BATAC CITY -— The city government of Laoag dominated over other presenters in the first of its kind competition promoting local government programs and services hosted by the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) in partnership with the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) under its Technical Assistance Program for Local Resource Institute.
Held at the MMSU Mansion on Tuesday, at least three local government units of Batac, Laoag and San Nicolas competed in four categories meant to increase and sustain citizens’ awareness on priority programs of LGUs which include health, agriculture, environmental management and disaster management.
Following a series of seminar-workshops conducted on November 23, 24 and 29, each of the participating LGUs were asked to conceptualized and present a campaign material and marketing strategy, applying what they have learned during the seminar and how to effectively communicate the message clearly to its target stakeholders.
With a grant from the DILG, Herdy Yumul, co-chair of the project, said the competition is another milestone initiated by the university to capacitate more local government units to develop and adopt an integrated marketing communication (IMC) campaign to promote their programs and services effectively.
On agriculture, disaster and management and environment, the IMC of Laoag City government presenting its Farmers Field School program, recycling facility and quick response initiatives during disaster, won in these categories, next to Batac and San Nicolas.
The city government of Batac also won in the health category highlighting its campaign to eradicate teen pregnancy which is on the rise in this city.
Using various criteria based on the quality of input from the participants, marketing and communication specialists, representing private and public organizations including this writer from the Philippines News Agency were invited to evaluate the output of each participating LGU.
Apart from cash incentives to winners, they were also handed a certificate of recognition after the activity.
“We hope that after this program, more LGUs will continue to become more creative and innovative in developing their information and education campaign materials for the benefit of the community they serve,” said Margarita Hilario, project leader of the MMSU-DILG collaborative project. PNA-northboundasia.com