BBGC Reform Agenda

Barangay Bayan Governance Consortium:
Agenda for Change in Local Governance and Politics

On October 1-2, 2009, 63 men and women state and non-state actors gathered to put together the 2010 Agenda for Change in Local Governance and Politics of the Barangay-Bayan Governance Consortium. The BBGC 2010 Change Agenda is founded on the objective of the BBGC to contribute to deepening democracy in the Philippines.

Exemplary practices of good governance are evolving through the years of organizing and enabling the excluded communities of farmers, workers, urban poor, indigenous peoples, youth, elderly, women and other gender types to participate in local governance and politics. These have become the patches of green on a bleak landscape.

The BBGC 2010 Change Agenda above all things shall make these exemplary practices of empowering and responsive governance the standards of good governance and participatory democracy.

It is critical that the majority of the Filipino people, especially the previously excluded sectors, are prominently involved in the 2010 contestation of political power by raising the peoples’ agenda and electing champions of the peoples’ agenda and interests.

The BBGC 2010 Agenda for Change in Local Governance and Politics shall compel our chosen leaders and local communities to make the change that we believe in happen starting in May 2010.

The change that local government units and local communities believe in.

The member and partner organizations and local government officials of the Barangay-Bayan Governance Consortium affirm their aspiration for sustainable, inclusive, and responsive development, especially the following:

1. Generating substantial and meaningful political reforms such as an end to rule of political dynasties, review and amendment of the constitution at the right time and for the right reasons, and empowering women and other gender types, farmers, workers, urban poor, and indigenous peoples;
2. Creation of decent, and equitable livelihood and employment for all;
3. Recognition, respect and promotion of the peoples’ human rights;
4. Recognition, respect and promotion of the right for self-determination, land and ancestral domain, identity and culture of the indigenous peoples in the country;
5. Promotion of genuine peace and development in the Mindanao regions and in other conflict areas in the country;
6. Protection and conservation of the environment, and sustainable use and management of natural resources by the people and the by the government; and,
7. Promotion and practice gender and development framework of development and governance.

The BBGC and its partner organizations and local government units and officials (LGUs/LGOs) believe that the above long-term and general agenda shall happen gradually and through cooperation of state and non-state actors, particularly the citizens.

The BBGC and its partner organizations and LGUs/LGOs uphold the following strategic agenda for change that shall form building blocks for the realization of the above long-term and general agenda:

Amendments to the Local Government Code (LGC)

A comprehensive review of the LGC and the relevant proposed amendments to it must take place immediately. The LGC is a landmark law however its progressive intentions are inconspicuous because it is not fully enforced.

The review of the LGC is long overdue. It is provided in the LGC that a review should have been undertaken after five years that the Code took effect. Several bills in the Congress had been submitted to amend the LGC but were not heard and passed.

(1.) The formula of Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) sharing between the local and national government is reviewed.

The LGC increased the IRA share from 30% in 1991 to 40% in 1994 with the intention to enable LGUs to exercise more autonomy in the investment of resources according to local priorities. There is a widespread demand from the LGUs to change the IRA formula. They demand that the National Government inversely takes 40% and the local government units get 60%.

(2.) The process of devolution must be fully put into operation, and ensure that devolved programs are evaluated.

Devolution transferred the primary responsibility for the provision and delivery of basic social services from national government (NG) to local government units (LGUs). The departments of health, social welfare and development, environment and natural resources, and agriculture were thus devolved to improve the design and effectiveness of programs.

The NG was given the role of policy making, research, monitoring, and technical assistance. Even after devolution however, the national line agencies are allowed to create, finance and implement devolved programs and projects because of justified need for such sectoral projects and apparent underinvestment by LGUs.

This increased the role of national agencies in devolved programs, which certainly contradicts the intention of decentralization and devolution.

It unnecessarily extended the transition of NG and LGUs to their new roles. The provision and delivery of services are needlessly more costly as the both NG and LGUs invest in the same set of functions and objectives.

Devolution was not yet fully carried out even at this point in time. The evaluation of devolved programs must inform the formulation and enforced of new and appropriate financing rules and assignment of roles in government to uphold the primary intention of devolution.

There must be a reverse devolution of programs or elements of programs that are demonstrated to be ineffective and inefficient when devolved. Programs or parts of programs that are not devolved particularly infrastructure projects must be devolved when verified that these can be undertaken more responsively and efficiently by local government units.

(3.) Structures for peoples’ participation in governance that are provided for through the LGC must be faithfully put into operation.

The intention of the LGC to institutionalize peoples’ participation in decision-making is crucial for deepening democracy. The LGC provides for the creation of structures for peoples’ participation like the local development councils (LDCs) and local special bodies (LSBs).

A few LGUs have even expanded the boundaries for peoples’ participation by creating peoples’ councils, which provide mandate for the people to participate in planning budgeting, procurement, monitoring and evaluation of implementation of developments, and in evaluating the performance of the LGUs.

However, in most cases the LDCs ans LSBs have become extensions of patronage relations. The organizations of the members of families and loyal supporters of the local political leaders are favored over the organizations of the previously excluded sectors.

