DILG chief asks LGUs to make periodic reports on use of funds for public works projects

DILG Secretary and Liberal Party frontrunner for 2016 Mar Roxas (Photo from Roxas’ official Facebook page)

MANILA — Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II wants local government units (LGUs) to make periodic reports on the progress of public works projects implemented under the Performance Challenge Fund (PCF) to ensure that funds are used for their intended purposes.

Under the PCF, provinces are given Php 7 million additional funds for the construction of roads, bridges, and flood-control projects.

Cities and municipalities are entitled to Php 3 million and Php 1 million, respectively.

The DILG chief explained only LGUs that pass certain criteria on good governance are eligible.

Since the DILG launched the program in 2010, at least 1,711 LGUs have received the Seal of Good Local Governance, formerly called Seal of Good Housekeeping, that made them qualified to receive the financial incentive.

In the Guidelines on Monitoring and Reporting on PCF Implementation, Roxas requires provinces, cities and municipalities to submit quarterly reports to the DILG Regional Offices, delineating utilization of funds and stages of accomplishment of the projects.

For their part, the regional offices must submit the reports to the Local Governance Division for publication.

The same guidelines encourage civil society groups to participate in the monitoring of the projects and preparation of the reports, thus ensuring more transparency.

According to Roxas, “the purpose is to make it hard, if not impossible, for corrupt government officials to earn commissions from projects, much less divert the entire allocation to non-government organizations.”