BOTOLAN, Zambales — Barangay Taugtog emerged as the winner among the 31 barangays in this municipality during the search for the top performing Lupong Tagapamayapa (LT) for this year’s Lupong Tagapamayapa Incentives Awards (LTIA).

Taugtog garnered an average score of 90.77% during the assessment conducted by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Botolan Field Office, in partnership with the Municipal Awards Committee (MAC) of the Municipality of Botolan, Zambales.

The assessment was held on March 3 at the Sangguniang Bayan session hall here.

The undertaking served as an avenue for the MAC to measure the barangays’ performance in their respective Katarungang Pambarangay (KP) operations in 2021, leading to the endorsement of the topnotch LT to the provincial awards committee (PAC).

The MAC composed of Municipal Local Government Operations Officer Shieralyn B. Esteban, Punong Barangay Erwin Dolojan as representative of the Liga ng mga Barangay, Police Captain Jhon Jefferson B. Delos Reyes, and Civil Society Organization (CSO) representative Rafael Dequiña, carried out the table assessment and deliberation of ratings based on the LTIA forms submitted by the barangays and other modes of verification.

The assessment proper unanimously concluded Barangay Taugtog as the top Lupong Tagapamayapa in the municipal level, which shall be endorsed as the official entry of Botolan, Zambales to the competition in the 1st-3rd Class Municipalities Category.

The Lupong Tagapamayapa Incentives and Awards (LTIA) is an awards and incentives strategy of the DILG which aims to give recognition to the barangays that perform exemplarily in the implementation of Katarungang Pambarangay (KP) in their own area of jurisdiction.

LTIA has three major criteria, namely, Efficiency in the Operations of the Lupong Tagapamayapa, Effectiveness in attaining the Katarungang Pambarangay Objectives, and Creativity and Resourcefulness in the administration of KP. — Shieralyn B. Esteban