Photo by GERRY GORIT
MISAMIS Oriental was among the 96 local government units (LGUs) in Region 10 which garnered the prestigious 2024 Seal of Good Financial Housekeeping.
The Seal of Good Financial Housekeeping is a component of the Seal of Good Local Governance which is awarded to provincial, city and municipal governments that have shown remarkable compliance in the accounting and auditing standards, rules and regulations.
The award received by the province is timely because it gave more credence and boost to the ongoing State of the Province Address handed out by Gov. Peter Unabia himself at each city and municipality.
During the first leg held at Alubijid and witnessed by second district Rep. Yevgeny Vincente Emano, Mayor Emmanuel Jamis, the 16 barangay chairmen and more than 3,000 constituents, Unabia touted his flagship single digit poverty initiative as being key to the continuing success of the province after three years in office.
“We have already decreased our poverty incidence among population from 25.1 percent in 2021 to 22.8 percent in 2023 as per PSA data gathered. But we will not stop there. We need to reduce our poverty incidence to eight percent by 2028,” Unabia said.
With Misamis Oriental’s population pegged at almost a million, Unabia is on track there.
The governor is a key believer in participatory and consultative governance and has organized stakeholder fora in various issues to achieve consensus among technical experts and constituents alike on how to solve each particular issue.
Unabia – a reelectionist this May along with Emano, first district Rep. Christian Unabia and Vice Gov. Jeremy Jonahmar Pelaez – has also instituted the adopt a barangay concept.
This means each department of the Capitol needs to adopt a barangay and cater to its governance and social needs yearlong.
Unabia believes that the adopt a barangay initiative is effective and key to the reduction of poverty incidence provincewide.
It is with these efforts that Misamis Oriental has received the Seal of Good Local Governance and other highly coveted awards from the national government and non-government organizations.
The State of the Province Address will be held in the following dates: March 4 in Balingasag and Lagonglong; March 5 in Salay; March 6 in Manticao and Libertad; March 7 in Jasaan and Villanueva; March 8 in Sugbongcogon and Binuangan; March 10 in Balingoan; March 11 in Magsaysay and Talisayan; March 12 in Medina; and March 13 in Naawan and Initao.
