As the 2023 Peace and Order Council (POC) Performance Audit commences, Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benhur Abalos said only high-performing POCs of local government units (LGUs) will be eligible for the prestigious Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) Awards.

“Peace and order is an integral governance area that needs to be prioritized by our LGUs. This is why LGUs with high-performing POCs are the only ones eligible to bag the much-coveted SGLG,” Abalos underscored.

This he stressed as the DILG released the guidelines for the 2023 POC Audit, which aims to assess the performance of the Regional, Provincial, City, and Municipal POCs; identify innovations of POCs; and determine possible interventions and improvement strategies for POCs.

The audit will cover a total of 1,733 regional, provincial, city, and municipal POCs.

The POC is the government’s platform for stronger collaboration of the local government unit (LGU) with law enforcement agencies and the community to fight criminality, illegal drugs, insurgency, and violent extremism.

Under the guidelines, POCs with a performance rating of 85 percent and above shall be considered eligible and qualified for the SGLG Award under the governance area of Safety, Peace and Order.

“Ngayong taon, mas mahirap pumasa sa POC performance audit. Kaya dito natin masusukat kung talagang naitataguyod ang kaayusan at kapayapaan sa mga lokalidad, kung talagang nagtatrabaho ang POCs sa ating bansa,” Abalos said.

The performance audit process of POCs will be done online through the POC audit system, and shall be guided by two main pillars, namely functionality and development.

Functionality indicators include organization; meetings; policies, plans, budget; general supervision; and innovation. This pillar aims to assess POCs based on their capacity to deliver their basic functions and responsibilities as outlined by the Omnibus Guidelines on POCs.

On the other hand, development indicators include addressing criminality; ensuring public safety; gender sensitivity; and citizen participation.

Abalos said the audit process shall be conducted by the National Audit Committee (NAC) for the regional POCs (RPOCs); Regional Audit Committees (RACs) for the provincial, highly urbanized city/independent component city POCs; and Provincial Audit Committees for component city and municipal POCs.

Original Article at: https://www.dilg.gov.ph/news/Abalos-Only-high-performing-peace-and-order-councils-are-eligible-for-SGLG/NC-2024-1056