Mayor Cezar T. Quiambao, along with his wife Niña Jose-Quiambao, Vice Mayor Raul R. Sabangan, members of the Sangguniang Bayan and LGU department heads, received the Seal of Good Local Governance Award at the Manila Hotel on November 6, 2018.

“SGLG is a distinction for remarkable local governments, isang tatak na nagpapatunay ng mahusay na pamamahala,” said the hosts during the event organized by the Department of Interior and Local Government. This is the fourth consecutive year that Bayambang received the distinguished SGLG Award and the third under the Quiambao-Sabangan administration.

Newly appointed Secretary of DILG Eduardo M. Año personally handed the seal to Mayor Cezar T. Quiambao and SB officials together with Senator Loren Legarda and Senator Sonny Angara. Incidentally, both senators have authored the imminent legislation on the institutionalization of the SGLG.

In his message, Año explained that the awardees have “distinguished themselves in the honor circle,” as “a cut above the rest,” referring to the 263 passers out of a total of 1,682 LGUs in the country. What made this year’s roster of “exemplars” of local governance remarkable, he said, is that they all made it “despite the scaled-up criteria,” from last year’s 4 core areas plus 1 essential area to this year’s 7 core areas, which must be passed “all-in,” meaning “it is all or nothing.” These are the core areas of Financial Administration; Disaster Preparedness; Social Protection; Peace and Order; Business Friendliness and Competitiveness; Environmental Protection; and Tourism, Culture and the Arts.

“SLGL winners are the equivalent of Ironmen in good governance,” Año added. He, however, went on to remind the awardees that the apparent purpose of the SGLG may be to “steer the LGUs to greater heights” … “pero ang SGLG ay bonus lang. Ang tunay na panalo ay ang mga mamamayan na ating pinagsisilbihan” in terms of the improved quality of services they have received.

“It is often said that ‘all politics is local.’ I say, ‘All governance is local,’” remarked Senator Legarda, as she tried to underscore the importance of the role of local chief executives like Mayor Quiambao in the actual implementation on the municipal and barangay levels of all the legislations enacted on the national level.

With its 2018 SGLG win, LGU Bayambang stands to receive a Performance Challenge Fund amounting to PhP3.2M “to help finance high-impact capital investment projects such as water sanitation system, access roads and health centers.”

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