals, 1,388 pushed for the Local Economic Development, 123 projects facilitated compliance for Ecological Solid Waste Management, 313 for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management, and two projects to enhance Transparency and Accountability, all subsidized with a total of P4.930-billion as of December 29, 2016.

Sueno said the DILG never wavered in its commitment to reward LGUs with good performance through the PCF through the years. In 2010, 30 LGUs received a total of P30-million PCF; in 2011, 397 LGUs got P490-million; 560 local governments were granted P987-million in 2012; and 734 local governments received P990-million in 2013. In 2014, 248 LGUs obtained a total of P470-million PCF, while in 2015, 254 took home a total of P982-million in incentive.

For 2016 alone, PCF was able to confer P981.4-million to a total of 306 LGUs all earmarked for their respective projects. Of the 306 LGUs, 43 are provinces which got P4-million each, 51 are cities which took home P3.4 million each, and 212 are municipalities which received P3-million each. According to Sueno, the continuance of PCF would only point the LGUs to excellence in local governance that is business-friendly, socially-protective, competitive, environment-protective, climate change adaptive and disaster-resilient.

The PCF is being managed by the Bureau of Local Government Development of the DILG under Dir. Anna Liza Bonagua. (DILG)