The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) today announced that 714 local government units (LGUs) will be conferred with the prestigious 2024 Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG), the highest number of awardees in the history of SGLG.

The SGLG is an institutionalized recognition-based program for excellent governance by LGUs.

Of the 714 LGU awardees, 41 are provinces, 96 are cities, and 577 are municipalities.

A total of 22 LGUs are 8-time winners, while 135 are SGLG first-timers.

Among all the regions of the country, Region III garnered the highest number of SGLG winners with 106, followed by Region I with 83, and Region VI with 62.

All LGU awardees shall receive an SGLG marker and SGLG Incentive Fund to finance local development initiatives that can further national goals and strategic thrusts.

The DILG emphasized that this year’s assessment has been upgraded to include more outcome-based criteria to distinguish and incentivize good performance that meets the demands of public accountability and reform.

Governance areas assessed are financial administration and sustainability; disaster preparedness; social protection and sensitivity; health compliance and responsiveness; sustainable education; business-friendliness and competitiveness; safety, peace and order; environmental management; tourism, heritage development, culture and arts; and youth development.