The top five local government units (LGUs) with the best Local Economic Development (LED) Business Plans presented and defended their plans to a panel on June 9, 2023, at the Hotel Del Rio, Iloilo City. Two LGUs, namely the City of Talisay in Negros Occidental and the Municipality of Badiangan in the province of Iloilo, were declared winners after the presentation.

The LED Business Plans submitted by the LGUs were reviewed, assessed, and rated by the DILG TMT and Western Visayas Local Governance Resource Consortium (WVLGRC) Lead LED Coach, Mr. Francis Gentoral, and the top five best plans chosen were given the opportunity to present and defend their plans face-to-face.

The five LGUs that presented their LED Business Plans were Santa Barbara, with a goal to be the Green Corn Capital of the province of Iloilo; Banate, which aims to revive the making of fish polvoron in the municipality; Jordan, Guimaras, as the Home of Tultul Artisans; Talisay City’s integration of the coconut industry with Agri-Tourism; and Badiangan, Iloilo, focusing on the revival of the ginger industry.

The two winning LGUs are given the privilege of presenting their LED Business Plan at the launching of the new program of the DILG called “RISE,” which will be hosted by DILG Region 6.

 The invited panelists were experts from the financial institution and national government agency, namely Assistant Vice President Giovani T. Baoy of LBP Iloilo Lending Center, Land Bank of the Philippines, and Ms. Keithlyn Sarah Bernardino, Supervising Science Research Specialist and Head of R&D Management Section of the Department of Science and Technology VI (DOST). Aside from the comments and feedback from the panelists, they also provided information on the assistance for businesses that their institution is offering and that LGUs may avail of in order to improve their economic business plans.

Local Economic Development for Local Government Units, or LED4LGUs, is a program based on the LED process that emphasizes the enabling role of LGUs in promoting economic growth and employment generation. As an enabler of local economic development, LGUs are responsible for creating a favorable environment for business development and success. The curriculum on LED4LGUs offers a capacity development framework on LED that can guide the design and implementation of LED capacity building programs for LGUs. The curriculum directly supports the DILG thrusts on creating business-friendly and competitive LGUs and the national government’s efforts to improve the country’s ranking and performance in terms of global competitiveness.