Gibo calls for enhancing LGU capacity to fight poverty

MANILA, Philippines — Former secretary of national defense and senatorial candidate Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro is pushing for enhancing local government resources and capacity to accelerate poverty reduction in the country.

The local government units (LGUs) are in the best position to determine and solve the concerns in their respective locales, he said.

Teodoro said LGUs should be able to effectively deliver basic social services and implement poverty reduction programs to alleviate the lives of the poor, especially those in rural areas.

“The national government should raise and allocate more resources for the LGUs to enable them to address hunger, malnutrition and inequality in terms of health, education and infrastructure. These are the main causes of poverty in most of our regions,” the former Tarlac congressman and 1989 Bar topnotcher said.

Teodoro also proposes to establish an incentive system to motivate LGUs to hasten poverty reduction.

“Coming from the pandemic, the country’s problem on poverty has become more serious. We should capacitate our LGUs as they are at the forefront in delivering basic services for the people,” he said.