In line with the government’s continuous push to reach communities and bring public services closer to people, the DILG Regional Office XII, along with other partner agencies, successfully conducted the 4th Open Government and Participatory Governance Regional Town Hall Meetings, dubbed as Dagyaw, for the whole of SOCCSKSARGEN Region at EMR Famville, Koronadal City last July 25.
"The concept of Dagyaw is very simple. It's about bringing government projects to the people," said DILG Undersecretary Jonathan E. Malaya during an interview.
Dagyaw aims to inform the public of the different government programs and provide a platform for people to engage with senior officials in the government.
“We want people to feel the government. This activity is about empowering the people,” Usec. Malaya said.
Furthermore, Dagyaw serves as an avenue to communicate the good governance programs of the Duterte Administration particularly the Tax Reform Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law and 'Build, Build, Build' program, as well as the president’s accomplishments and on-going projects in the economic, education, and health sectors, among others.
Malaya hopes to gather the support of both the private and non-government sectors in attaining the goals of the Duterte Administration on constitutional reform, and campaigns against corruption and illegal drugs.
“…we want the government, the private sector, civil society organizations to work together to attain the objectives of the Duterte Administration. What are those? A comfortable life for all. Get them to support the government’s program – anti-corruption, anti-illegal drugs, and a shift to a Federal System of government,” he said.
As a platform for engagement, the Dagyaw dialogue focused on topics based on the identified concerns of the Region including illegal wildlife trade and loan assistance to farmers. Issues about the utilization of the Sangguniang Kabataan funds were also raised during the session.
“We chose issues that Region XII is most concerned about,” DILG XII Regional Director Josephine Cabrido-Leysa, CESO V said during her welcome remarks.
These issues came out as a result of the nationwide Regional Dialogues conducted during the early quarter of 2018 which “have been instrumental in the development of the participatory governance,” RD Leysa said.
Close to 700 people representing local government units and government agencies, youth sector, academe, private organizations, and civil society organizations attended the said dialogue.
Dagyaw is a Hiligaynon term for “Bayanihan” which brings the concept of “togetherness”, the same call for action proposed by the Participatory Governance Cabinet Cluster (PGC) and Open Government Partnership (OGP) in this regional town hall meetings.
This series of Dagyaw which is composed of6 town hall meetings is headed by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), in partnership with the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) and some non-government organizations.
Meanwhile, DILG XII Regional Director Josephine Cabrido-Leysa challenged the participants to show their active participation in solving the issues and concerns raised during Dagyaw.
