The City Government of Valenzuela received on Thursday, October 12, its third Galing Pook Award for its housing project, the Disiplina Village, that shall put the total of 4,594 Valenzuelano informal settler families (ISFs) living along the waterways into safer and more dignified communities by early 2018.

The recognition was earned following the successful presentation of Mayor REX Gatchalian of the innovativeness of the initiative to top caliber 19-member 2017 Galing Pook Awards National Selection Committee. Out of the 158 applications the search received, only 40 were considered for site validation that further trimmed down the entrants to 20 finalists. Only them were allowed to present for a chance to be chosen as one of this year’s 10 outstanding local governance programs.

The presentation and awarding ceremony was the highlight of the Galing Pook Foundation’s 2017 Festival of Best Practices held at the Novotel Manila, Araneta Center, Quezon City. Each winning LGU received a PhP 100,000 to further improve their initiative and a marker of Galing Pook.

The first site of Disiplina Village in Barangay Ugong started in 2009 as a response to Typhoon Ondoy victims. It benefitted 892 ISFs living along the danger of the banks of Tullahan River. In 2016, its bigger sibling in Barangay Bignay started welcoming relocatees from other waterways in the city. It could continually accommodate around 3,702 more families that would result to zero Valenzuelano ISFs living along waterways by 2018.

“Aside from ensuring safe, affordable, decent and humane housing for informal settlers, the [on-site] and in-city relocation approach of the program ensures that beneficiaries are linked to their sources of livelihood and have access to more employment opportunities,” the Search said of the initiative in its profile of the finalists.

Disiplina Village, cumulatively, is the country’s biggest in-city housing project with a total land area of 13 hectares for its two sites. Together, they have a total of 4,594, 28-square meter units with provision for a loft. The two villages are descent communities with complete with amenities. The Disiplina Village Bignay; particularly; has a 3S Center or satellite city hall, with health station, daycare center, police community precinct, fire sub-station, multi-purpose hall, basketball courts, elementary and high schools. They also have livelihood facilities, such as, community fishpond and vegetable farm, tofu production mini-plant, and bag sewing and shirt printing shop.

Speaking in behalf of the 10 Galing Pook awardees, Mayor REX Gatchalian expressed his gratitude tp the Galing Pook Foundation for recognizing the best practices and programs of local government units nationwide and letting their stories be heard. The city chief executive recognized the fete as an avenue to further improve and promote excellence in local governance throughout the country.

Valenzuela City received its first Galing Pook Award in 2012 for the 3S in Public Service Program, the city’s anti-graft and corruption platform, and its second, in 2015 for Education 360 Degrees Investment Program, the city’s holistic approach to address gaps in public education system.

The Galing Pook Awards was launched in 1993 as a pioneering program that searches and recognizes innovative practices by local government units. LGU finalists with outstanding initiatives are carefully selected and winners are recognized in a very prestigious awarding ceremony. The awardees, are chosen from a national search of local governance programs, evaluated through a multilevel rigorous screening process based on positive results and impact, promotion of people’s participation and empowerment, innovation, transferability and sustainability, and efficiency of program service delivery.