By Wilson J Hormeguera
Xavier University - Governance and Leadership Institute (GLI) held a training workshop on local government unit (LGU) management for the new local chief executive and staff of Impasugong, Bukidnon on October 10-11 at Pearlmont Hotel, Cagayan de Oro City.
Mayor Anthony Uy, who succeeded the late Mayor Mario Okinlay, was elected vice-mayor in 2013. His assumption to the mayor’s office prompted the appointment of the new municipal administrator and staff who need to develop and understand the LGU system and protocols.
Aimed at familiarizing the basic purpose and functions of the mayor and the administrator, the training workshop had four major sessions.
Local Governance 101 dealt with mapping out their respective functions in order to create greater public value.
Secondly, Local Planning 101 enabled the participants to come up with strategic goals addressing the identified strategic issues and problems of the locality.
In the third session, Understanding Local Budgeting Process (ULBP), the participants familiarized their crucial roles to achieve the strategic goals derived from the second portion of the workshop.
The last session was about the strategic engagement with the Sangunniang Bayan and the barangays.
XU-GLI director Dr Dixon Yasay and Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) provincial director Bruce Colao served as mentors in the training workshop.
Dr Yasay also shared his political experience as a mayor of Opol, Misamis Oriental which has enriched the workshop while Colao discussed on the effective engagement with the municipal legislators.
Engr Gail de la Rita, XU peace program coordinator, facilitated the community building activities among the participants, allowing them to foster a strong relationship and collaboration with each other.
In his closing message, Mayor Uy expressed his gratitude to XU-GLI and DILG - Bukidnon for supporting the capability building of his new administrator and office staff.
The event was part of the thematic engagement thrust on governance of XU under the banner of its Research and Social Outreach (RSO).