Despite the fact that the municipality of Bato slid by three rungs from the 2020 national ranking of 6th to ninth last year, Mayor Johnny Rodulfo is happy that the town has proven its consistency as far as the Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI) is concerned.
He pointed out that several municipal LGUs in the top 10 for the 5th to 6th class also dropped in the standings.
Bato, he said, has always ranked in the top 10 as far as infrastructure, resiliency and economic dynamism is concerned, compared to the other towns in Catanduanes whose scores are way below.
“Uya pano sa samuya, kung ano ang procedure na piga gibo samuya kan DILG, maski limired baga ang resources nin municipio, nagigibohan mi ning paraan,” the chief executive told the Tribune last week.
He cited as an example the process of approving business permits, especially for small businesses, which takes at most an hour to complete, thanks to the Business One-Stop Shop approach.
As far as reports are concerned, Rodulfo said the LGU always submits reports on time.
The local economy, he pointed out, is booming, with Bato enjoying the services of two gasoline stations when it used to have none.
A grilled chicken franchise recently set up shop in the town, along with the PLDC wholesale and retail store, with ARDCI looking to build its own edifice in Bato while another drugstore is soon to be opened in Cabugao.
The mayor expressed satisfaction that Bato’s business sector is growing, with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) recently giving food carts for vendors at the Bato river park.
Judging by its sustained success in the competitiveness rankings, the Rodulfo administration, squarely backed up by the Sangguniang Bayan led by Vice Mayor Roy Regalado, must be doing things right.
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The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has issued guidelines to help ensure the timely approval of the local government appropriations ordinance.
Approved recently by Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr., the guidelines reiterate the responsibility of each local chief executive to prepare and submit the executive budget to the Sanggunian not later than October 16, with the latter to enact the budget ordinance before the end of the fiscal year.
What is new is that a Mediation Committee has been instituted to help resolve issues and concerns relating to the preparation and adoption of the budget ordinance.
The committee will be headed by the Director of the DILG’s Bureau of Local Government Supervision (BLGS), with the following as members: a duly designated member of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP), the DILG regional director, the DILG provincial director, the provincial, city or municipal Local Government Operations Officer (LGOO), and the Local Government Relations Division of the BLGS which shall act as secretariat.
In the event of gridlocks in the passage of the budget ordinance, any interested party from the executive or legislative branch of the LGU may seek the assistance of the Mediation Committee to provide for a venue and facilitate the amicable settlement of the issue causing the gridlock.
Within 15 days from receipt of the request, the committee shall schedule the mediation proceeding, which should take no more than a day to discuss and thresh out the issue.
In case the proceeding ends in failure, the committee shall issue a resolution stating whether the issue has been resolved through an agreement of the parties, cannot be resolved within the committee level and needs Court intervention, and/or there is a need to investigate the necessity to file administrative charges against erring officials.
Failure to comply with the unnumbered memorandum circular can lead to a penalty for the LGU officials, Sec. Abalos warned.
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THE TERRIBLE NEWS. This guy was sitting in his attorney’s office.
His lawyer says, “Do you want the bad news first or the terrible news?”
“Give me the bad news first,” he says.
“Your wife found a picture worth a half-million dollars,” his lawyer informs him.
“That’s the bad news?” asks the man incredulously. “I can’t wait to hear the terrible news.”
“The terrible news is that it’s of you and your secretary.”