By Franklin P. Gumapon
DIPOLOG CITY – The people here are ready to join the city government in improving the quality of life of the community, as they have expressed willingness to coordinate and engage with the local officials in any development endeavor.
This was the result of the 2013 Citizen Satisfaction Index System (CSIS) survey as presented during the recently held CSIS utilization conference attended by the city mayor, city councilors, department heads as well as representatives from civil society organization and academe.
Registering a very high net score of 83.75 percent, the city government received a positive support from its constituents, according to CSIS Focal Person Russell Jef Castañeda of the Bureau of Local Government Supervision (BLGS), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG)-9.
In 2013 the CSIS survey was being administered to 34 priority cities based on the National Competitive Council’s list of 50 competitive cities and provinces nationwide.
Dipolog City was chosen as the pilot local government unit (LGU) in region 9 with the Jose Rizal Memorial State University (JRMSU) as implementing partner.
In his opening statement in the said conference, DILG-9 Assistant Regional Director Pedro G. Cuevas Jr. said “any institution, whether government of private, the ultimate goal is provide its clients the best service possible.”
“The real essence is defined and determined by the level of client satisfaction with the services these institutions provide,” Cuevas added.
For her part, Mayor Evelyn T. Uy found the CSIS very challenging, saying “first we are quite apprehensive but, on the other hand, enthusiastic of how we can improve based on its result.”
However, the city government scored low on the aspect of peoples’ awareness of the city government’s programs, projects and services. So, Mayor Uy urged the different departments to inform the City Information Office (CIO) of their programs and services for public dissemination.
The lady mayor hopes that the level of awareness of her constituents on the city government’s programs and services will improve after six months. “So, let us all work together to achieve this while maintaining also the satisfaction that our people have on us,” she urged.
The survey was conducted on Dec. 11-19, 2013 to 150 respondents in 16 of the 21 barangays of the city.