At least 45 local government units in Central Luzon received on Wednesday a total of P57 million from the government’s Performance Challenge Fund (PCF) administered by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse M. Robredo, assisted by DILG Region III Director Florida M. Dijan, handed over the PCF checks to the recipient province, cities and municipalities of Region III during the Tapatan Roadshow on Disaster Preparedness and Climate Change Adaptation held in Clarkfield, Angeles City.

Robredo said that of 45 beneficiary LGUs, 41 were municipalities, three were cities and one province. The province of Aurora was the lone recipient of P7 million PCF; the three cities, Malolos, Meycauayan in Bulacan and San Jose in Nueva Ecija, each received P3 million, while the 41 other towns received P1 million each.

Aurora Gov. Bellaflor A. Castillo received the PCF check for her province, while Mayors Christian D. Natividad of Malolos City, Joan V. Alarilla of Meycauayan City and Marivic V. Belena of San Jose City received the funds for their respective cities.

“We hope that through the PCF, LGUs will be able to further enhance their performance in local administration and improve their services to their constituents,” the DILG secretary said.

The PCF is a financial incentive awarded to qualified LGUs to jumpstart local development initiatives that are aligned with the national government’s programs for the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals, tourism and local economic development, disaster risk reduction and management and solid waste management.

Robredo explained that for an LGU to qualify for the PCF, it should pass the assessment on good housekeeping and eventually conferred with the Seal of Good Housekeeping (SGH) in key governance areas of fiscal management, transparency and accountability and valuing performance management.

He called on local officials to strive for the SGH as a tenet of good governance, as well as urged them to use the PCF to finance development projects such as, school building, water and sanitation system, local roads and bridges, flood control, reforestation, among others.

Robredo told the more than 500 participants in Region III ’s Tapatan that the government had allocated P750 million for this year’s Performance Challenge Fund. ###

DILG Central News Archive DILG Regional News Archive