Lamitan folk confident of city's fourth SGLG award

LAMITAN CITY --- Residents here are optimistic of a fourth Seal of Good Local Governance citation for the city government from the office of Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año.

The city government here received the SGLG awards in 2016, 2017 and 2018 owing to its efficiency in governance, in handling of state funds and in addressing domestic peace and security issues.

Barangay officials and Islamic religious leaders told reporters Wednesday their feats in addressing religious extremism will boost the city’s bid for a 2019 SGLG award from the central office of the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

Lamitan City, covering 45 barangays that are home to mixed Yakan, Tausug Chacavakano and Visayan communities, is the capital of Basilan, now rising from devastation wrought by conflicts instigated by the Abu Sayyaf terror group.

The efforts to quell religious extremism here are jointly being initiated by the city peace and order council, the local Muslim religious sector led by moderate preachers, the Lamitan City police office, Army units under the 104^th Brigade, and the provincial peace and order council led by the now second-termer Gov. Jim Salliman.

“The Muslim and the Christian sectors in Lamitan City are cooperating to achieve tranquility in the local communities,” said Islamic theologian Bayan Marudji, who is actively involved in da’awah, or preaching activities propagating Muslim-Christian solidarity.

Preacher Alzad Sattar, a member of the Bangsamoro interim parliament, said Lamitan City is now a showcase of how Muslim and Christian leaders in Basilan are trying to sustain the fragile peace now in the island province by addressing domestic peace and security concerns through dialogues.

The office of Lamitan City Mayor Rose Furigay has been providing Muslim clerics managing mosques around with monthly stipends to help sustain their activities related to the propagation of religious solidarity among Muslims and Christians.

Members of the business community here said a fourth SGLG award for Lamitan City’s LGU will boost the city’s investment climate.

Rino Pamaran, a senior member of the city’s business chamber, said the confidence of investors from other regions and abroad on the local investment climate is high if they see local officials performing efficiently.

“These investors will not hesitate to put up businesses in cities and municipalities if local government units are performing nicely,” Pamaran said Wednesday.

He said investors have also been seeing improvements in the business atmosphere in nearby Isabela City, less than 30 kilometers away, under its reformist first-termer mayor, Sitti Djalia Turabin-Hataman.

“The economic growth of these two cities are connected with how leaders run the LGUs, uphold law and order and on how they serve the local sectors. These are the barometers businessmen use in gauging the safety of the money they intend to put in for feasible businesses,” Pamaran said.

An SGLG evaluation team, comprised of representatives from the central office of the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Bangsamoro government, toured Lamitan City last week to assess if its LGU is worthy of a 2019 SGLG award.