During the opening program, CSC 6 regional director Nelson G. Sarmiento noted that this is the first face-to-face learning engagement of the Commission since the pandemic started.

“It’s been almost three years that we have not had learning and development interventions. You have shown the indicator that our local executives are now ready for a lot of changes as we saw then,” he said.

As part of the goal of this event, Sarmiento pointed out to the local officials the current changes the government bureaucracy is facing, especially in rendering public service.

A series of topics are to be discussed with the local officials covering administrative authority as elective officials, privileges as civil servants, LGU breakthroughs, and best practices in local governance.

Also included are the recent rulings of various government agencies such as the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), and the Commission on Audit (COA).

Meanwhile, Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr., in his message, conveyed  

On the same note, the video message of the host local executive, Mayor Jerry Treñas of Iloilo City, stated that this conversation will allow each LGU to learn from the best practices of each other and replicate them in their localities.

“These best practices will help us achieve our desired goals for our respective towns and cities and will further improve our way of governing our units,” he said.

A total of 1,084 governors, vice governors, mayors, vice mayors, and board members as well as human resource heads of the local government units across the region participated in the said event.