Close to a hundred men and women participants from various LGUs and DILG City and Municipal Local Government Operations Officers (C/MLGOOs) in the region joined the virtual orientation through the Zoom application on July 6, 2020, spearheaded by the Department of the Interior and Local Government XII. All in all, there were sixty-three (63) women and thirty (30) men who joined the four-hour session.

The said orientation served as the venue for various issues and concerns from GAD Focal Persons relative to the submission of their GPB. Other matters affecting the crafting of their plans were also tackled.

During the virtual gathering, thirty–one (31) LGUs were able to encode their GPBs in the system while the rest were given until July 10 to encode their GPBs, in compliance to the advisory on Easing the Review Process of the FY 2020 GPB of the LGUs.

The COVID-19 situation has been the main factor for the extension of deadline for submission as LGUs have been swamped with other concerns, like the returning stranded individuals and foreign workers, and the overall quarantine situation.

For her part, DILG XII RD Josephine Cabrido-Leysa, CESO III lauded the participating government units who appreciated the relevance of timely submissions and compliances.

“These matters will affect the delivery of our services thus there is a need to be prompt in our submissions. More than meeting deadlines, it is also our way of showing how focused we are with what we do, despite the bulk of other tasks we need to handle,” the Director added.