MANILA, (PIA) -- The Lupong Tagapamayapa (LT) in more than 42,000 barangays in the country must now pass a more intensified assessment criteria before getting the 2023 Lupong Tagapamayapa Incentive Awards (LTIA), according to Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benjamin "Benhur" Abalos, Jr.

"We are jumpstarting LTIA 2023 with an enhanced criteria and guidelines to elevate the performance of LTs in the barangay. We wish to strengthen the LTs in order to better promote Katarungang Pambarangay (KP) in the communities," said Abalos.

"Our Lupong Tagapamayapa are our frontliners when it comes to maintaining peace and order at the grassroots. Which is why it is important that we update our policies on this every now and then," he added.

The LTIA is the annual recognition of outstanding LTs that include the Punong Barangay and ten to twenty members assigned to solve cases referred to them and implement and disseminate KP in their area.

According to Abalos, it is timely to update the assessment criteria of the LTIA to ensure even faster resolution of cases brought to the LT by the barangays. He added that the LTIA awarding policy was last amended in 2016.

Through DILG Memorandum Circular (MC) No. 2023-022, Abalos stated that one of the changes in the LTIA guidelines is the larger points in the settlement and award period criteria, where at least ten must be filed with the Board and the case resolved through mediation , conciliation and arbitration within the stipulated period. (PIA-NCR)