LGU technical personnel with their development partners and local resource institute representatives from the five (5) pre-identified city and provincial governments in Region 02 with exemplary practices on the five (5) major outcomes of the department.

Province of Cagayan for Peaceful, Orderly and Safe LGUs, highlighting on their innovative approaches in implementing the Comprehensive Local Integration Program; Santiago City’s child friendly local governance for Socially Protective LGUs; Province of Isabela’s BRO program for Accountable, Transparent, Participative and Effective Local Governance; Cauayan City’s Public Private Partnership initiatives for Business-Friendly and Competitive LGUs; and Province of Batanes’ indigenous yet effective disaster preparedness practices for Environment-Protective, Climate Change Adaptive and Disaster-Resilient LGUs.

DILG RO2, through the LGRRC2 supplement government’s effort of institutionalizing knowledge management and promotion of good practices for possible replication of other LGUs. Participants actively did their part in realizing the writeshop’s aim enhanced the skills of the LGU technical staff and documenters in the preparation of advocacy materials and documenting their good practice for possible replication.

In her welcome remarks, Local Government Monitoring and Evaluation Division (LGMED) Chief Digna R. Herrera referred to the LGUs’ innovations and initiatives as effective strategies in providing solutions to the challenges faced by the LGUs. She further said that having these practices documented, stored in a databank and made available for sharing would inevitably push local communities alike at a more progressive state.

As a kick-off, the participants were briefed on the basic concepts of knowledge management. Results of the DILG R2’s three-year analysis using the Governance Assessment Report of the Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) were likewise presented to provide an overview on the LGUs’ trend of performance across areas. Experts from partner institutions and local media were invited to serve as resource persons and to provide significant inputs in the presentation and critiquing of workshop outputs.

The enhanced group outputs were presented during the forum conducted on the third day before the municipal mayors and LGU technical staff and documenters of selected LGUs in the region. During the shopping of good practices, questions of possible LGU replicators were raised and addressed accordingly by the concerned.

Mayor Joseph S. Tan of Santiago City elaborated in his response the doable strategies and mechanisms that the city government has undertaken in the implementation of the BESPREN Program.

“I challenged every LGU official to formulate and implement programs, projects and activities that are participatory, innovative, sustainable and worthy of replication so that together, we will build a region filled with exemplar LGUs”, Regional Director Jonathan Paul M. Leusen, Jr., CESO IV said with conviction in his closing message.# LGOO II Blessing Grace V. Ganitano