Twenty-seven top-performing barangays from the four municipalities of Guimaras were conferred the Seal of Good Local Governance for Barangays (SGLGB) after passing the stringent screening by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

“SGLGB is a performance assessment intended to measure the performance of barangays, (and) at the same time, recognize those that stand out in terms of performance across various governance areas,” DILG Guimaras Director Roselyn Quintana said in an interview on Tuesday.

The four governance areas are transparency, disaster preparedness, peace and order, and quality service delivery.

Those that passed the provincial level screening each received a PHP20,000 cash incentive and an additional PHP100,000 for barangays that passed the national screening. They also received a trophy.

The 27 barangays that hurdled the 2024 provincial screening are Barangays Alegria, Ayangan, Concordia Norte, Oracon Norte, Ravina, Sebaste, and Tanglad from the municipality of Sibunag; Cabano, Constancia, Sapal, and Sebario from San Lorenzo; Canhawan, Dolores, La Paz, San Roque, and Tando from Nueva Valencia; and Agsanayan, Getulio, New Poblacion, Old Poblacion, San Isidro, San Nicolas, San Pedro, San Roque, Tacay, Tanag and Tinadtaran from Buenavista.

Barangay Tanag went on to pass the national SGLGB screening.

Tanag received PHP200,000 for passing the national SGLGB in 2023 and 2024, while Agsanayan was awarded PHP100,000 for passing the 2023 SGLGB.

The DILG, together with the provincial government of Guimaras, which provided the cash incentives, and the Liga ng mga Barangay, recognized the awardees in a ceremony during the celebration of the 33rd provincehood anniversary of Guimaras on May 22.

“Through this performance assessment and recognition system, the barangays will be able to continuously progress in terms of delivering services to their constituents, and at the same time promote governance and integrity as part of the principles that embody local autonomy and development,” Quintana said.

She also expressed hope that the winning barangays would allot their cash incentives for a certain development project in their communities.

“But we leave it to the provincial government how they guide the barangays in terms of the disbursement of the fund,” she added.

Meanwhile, Quintana encouraged other barangays in Guimaras to perform with dedication and diligence, especially in making their barangay-based institutions functional, which serves as a basis for looking into their performance.

As early as now, she said, the barangays should start with self-assessment as the municipal local government operations officer would begin evaluating them within the period before June in preparation for the 2025 SGLGB. (PNA)