REGALA project picks San Nicolas, Piddig as pilot sites

PROV’L CAPITOL, Laoag City, Sept. 2–Gov. Imee R. Marcos has turned over computer units and other equipment to the  municipalities of Piddig and San Nicolas as pilot sites for the the Revenue Generation and Land Administration Reforms (REGALA) Project during a simple ceremony held at the Ilocos Norte Capitol here  last August 31.

The project was a result of Tripartite Grant Agreement signed last January 17. The Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction,  through the Asian Development Bank granted the Ilocos Norte Provincial Government with the funds needed for the purchase of equipment and training of personnel for the REGALA project. The project signatories include Gov. Marcos, Mr. Ian David Lloyd, REGALA Project Director; Atty. Salvador Del Castillo, OIC-Executive Director of Department of Finance – Bureau of Local Government Finance, and the beneficiaries, Mayor Alfredo Valdez, Jr. of San Nicolas, and Mayor Eddie Guillen of Piddig.

The project will expedite transactions regarding real properties in the province, including systematic titling process, synchronization of data on land proprietorship through computerization, and faster collection of real property taxes, all of which to speed up inter-agency collaboration. It is expected to contribute to an increase in revenue collection by up to 50% which will result to poverty reduction.

Allotted fund for the pilot testing is more or less P 3.2 million (about P 1.6 million to each of the pilot sites). During the turnover ceremony, Mayor Alfredo Valdez, Jr. of San Nicolas and Mayor Eddie Guillen of Piddig spoke and vowed to share counterpart funds to train employees who will operate the equipment. Any initial success by the pilot sites in the two municipalities will usher in the implementation of the REGALA project to the province’s all other towns.

Other government agencies involved in the project are the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Land Registration Authority and the Department of Agrarian Reform.

The PGIN is the first among other provincial government units in the country to have been selected for the implementation of the REGALA Project. (Grazielle Mae A. Sales/PGIN-CMO)