DAVAO ORIENTAL – The provincial government is optimistic to make in the 2019 Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) as evaluators from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) recently concluded the regional assessment for the most-coveted Seal.

“We have prepared for this so we are optimistic that we will get the Seal this year. As you can see all stakeholders, partner agencies who are part of the assessment are present to support us on this event,” said Provincial Administrator Art Benjie Bulaong during the assessment on May 23.

Despite the big challenge on passing the rigorous assessment, Bulaong said that Davao Oriental is doing everything it can to pass the seven areas which are the financial administration, disaster preparedness, social protection, peace and order, business friendliness and competitiveness, environmental management, and culture and the arts.

Along with the DILG officers from the Region, LGOO VI Raymund Olivo from Davao del Sur has provided points on which areas were the province are strong and areas that need further improvement. The assessment was done through inspection of required documents and site visit to validate the province’s compliance to the mandated laws.

After the validation, the documents will be forwarded to the DILG’s Central Office that will do the final assessment.

As the wining LGUs will receive Performance Challenge Fund (PCF) as incentive from the department, Bulaong said that the province already has its plans on where it would be spent should the province successfully gets the Seal.

DILG OIC Provincial Director Orle Cabaobao said that it is important for the province to get the Seal “to sustain its status on being a champion province.”

“For many years, Davao Oriental has successfully bagged the Seal, branding us as the Champion province in the whole of region eleven. And we need to maintain that, not only the status but also all our development programs and projects,” Cabaobao said. Photos by Eden Jhan Licayan