At least seven municipalities in Eastern Visayas received recently P7 million Performance Challenge Fund (PCF) from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse M. Robredo said the seven highly performing towns became recipients of the PCF after they were conferred with the Seal of Good Housekeeping (SGH).

Robredo, assisted by DILG Region VIII Director Pedro Noval, handed over the checks worth P1 million each to the mayors of the seven towns during the Tapatan Roadshow on Disaster Preparedness held at the DPWH Convention Center in Palo, Leyte .

He identified the beneficiary municipalities as Burauen, Jaro, Alang-Alang, all from the province of Leyte, Hinunangan, Southern Leyte, Laoang, Northern Samar, Guiuan, Eastern Samar, and Naval, Biliran.

“We hope that through the PCF the beneficiary LGUs will be able to further enhance their performance, and improve their services to their constituents,” Robredo said.

The PCF is a financial incentive granted to qualified LGUs for them to finance their local development initiatives along the areas of tourism and local economic development, disaster risk reduction and management and solid waste management.

For an LGU to qualify for the PCF, it should be conferred with the Seal of Good Housekeeping (SGH). The seal is given to LGUs that have complied with the government’s full disclosure policy and have no adverse report from the Commission on Audit ( COA ).

The awarding of the PCF highlighted last Monday’s one-day forum on disaster preparedness which was attended by more than 500 participants that includes governors, mayors and other local officials of Eastern Visayas, national government officials, representatives from non-government organization and civil society organizations.

The Eastern Visayas Tapatan was the fifth regional summit on disaster preparedness under the auspices of the DILG aimed at inculcating in the minds of the people especially local government officials on the significance of being prepared in case disasters strike in their areas.

During the forum participants were briefed by officials from the Office of Civil Defense, Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council and Pag-asa on the different topics on disaster and climate change including the national and local disaster risk reduction and management frameworks.

Robredo said his department will sustain the Tapatan effort in other regions of the country particularly in Mindanao and Luzon especially at this time with the onset of the typhoon season. ###

DILG Central News Archive DILG Regional News Archive