Iloilo unseats Negros Occ. as Best Performing Province

CEBU, Philippines -  Negros Occidental falls to second Best Performing Province after Iloilo won this year's Excellence in Local Governance award from the Department of Interior and Local Government.

Provincial Planning and Development Coordinator Ma. Lina Sanogal confirmed that Iloilo bested Negros Occidental in four of the five categories in the EXCELL awards, which was held Tuesday at the Iloilo Grand Hotel.

Iloilo topped the categories of administrative governance, economic governance, social governance and environmental governance, while Negros Occidental only took the valuing fundamentals of good governance. 

Sanogal said she was happy for Iloilo, adding that, "Negros Occidental had set a very high standard."

Negros Occidental was the first local government unit to won the award in 2008 and was declared Hall of Famer in 2011 after it was hailed as the Best Performing Province for three consecutive years from then on.

Negros Occidental won the award again in 2012 and 2013, and was eyeing for a second Hall of Famer award, had it not been overtaken by Iloilo this year. "I'm interested to know what programs that propel Iloilo since it was not as competitive as before," Sanogal said.

In the social governance category, Sanogal said Iloilo defeated Negros Occidental with the former's innovation in its medical mission program against the Negros Occidental Comprehensive Health Program (NOCHP) and the Provincial Peace Integration and Development Unit, which were championed by Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr.

Sanogal said the cash reward for the overall champion was P20,000. Getting the first-runner up honor was still a good achievement for Negros Occidental, she added.  (FREEMAN)