Dagupan, finalist for Galing Pook Award
BALON DAGUPAN NEWS
THE Dagupan City government is in the short list of 10 local government units as finalists in this year’s nationwide search for Galing Pook Award.
Evaluators of the Galing Pook Foundation led by former Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Victor Ramos and Lorenzo Ubalde were in Dagupan last June 3 to evaluate the city’s River Rehabilitation Program “Sa Ilog Ko, May Pagbabago.”
The Galing Pook Award is a pioneering program that recognizes innovation and excellence in local governance. It started in 1993 under the joint initiative of the Local Government Academy-Department of the Interior and Local Government, the Ford Foundation, and other individual advocates of good governance from the academe, civil society and the government.
The Galing Pook winners are chosen each year from a wide array of programs from local governments after undergoing a rigorous multi-level screening process. The winning programs are selected based on positive results and impact, promotion of people’s participation and empowerment, innovation, transferability and sustainability, and efficiency of program service delivery.
The objectives of the ‘Sa Ilog Ko, May Pagbabago’ program is the improvement and maintenance of good water quality of the city river compliant to the Clean Water Act; increase the socio-economic activities for the fisheries sector in the city; make the life sustaining capacity of the rivers economically viable; and create and instill a sense of pride among Dagupeños for the rivers, its bounty and benefits.
One of the components of the city’s program is the removal of all illegal fishpens in the rivers, the planting of 280,000 mangrove propagules and seedlings.
The other component is the management of 21 mangrove species and its associates, adoption of an integrated coastal management plan, continuous dredging operations and the conduct of regular water quality monitoring.
At the same time, displaced fisherfolks were given appropriate sustainable livelihood assistance after the fish pens were dismantled.
At least 19 motorboats equipped with fishing gears and fish finders were also given to fisher folks while others were beneficiaries of the beach seine project, ‘One Barangay, One Fish’ project, floating oyster rafts and mudcrab culture project.
Their wives were also trained by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources on the latest standards on bangus processing.
Also included as its component, is the creation of the island tour, the implementation of bangus tagging and the opening of the product center. (CIO)
Share your Comments or Reactions
Powered by Facebook Comments
