A total of 958 municipal, city, and provincial treasurers and assistant treasurers have been appointed by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III since 2016 in line with the Duterte administration’s goal of improving the fiscal position of the local government units (LGUs) through a professionalized local treasury service.
In his business review report to Dominguez, Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF) Executive Director Niño Raymond Alvina said this number of appointees is 60 percent higher than the 597 appointments issued during the previous administration.
Dominguez approved 91 appointments of local treasurers in the first six months of the Duterte administration, followed by 199 in 2017; 104 in 2018; 147 in 2019; 111 in 2020; and 261 in 2021, Alvina said.
Alvina reported that from Jan. 1 to Mar. 2 this year, Dominguez already approved the appointments of 45 treasurers.
He said the BLGF immediately complied with the directives of Dominguez to set and implement policies that improve and speed up the appointments process for local treasurers while helping ensure that qualified applicants are appointed to their respective LGU posts.
These include DOF Department Order No. 053.2016 institutionalizing the Standardized Examination and Assessment for Local Treasury Service (SEAL), a three-level treasury certification process that focuses on tactical-operational competencies (Level 1), strategic-managerial competencies (Level 2), and leading-for-innovation competencies (Level 3), in the evaluation and assessment of local treasury appointments.
The SEAL program, which is implemented in partnership with the Civil Service Commission (CSC) for exam design and development, and nationwide test administration, aims to instill a culture of professionalism, excellence, integrity, and proficiency in the local treasury service, Alvina said.
Earlier, Dominguez ordered that, effective June 2019, non-passers of the SEAL Level 1 or the Basic Competency for Local Treasury Examination (BCLTE), cannot be designated as officers-in-charge (OICs) or acting local treasurers, except when the designees are already regularly appointed assistant treasurers of their respective local governments.
Together with the SEAL Program, the processing of local treasury appointments has also improved, when Dominguez directed under Department Personnel Order No. 477.2019 the two-level screening and deliberation process by the BLGF Central and Regional Offices.
Alvina said that in compliance with Dominguez’s instructions, the BLGF has given weight to the SEAL examinations in the evaluation of the permanent appointments of local treasurers and assistant treasurers.
This year, the CSC will conduct the SEAL Level 1 test, or the BCLTE, on April 24, 2022 and October 23, 2022, while the SEAL Level 2 test or the Intermediate Competency on Local Treasury Examination (ICLTE) is scheduled on August 7, 2022.
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