Congratulations to Governor Josefina dela Cruz of Bulacan and Mayor Raul Banias of Concepcion, Iloilo for being recognized as this year’s Most Outstanding LGUs in the Gawad Galing Pook awards ceremonies held last December 20, 2005 at Malacanang Palace.

Governor dela Cruz received the award for Project JOSIE (Joint Systems Improvement in Education) – which pioneered the Synergeia Reading Program modeal. Mayor Banias was likewise cited for his municipality’s program on health, population and the environment. They are the top 10 governance programs for 2005.

Every year, the Gawad Galing Pook conducts a national search of local governance programs sifted though a multi-level rigorous screening process based on the criteria of positive socio-economic and environmental impact, promotion of people’s empowerment, transferability and sustainability, efficiency of program service delivery, and creative use of powers provided by the Local Government Code and other decentralization and local autonomy policies.