Strategies for the 2019 Seal of Good Local Governance program implementation has recently been finalized by the members of the Regional Assessment Team (RAT) and Sub-Regional Assessment Teams (Sub-RATs) of Region XII as they convened for a Pre-Implementation Meeting on March 26, 2019 at the DILG XII Conference Room, DILG Regional Office XII, Prime Regional Government Center, Barangay Carpenter Hill, Koronadal City.

LGOO II Ryan J. Alair, the SGLG Regional Focal Person, relayed the discussions and agreements during the 2019 SGLG National Orientation which was conducted last March 18-19, 2019 in Mandaluyong City. Among the topics presented were the Implementation Responsibilities and Timeline, Sub-Allotment for Region XII, and the Regional Deployment Plan.

Discussed during the workshop was the conduct of the Clustered Regional Orientations with their corresponding schedules and venues.  The Cotabato Province cluster has been set for April 8 in Kidapawan City, South Cotabato-Sarangani-General Santos City cluster on April 10 in Koronadal City, and Sultan Kudarat-Cotabato City Cluster on April 12 in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat.

Thereafter, LGUs will be allotted time to assemble the required documents and prepare the identified facilities to be presented during the On-Site Assessment. Provinces and cities will be evaluated by members of the RAT and the municipalities by members of the Sub-RAT.

The On-Site Assessment will be conducted on April 23 and May 21 but the Regional Management hopes that majority of the Region’s 54 LGUs have already been assessed prior to the May 13 elections.

The first short-listing of potential LGU passers will be done during the Regional Calibration which is tentatively scheduled on May 23-24, 2019.

Towards the end of the activity, LGOO VII Musarapha A. Alim, MPA, Chief of the Local Government Monitoring and Evaluation Division (LGMED), acknowledged the presence of Civil Society Organization (CSO) representatives and recognized their unwavering support for this flagship program of the Department. Chief Alim also expressed high hopes, along with the Regional Management, that the number of LGU passers for this year’s round of assessment will significantly increase.