The Sangguniang Panlungsod of the Local Government Unit of Tacurong welcomed the Regional Awards Committee (RAC) of the Local Legislative Award on November 3, 2015 for a field validation. All the members and staff of the Sanggunian were present to welcome the assessors while City Mayor Lina O. Montilla and various heads of offices were present to give their support to the city legislative.
The RAC were composed of officers from the different regional government agencies including the DILG, DSWD, DENR, and DBM; the private sector also had a representation through the South Cotabato Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The committee evaluated the sanggunian in the following criteria: effectiveness of the legislative agenda, availability of legislative documents, efficiency of performance of the sanggunian, quality of office set-up and staff complement, legislative citations and awards, and capacity development for legislators and staff.
Mayor Lina O. Montilla, in her message during the event, was all praise for the sanggunian because of their achievements for the past two consecutive award cycles where they bagged the top prize for the Local Legislative Award on Outstanding Component City in the region. She commended and thanked their hardwork and teamwork because the outcome of which were the passing of effective ordinances and resolutions that helped improve the lives of the constituents.
On the other hand, in his welcome address, Vice Mayor Joseph George Lechonsito said, “Being acknowledged or recognized is good. Yet, for us in the Office of the Sangguninang Panlungsod, we are always striving hard to fulfill our official duties and responsibilities not just for the sake of recognition, but more importantly, that the public, especially our constituents, actually receive the goods and services that they need and other benefits that they deserve.”
The Local Legislative Award was launched by the Philippine Councilors League (PCL) in partnership with the DILG in 2006. It recognizes the exemplary performance of the sanggunians, particularly of cities and municipalities, for legislating measures that help build the foundation of meaningful local administration and development.
Given every three years, the current cycle’s evaluation covers performances by the sanggunian from July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2015. It is competing with Kidapawan and Koronadal cities for the award.(Yen Robles, LGU-Tacurong)