22 new mayors finish course on local governance

MANILA, Philippines - A total of 22 newly elected city and municipal mayors completed an online training on good governance, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said on Friday.

The DILG offered the newly elected officials (NEO) with a program online orientation course designed to guide them in handling local government affairs.

DILG Secretary Mar Roxas awarded certificates of completion to the 22 new mayors during a ceremony at the Heritage Hotel in Pasay City recently.

Roxas commended the local chief executives for their willingness to learn the proper way of dealing with their constituents.

Marivel Sacendoncillo, executive director of the Local Government Academy (LGA), said the success of the program is a positive step for the DILG and LGA to better cater to the needs of the local government units nationwide.

Roxas said the 22 mayors have fulfilled the requirement of the program by completing the two basic modules and three elective modules  through online executive sessions.

Eight of the course finishers are from the Ilocos region, six from Western Visayas, two each from Central Luzon and Central Visayas and one each from Cagayan Valley and Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Quezon).

For the first module of the course, the participants were made to watch a recorded video discussion, of Batangas Gov. Vilma Santos-Recto, Iloilo City Mayor Jed Mabilog and Zamboanga del Sur Mayor Jun Pacalioga.

They were also tasked to watch a video showing President Aquino described his own social contract to guide them in formulating their own social contract for their constituents.