Datu Piang receives ‘performance incentive’ from DILG

         Mayor Victor T. Samama  

 DATU PIANG, Maguindanao --- This municipal government received recently a ‘performance incentive’ worth PHP2.3 million after it passed the eligibility criteria for the Department of the Interior and Local Government's (DILG) Performance Challenge Fund (PCF) 2019.

In an exclusive interview, Mayor Victor T. Samama said the 2.3 million performance incentive was a fruit of their labor and sacrifices.

“We already allocated the incentive to construct the 500-meter road concreting and widening project located in the barangays of Poblacion, Buayan and Kangguan,” Mayor Samama said.

The local chief executive said the award shall serve as their motivation to implement  priority projects for the benefit of their constituents.

“It is our goal to uplift the living condition and to change the image of this town in terms of development. It is my vision to turn this locality into a progressive, developed and peaceful community,” he stressed.

Lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo, BARMM's interior and local government minister, said the PCF was given to LGUs that passed the Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) 2019.

Among the SGLG criteria is good performance in the areas of financial administration, disaster preparedness, social protection, peace and order, business friendliness, tourism, culture and the arts, and environmental protection.

"For 2019, we awarded PHP2.3 million each to the five LGUs for the performance challenge fund because many LGUs passed the SGLG bench marks, especially in BARMM, we ranked number one in Mindanao," Sinarimbo said.

In 2019, BARMM topped the list in Mindanao, with 28 LGUs complying with the SGLG criteria.

He said incentives for other PCF awardees in the region would soon follow.

Sinarimbo said this year's SGLG awarding will be suspended.

“It is because the focus of (the) national government and the LGUs is diverted due to the coronavirus diseases (Covid-19) pandemic,” he said, adding that BARMM would initiate a regional award system under the “Salamat Award” for LGUs.

Meanwhile, other LGU-recipients were the municipalities of South Upi, Guindulungan, Datu Piang, Shariff Aguak, and Datu Abdullah Sangki. (Anne B. Acosta)