ILOILO CITY – A memorandum of agreement (MOA) on traffic rules drafted this week between the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and the city government here seeks to give more recognition to local autonomy and power of the local government unit in implementing traffic rules in its territorial jurisdiction.

City Mayor Jerry P. Treñas said the MOA is expected to put to rest the volatile situation last week between LTO officials and operatives on one hand and the city traffic enforcers, Traffic Management and Engineering Unit (TMEU) and city officials regarding traffic laws implementation.

The MOA may itself be a model one for all local governments in the country to follow in showing local autonomy mandated by Republic Act 7160 or the Local Government Code of 1991, according to Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Reg. Dir. Evelyn Trompeta. Read more »

ILOILO CITY – The solid waste management board chaired by city mayor Jerry P. Treñas will start full implementation of the anti-littering provisions of city Regulation Ordinance No. 149 or the Environmental Code of Iloilo City starting May 16, 2009 in all 180 barangays here.

Treñas said a comprehensive training module is currently being prepared by the waste board and the city environment and natural resources office for the conduct of a training-seminar to all barangay chiefs and four other persons to include barangay tanods and members of the barangay council. Read more »

A scorecard to measure performance and improve governance in the city. A barangay government code that has resulted in more revenues and better peace and order situation. A market organized by the provincial government but run by farmers. A disaster risk management and risk reduction program of a calamity-prone province.

These are programs of four local government units (LGUs) that were recently given special citation by the Galing Pook Awards—which recognizes best practices of LGUs—for their programs that provide incentives at the local level to improve performance and governance.

The local governments that received the Special Citation on Local Capacity Incentive Mechanism for Good Governance are: Barangay Sanito in Ipil Zamboanga Sibugay, San Fernando City in Pampanga, and the provinces of Negros Oriental and Albay.

Eddie Dorotan, executive director of the Galing Pook Awards told abs-cbnnews.com/Newsbreak that the citation highlights efforts of the local government to come up with innovative programs that give incentives to further improve the delivery of basic services.

According to the souvenir program of the Galing Pook Awards, the recipients of the special citation proved that LGUs have “taken up the challenge of decentralization” brought by the enactment of the Local Government Code and have “continually innovated to make delivery of services more efficient.” Read more »

ILOILO CITY – A memorandum of agreement (MOA) on traffic policy between the city government here and Land Transportation Office (LTO) is being finalized soon to ease out disagreements over traffic implementation in this highly urbanized southern city.

This was announced by city mayor Jerry P. Treñas after talking to LTO chief, Gen Arturo Lomibao over the powers of the city government in implementing traffic rules and regulations through a local law mandated by the local government code and that of a joint memorandum of LTO and DOTC. Read more »

ILOILO CITY – The city government here and the Land Transportation Office (LTO) jointly agreed a moratorium on confiscation of driver’s license of traffic violators pending the final memorandum of agreement (MOA) set to be finalized within this week.

City Mayor Jerry P. Treñas said the agreement was arrived at during a meeting of officials of the LTO, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the city government today, February 16 at the city mayor’s office to thresh out difficulties on the implementation of traffic rules by city traffic aides and LTO agents.

Treñas said that representatives sent by DOTC ASec Arturo Lomibao who is currently LTO chief and DILG lawyers from the central office in Manila arrived in this city to participate in the meeting aimed to solve the traffic impasse between the city and LTO regional office. Read more »

Parking on and off the road has imposed a big problem in traffic management in Iloilo City.

This was emphasized by Professor Lorena Padojinog, Consultant of the MIGEDC-JICA TWG or Metro Iloilo Guimaras Economic Development Council-Japan International Cooperation Agency, Transportation and Traffic Management Sector.

Prof. Padojinog explained that on-road parking is when vehicles park on the part or on the shoulder of the road; while off-road parking is done on a position or space not part of the road.

She noted that what presently happens on several streets in the City proper is that parking is done “on-road”, limiting the capacity of the road, and adding to the congestion of the road lanes and will result to traffic jams. Read more »

The Metro Iloilo-Guimaras Economic Development Council (MIGEDC) in partnership with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) under the Multi-stakeholder Transport Planning and Traffic Management Improvement in Metro Iloilo-Guimaras (MTMI-MIG) program is set to conduct a social experimentation on the exclusive left turn lane, a traffic scheme starting Jan. 12-15, 2009. Read more »

ILOILO City – The Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) deferred action on the proposed resolution filed by Vice Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog establishing a bicycle lane on the Iloilo Boulevard, the road being constructed connecting the Carpenters Bridge in Molo district and Forbes Bridge in La Paz district.

Councilor Eduardo Peñaredondo said the proposal is premature because the Iloilo Boulevard is not yet finished.

Mabilog asked Mayor Jerry Treñas to have the new road utilized as a bicycle lane to decongest traffic on the main road from Molo to the City Proper. Read more »

City entry is Galing Pook Award finalist

ILOILO CITY – An innovative public school education program called “Project Jerry” spearheaded by the Iloilo Division of City Schools and the city government here headed by city mayor Jerry P. Treñas has been selected as a finalist in the 2008 Galing Pook Awards (GPA).

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will award plaques of recognition to the 10 top winners and 9 finalists at the February 12 awarding rites in Malacañang Palace while Development Bank of the Philippines will host a dinner to the winners and finalists.

Project Jerry, which stands for “Join Education Reading Recovery for the Youth”, is an initiative to improve the quality and standard of public education in this southern city. Read more »

Call for Proposals: Dialogue on Governance: Strategic Projects Facility (SPF 2)

Reference: DCI-ASIE/126814/L/ACT/P

Dialogue on Governance: Strategic Projects Facility (SPF 2)

Call for Proposals

Reference: DCI-ASIE/126814/L/ACT/PH

The European Commission is seeking proposals for projects in the Philippines which might receive grant assistance from the EC-funded “Dialogue on Governance: Strategic Projects Facility” (SPF 2).

The overall objective of the SPF2 is to contribute to improving governance as underlying condition for reaching the MDGs. The project purpose is to catalyze actions of stakeholders to improve the quality of local governance.

Objective of this call for proposals

The SPF2 will support projects that showcase innovative models for partnerships that will build on complementary capacities of different stakeholders in local governance, in order to increase efficiency and effectiveness, and reinforce accountability of local government units, for them to provide public goods that respond to the needs of all sections of the community, including the poor. Applications can come from LGUs, NGOs, and other stakeholders in local governance.

Priorities of this call for proposals

Proposals submitted under this call for proposals should be designed to feature both cross-cutting themes, and should focus on at least one of the sectoral themes listed below. Read more »