For the fourth time, the City of San Pedro in Laguna received the annual citation given by the Department of the Interior and Local Government to local government units for good governance standards.
As a municipality, then under the leadership of former Mayor Calixto R. Cataquiz, San Pedro was awarded the 2013 Seal of Good Housekeeping by then DILG Secretary Jessie Robredo. The award was renamed Seal of Good Governance and was awarded to San Pedro by then Secretary Mar Roxas in 2014. In 2015, San Pedro City Mayor Lourdes S. Cataquiz received the Seal for San Pedro as a high-performing city, also from Secretary Roxas.
Last October 27, 2016, Secretary Ismael Sueno handed the Seal to Mayor Lourdes S. Cataquiz during an awarding ceremony held at Sofitel Philippine Plaza Hotel in Pasay City.
The Seal is conferred to cities and municipalities which have measured up to performance standards on financial administration, social protection, disaster preparedness, business friendliness and competitiveness, peace and order, and environmental management.
In exhorting the winning LGUs to sustain its high performance, Secretary Sueno said: “If you have received the award, do not relax, do not be complacent, do more, do not stop. Instead, engage more. Interact with the public and other sectors and listen to their concerns, find ways to improve services. Level up to make this nation great again. The password today is change. Make change happen.”
Keynote speaker Senator Loren Legarda encouraged the awardees to continue implementing the laws that are passed by the Senate, saying “no matter how useful the laws that we enact, if we do not implement it effectively, it is just ink on paper.” She reiterated that the LGUs are responsible for implementing the policies and programs under those laws.
During the event, Secretary Sueno and Undersecretary Austere Panadero urged the LGUs to support genuine local autonomy through federalism, which is part of President Rodrigo Duterte’s program of governance. Senator Sonny Angara and Secretary Sueno presented the Seal to the recipients.
