The Department of Interior and Local Government-Region 3 (DILG-Region 3) reported its achievements during the Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas conference held at the DILG-3 Regional Office on July 30, 2024.

During the news conference presented by the Philippine Information Agency (PIA), DILG-3 Regional Director Atty. Anthony C. Nuyda is continuously crafting programs and mechanisms to boost progress in the Central Luzon and promote peace and order in every community.

“We believe that with the help of our development partners and our local government units (LGUs) down to our barangay officials as well as the citizens, the DILG family, which includes the PNP, the BJMP (Bureau of Jail Management and Penology) and the BFP (Bureau of Fire Protection), continues to aggressively promote excellence in local governance,” Nuyda said.

He revealed that for the past two consecutive years, Central Luzon has had the highest number of Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) passers, The SGLG is an institutionalized award, incentive, honor, and recognition-based program for LGUs that remain steadfast in its pledge to promote inclusive and people-centric reforms.

“Although we in Central Luzon have the highest number of SGLG passers, we believe that excellence n local governance should be felt by every citizen,” Nuyda stressed.

The DILG regional official presented various key programs and projects, some larger in scale and some smaller ones implemented in the barangays and facilitated by the department to ensure that Central Luzon residents all feel what they regard to be excellence in local governance.

“For economic development, we envision to be the finest economic hub given Central Luzon’s strategic location and the presence of the biggest economic zones such as the Clark Freeport Zone, the Subic Bay Freeport and the Battan Economic Zone. We hope to capitalize on such possibility to influence nearby provinces to thrive as well in this field,” Nuyda said.

Hse added that as Central Luzon strives to be one of the nation’s economic hubs, he is urging LGUs to comply with the Ease of Doing Business Law by streamlining the processes in the issuance of business permits and licenses.

“Our department, alongside the DICT (Department of Information and Communications and Technology), ARTA (Anti-Red Tape Authority) and other key agencies, introduced and implemented the e-GOV PH and e-LGU Systems which are in line with the directive of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to implement digitalization in government,” Nuyda explained.

“We also introduced and encourage the adoption of the Paleng-QR Ph Plus, a program jointly developed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the DILG in partnership with the DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) to maximize the use of digital payments in public markets and local transportation. This is also in partnership with various market vendors’ and tricycle operators’ and drivers’ associations or TODAs,” he added.

In the field of peaceful, orderly, safe and secure communities, he said the department strives to ensure that peace and development is seen, witnessed and felt in the region.

“One of the flagship programs of DILG Secretary Benhur Abalos Jr. is the BIDA Program, a wholistic approach in combatting illegal drugs by focusing on drug demand reduction through public awareness and active community participation. This was kicked off through the BIDA Fun Run in various parts of Central Luzon where around 10,000 people participated,” Nuyda said.

BIDA Youth Camps were also conducted by student and youth leaders, SK officials and local youth development officers as well as anti-drug symposia in all the state universities and colleges in the Central Luzon in partnership with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the PNP and the Department of Justice (DOJ) which he said they we will continue in private colleges and universities.

He also said that with the help of the PDEA, PNP, DOJ and DOH, the BIDA Anti-Illegal Drugs Summit was conducted attended by drug-affected barangays in Central Luzon which, with the help of barangay officials, aim, to have their barangays declared drug-cleared.

“In two years, with the help of our partner agencies and our LGUs, we were able to successfully conduct 730 BIDA activities regionwide and as a result, 84.3 percent or 2,680 out of the 3,105 barangays are now considered drug-free as of June 30. In all our assessments, all the LGUs in Central Luzon passed the Anti-Drug Abuse Council Functionality Assessment and Peace and Order Performance Audit, with 133 of our 137 LGUs getting a High Functionality Rating in both audits,” the DILG official stated.

To ensure resilient communities and environmental protection, the DILG led the implementation of various programs and projects such as the Halina’t Magtanim ng Prutas at Gulay or HAPAG sa Barangay Project which aims to create community gardens where households can plant vegetables and fruits for their families and their local enterprises.

“The Hapag sa Barangay Project has produced many benefits for our barangay. In the past year, we established 2,263 community gardens across a total of 722,421.5 square meters in Central Luzon. The community gardens have already produced 1,074,600 kilograms vegetables and fruits with an added income of Php715,510.50 for residents,” he pointed out.

To ensure cleanliness in Central Luzon, the DILG, upon the order of the President, spearheaded the implementation of the Kalinisan sa Bagong Pilipinaswhere baranagays, along with the residents, were assigned to clean their communities which yielded in the collection of at least 9 tons of garbage in just five months.

“We also implemented the Barangay Road Clearing Operations or BaRCO in all the barangays of Central Luzon where we achieved a 99.74 percent compliance rating by 3,097 of the 3,105 barangays in the region,” he noted.

Nuyda said progress is not only seen in awards or contests, because the true reward must be felt by every single person in Central Luzon, through prompt service, addressing their needs, and providing opportunities for all.

“We at DILG-Region 3 will continue to promote and implement the #TresTheBest service. Expect we will make everyone feel the Matino, Mahusay at Maaasahan service for everyone in Central Luzon,” Nuyda stressed. (VIA PAMPANGA PRESS CLUB)