THE Quezon City government has officially launched its own version of Seal of Good Housekeeping that was started by the Department of Interior and Local Government, this time it’s designed for its 142 barangays which seeks to choose among them that demonstrate public accountability, transparency and performance, among others.
Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte, the prime initiator of the project which got the full backing from the entire city officials led by Mayor Bistek Bautista, explains that it’s in response to the national government’s call for good local governance.
“Quezon City has been pushing for participatory governance focusing on deepening democratic engagement through the participation of citizens in the processes of governance with the local government,” she says.
In a bid to be responsive to this kind of engagement and further the efforts toward public accountability and transparency, the local government has been deemed to implement the Seal of Good Housekeeping in all its barangays, says Belmonte, the Sangguniang Panlunsod’s presiding officer.
It will have two levels of seal, the Gawad Huwarang Pamamahala Award as the second level of seal and the Dangal ng Lungsod Award being the top level of the seal. Cash rewards await barangays that will be chosen as winners of the two levels of QCBSGH.
Moving towards good governance, Quezon City is the first local government unit to institutionalize the Barangay Seal of Good Housekeeping, says Belmonte, the daughter of ex-mayor and now House Speaker Sonny Belmonte.
CALOOCAN’S DISASTER PREPAREDNESS
CALOOCAN City’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office along with participants from its 188 barangays recently took part in “Multi-Hazard and Risk Maps” campaign which was initiated by the Collective Strengthening of Community Awareness on Natural Disasters Group (CSCAND).
Though he wasn’t able to attend the significant event since he had equally important matters to attend to, Mayor Oca Malapitan has expressed gratitude to those who started the project and so those who attended from the barangays.
“It is an honor for our city to be a part of this campaign. We all know that disaster does not choose a place or time so we have to be doubly prepared in any eventuality,” Mayor Malapitan says.
Meanwhile, lawyer Elvin Cruz, chief of staff of Liga ng mga Barangay President and Councilor Dale “Along” Malapitan, the mayor’s son, who represented the Malapitans during the event, says the campaign was vital to the city’s disaster preparedness efforts as the local government was concerned more on the safety and protection of its constituents especially when tragedy strikes.
Minister Counsellor Layton Pike from the Australian Embassy in the Philippines graced the occasion and reiterated the support of the Australian government to the country especially in times of disasters.
The one-day intensive workshop featured a hands-on training on map reading and gave a more in-depth knowledge of different hazards as well as the barangays’ vulnerability to each hazard.
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