'Daang Matuwid' agenda has strengthened provincial governments, says Pres. Aquino

President Benigno S. Aquino III underscored the need to continue his Daang Matuwid agenda, when he attended the 7th League of Provinces of the Philippines General Assembly, held Tuesday (March 15) at the Century Park Hotel in Manila.

In his speech, the President said the country's bureaucracy has been reformed, benefitting local government units (LGUs) across the country regardless of their leaders’ political affiliation.

He noted that in the past, especially during the financial crisis in the late 1990s, local governments could hardly fund projects they wanted to implement.

There was scarcity of money to finance basic services, such as health care, infrastructure and social welfare, he said.

But today, due to good governance, there is for instance a modern weather monitoring system, the President said, adding that the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) stand ready to aid communities whenever there is an approaching weather disturbance.

President Aquino appealed to the governors to support the administration’s candidates so that improvements under his reform agenda could continue.

Among the topics discussed during Tuesday's general assembly was the implementation of the Kongkreto at Ayos na Lansangan at Daan Tungo sa Pangkalahatang Kaunlaran (KALSADA) program.

Provincial governments have received P6.5 billion through performance-based direct downloads to local governments that meet governance standards and social development benchmarks, and have established monitoring and evaluation mechanism.

The KALSADA program is part of the Local Government Support Fund, jointly implemented by the Department of Interior and Local Government and the Department of Budget and Management in cooperation with the DPWH.

The League of Provinces of the Philippines was established by virtue of the Local Government Code of 1991.

It primarily aims to ventilate and articulate issues affecting provincial and metropolitan government administrations, and serves to secure, through proper and legal means, solutions to problems confronting LGUs.  (PCOO News Release)