schoolscolleges2020 hed news


TOWARDS DEVELOPMENT. Engr Gail dela Rita, assistant to XU’s vice-president for social development, highlights in her welcome remarks that "local government is the key to development" at the 3rd Local Legislative Enhancement Course conducted by the Governance and Leadership Institute of Xavier University - Ateneo de Cagayan. 

Report and photo by Mary Ann Chiong

During her welcome remarks at the 3rd Local Legislative Enhancement Course conducted by the Governance and Leadership Institute (GLI) of Xavier University - Ateneo de Cagayan, Engr Gail dela Rita, assistant to XU’s vice-president for social development, emphasized to the participants that "local government is the key to development."

Engr dela Rita shared that in the past 80 years of helping poor and marginalized communities, Xavier Ateneo has realized that an educational institution should also engage with local governments and its officials through capacity-building interventions.

Vice-mayors Atty Benjie Baguio from Kapatagan, Lanao del Norte; Matildo B Jubas Jr from Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte; and Almario S Guzman from Lala, Lanao del Norte joined the two-day training together with their respective council members. Provincial board members Hazel del Rosario and Susan Gerona of Agusan del Sur also attended the training.

One of the activities that struck the local legislators the most was the workshop on Local Legislative Performance Scorecard, where they had to rate their performance as a team. Most of the local legislators got poor marks on their three functions: (1) representation, (2) law-making, and (3) oversight.

As Vice-mayor Benje Baguio later shared, the result of the workshop serves as a challenge to him and the council of Kaptagan to do better for their constituents.

The training ran from April 6 to 7 at XU-AVR1. Participants learned about the fundamental value of legislation with GLI director Dr Dixon Yasay; ordinance-making with Cagayan de Oro City 2nd District Councilor Ian Mark Nacaya; parliamentary procedure with Iligan City Department of Interior and Local Government director Foster Anayron; evidence-based decision-making with XU Engineering Resource Center founding director Engr Dexter Lo; local budget process with city officer Elmer Wabe; and legislative marketing with Robert dela Serna.∎