Sectoral partners from civil society organizations (CSOs) and non-government organizations (NGOs) in Central Visayas participated in the USAPANG LOKAL V.2.0: Dagyaw 2021 Region 7 Virtual Town Hall meetings today.
This year’s episode centers on the changes in the local governance landscape following the implementation of the Mandanas-Garcia Supreme Court ruling and full devolution under Executive Order No. 138.
The session was led by DILG-7, along with other Participatory Governance cluster members, Department of Budget and Management (DBM)-7 and Philippine Information Agency (PIA)-7, to serve as an avenue for the private sectors to get involved in the discussion, and foster an inclusive and healthy exchange of viewpoints on various national policies and programs among stakeholders.
Resource persons were DBM-7 Officer-in-Charge and Chief Budget and Management Specialist Carlo Maraat, Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Felix Taguiam, and Kaabag sa Sugbo Foundation Executive Director Catherine Ruiz.
Director Leocadio Trovela, in his message, expressed his gratitude to the stakeholders for their active participation, and emphasized the importance of providing an avenue for the public to raise their respective concerns amid the challenges brought about by the pandemic.
“Thank you so much for your attendance. This will be a very productive engagement between regional line agencies, sectoral partners, and our local and field officers,” he said.
“The beauty of blended activity such as this is we can have multitude of participants coming together and talk about the important concerns affecting local governance in a cost-effective manner,” he added.
Other highlights of the activity was the discussion on the propositions from the business community and the crucial roles of CSOs and NGOs in the successful implementation of the full devolution in the region.