ISLAND GRADEN CITY OF SAMAL, Davao del Norte, Philippines (PNA) – This island city in Region 11 is one of the six areas in the Philippines covered by the Government Watch (GWatch) program.

City Administrator Cleto Gales Jr. said GWatch is a project of the Ateneo de Manila (ADM) in cooperation with the European Union (EU) which provided the funding grant.

He said the project is on transparency and accountability among local government units (LGUs) by monitoring the specific program that the LGU enrolled as the focus of study.

For this island, he said it is on the imposition of the Environmental Users Fee (EUF), a minimal fee from visitors of tourist spots. The EUF will be used for the maintenance of the sites.

He said the monitoring include how the EUF is being used by the villages in support to their program on environmental protection.

The EUF here was suspended for a year after some beach resort owners complained against the imposition of such fee.