By Chito Chavez The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) asked the barangay chairmen (punong barangays) and councilmen (sangguniang barangay) to conduct accreditation of barangay-based nongovernment organizations (NGOs) to ensure their proper representation in community programs. DILG officer-in-charge (OIC) Eduardo M. Año (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez / MANILA BULLETIN) DILG officer-in-charge (OIC) Eduardo M. Año stressed that barangay officials must be proactive in ensuring all NGOs within the barangay are accredited for proper accounting as they should partner with the Barangay Development Council (BDC) and other barangay-based institutions (BBIs) to facilitate progress. "As partners of the government in its pursuit for progress, NGOs play a crucial part in delivering services to the people, especially in the grassroots level. And as such, it is imperative that they are accredited to formalize their operation in the barangay and for their voice to be heard in the BDC, BBIs," Año said. "The punong barangay, SB must therefore carefully enforce their mandated functions of accrediting barangay-based NGOs under their jurisdiction," he added. Under Article 64 (a) of the Local Government Code, within 30 days from the organization of the newly elected sanggunian, each sanggunian concerned shall call all community-based people's organizations or NGOs, including business and professional groups, to apply with the same LGU concerned for accreditation for membership in the local special bodies. Accreditation process A DILG directive compels the punong barangays and SBs to ensure participation of NGOs by undertaking information campaign and to encourage all barangay-based NGOs participation in the accreditation and selection process. The DILG also noted that all community-based NGOs, whether previously accredited or seeking accreditation for the first time, shall be handed with the Notice of Call for Application and Accreditation. It added the same Notice shall be posted in three conspicuous areas of the barangay, on social and print media or on the barangay website, if available. The SB, through the barangay secretary, shall then prepare the list or directory of interested NGOs containing the name of the organization, contact information of the head of the organization, and services offered, among others. Interested parties are requested to submit a letter of application for accreditation, and the accomplished Application and Accreditation Form (AAF) to the SB with the inclusion of Certificate of Registration issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission, list of current officers, and the annual accomplishment report and financial statement for the immediately preceding year. "Failure to submit all the requirements shall cause the denial of the NGOs accreditation which is why it is important for them to produce all of the supporting documents. Ngunit maaari pa din naman nilang ipasa ang mga requirements basta makumpleto nila," Año warned. The SB will then pass an ordinance or resolution setting the additional criteria, if necessary; set the day for the conduct of assessment and evaluation; assess and evaluate the submitted AAF and other requirements; and direct the barangay secretary to document the assessment and evaluation process. Participating NGOs will then be notified by the punong barangay regarding the status of their application for accreditation. Qualified NGOs will be issued with a certificate of accreditation indicating the concerned BBI to be represented. In the same directive, it is stipulated that as much as practicable, only one NGO per sector will be accredited. But in the event that there are multiple applicants catering services to the same sector, heads of those NGOs must convene to elect a leader among themselves. The DILG chief also reminded interested NGOs and the barangay officials that the accreditation process shall not cost anything hence "collection of any amount in connection to the accreditation shall be subjected to appropriate sanctions, in accordance with the law."