Bacolod City and three component cities in Negros Occidental were elevated to the Hall of Fame during the 2024 Population and Development (PopDev) Awards of the Commission on Population and Development -Western Visayas at the SMX Convention Center in Bacolod on Tuesday, March 11.
Bacolod, Cadiz, Sagay, and Talisay were recognized for their “exemplary performance in the localization of PopDev strategies and for having been recognized as Most Outstanding Local Population Office for three consecutive years from 2022-2024.”
CPD-6 Director Harold Alfred Marshall said the awardees have satisfactorily met the criteria set in the localization of PopDev strategies and showed outstanding performance in promoting and sustaining PopDev programs and innovations in their respective local government units (LGUs).
“It’s very difficult to maintain their performance because the program is evolving, so it’s really a challenge for them,” he said in an interview.
Marshall lauded the efforts of the awardees in advancing and implementing the key strategic actions of the Philippine Population and Development Plan of Action 2023-2028.
The four cities in Negros Occidental are among the eight Hall of Fame awardees in Western Visayas, along with Capiz province and its municipalities Maayon and Pontevedra, as well as Malay town in Aklan.
For 2024 alone, there are 23 recipients of the CPD-6 PopDev Awards, including those from the Negros Island Region – Negros Occidental province, component cities of Himamaylan, Kabankalan and Sipalay, and the municipality of Cauayan.
“The awards are given to LGUs with fully devolved population programs. They manage their own programs, and we give them recognition for that,” the CPD-6 chief said.
Marshall said they also continue to provide technical assistance and funding support to LGUs in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas to address concerns on various indicators such as adolescent pregnancy, nutrition, maternal mortality, and infant mortality.*PNA
Nine local government units, including the provincial government of Negros Occidental and Bacolod City were awarded as outstanding local population offices in Western Visayas on Tuesday
Among the nine LGUs were Negros Occidental and the cities of Bacolod, Cadiz, Himamaylan, Kabankalan, Sagay, Sipalay, and Talisay, and Cauayan town.
The ceremony also recognized partner agencies, Civil Society Organizations, and development partners who helped in promoting population and development strategies in the region.
The event was attended by about 200 participants who are PopDev stakeholders, which also served as a regional gathering of the LGUs of Panay and Negros.*MLG