• The Local Development Councils (LDCs) and Local Special Bodies (LSBs) must be constituted and convened according to the prescription of the LGC.
• Accreditation of civil society organizations must be impartial and inclusive.
• The LDCs and LSBs must peform their function to register the peoples’ needs and preferences for consideration in decision-making by LGUs. Participation of the local community organizations and NGOs must be mobilized in drawing the most important plans of the LGUs. The are several plans that LGUs are required to produce. Most important of these plans are comprehensive local development plans (CDPs) and the Comprehensive Land Use Plan. The peoples’ needs and preferences must be registered in the CDPs and CLUPs.

(4.) There must be disincentives for non-compliance with the LGC.

There is a pressing need to uphold and enforce the principles of devolution, which are: accountability of elected officials; autonomy of local government units; and, consideration of local needs, capacities and preferences. The DILG and other appropriate national line agencies must effectively monitor and provide technical assistance to enable LGUs to put these principles of devolution into practice.

New rules and responsibilities
for improved national-local fiscal relations

No genuine autonomy is possible for LGUs without fiscal autonomy. Resources concentrated at the national level must have to be freed up to cause LGUs to freely choose how to utilize them.

The problem of the majority of the LGUs is limited resources to respond to the enormous needs of local communities. Aside from an increase in IRA share, the LGUs are in need of financial and technical support from the national government in providing the urgent needs and preferences of local communities for livelihood and employment, health, education, water and electricity, roads and other infrastructure.

Assistance and funding from national government for the longest time had been based on loyalty to the administration of the national government. Another source of funding for local projects is the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of the members of the Philippine Congress. Like the NG grants and other types of funding, the PDAF is ruled by loyalty and political alignment.

(1.) National – local cash transfers and/or grants, technical assistance, and allocation of PDAF must be based on the needs and preferences of communities, equity, and outputs and performance of LGUs, and not based on loyalty.

New rules for NG intervention in devolved projects and activities and for NG-LGU co-financing partnerships must be warranted according to equity considerations, economies of scale, externalities, and willingness of local communities to contribute.

• LGUs that are low in income class and economic class, or high incidence of poverty in local communities are eligible for NG financing.
• Projects that LGUs give low priority because effects and benefits are extended for non-constituents of the LGUs, and/or effects would come after the 3 terms of office elected officials warrant NG financing and/or assistance.
• Projects that promote Inter-LGU cooperation and collective action of local communities warrant financing and technical support from the NG. .The provision of certain services is more efficient and cost-effective when designed for an area wider than a jurisdiction of a single LGU. NG financing and assistance is therefore given to projects that are implemented by clusters of adjacent municipalities or areas.
• Local communities are encouraged to contribute. Incentives such as capability building and support for community organizing and savings mobilization must be provided to local communities to harness their willingness to participate in project implementation.

(2.) LGU-NGOs/POs co-financing and co-production of priority projects and services must be promoted and enhanced by the NG.

Provision and delivery of health, sanitation and nutrition; education; livelihood and employment generation; land and housing for the urban poor; and, disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) projects are the priority needs and demands of the local communities and LGUs.

The involvement of non-state actors, especially the civil society organizations is critical in the provision and delivery of social services and public goods. Through mutually beneficial partnerships, the capacities of LGUs and non-government organizations and peoples’ organizations to generate resources are harnessed.

Information about devolved programs that pertain to these priority services and other services must be provided to LGUs and civil society organizations. Lack of information available on programs, projects and other resources that could be accessed by LGUs and civil society organizations render such funds inefficient and subject to suspicion of fraud and corruption.

Existing initiatives and good practices of labor-based and inter-LGU public works; mandatory health insurance and/or Philhealth-supported local provision of health care services; water service cooperatives, LGU-NGO DRRM projects, and programs of LGU and/or NGOs/POs for housing of urban poor must be given full support to make them enduring, sustainable and practicable in as many areas as possible.

Financing schemes for replication of such practicable exemplary practices must be developed and provided by the NG and LGUs.

New rules and responsibilities for improved Civil Society-LGU-NG cooperation and increased peoples’ participation

Peoples’ participation must not be limited to participation in planning and budgeting. Their capacity must be developed to become partners of LGUs in the provision and delivery of services must be promoted and developed.

(1.) CSOs must undertake community organizing and capability buiding to generate community equity and contribute for the provision and delivery of basic services.

(2.) The LGUs must provide organizing and training efforts of the CSOs to encourage willingness of local communities to contribute in the provision and delivery of services.

(3.) The LGUs and the NG must provide support for careful documentation of good practices and demonstration LGU-CSO partnership projects and provision and delivery of services to facilitate replication and institutionalization of such projects.

Local Sectoral Representation
must be put into law and practice.

To make peoples’ participation even more meaningful, representation of sectors in the local legislative body. Local sectoral representation (LSR) is provided for by the LGC. However, to make this happen, a law to passed by the Congress. Repeated attempts to pass a law for LSR never got the approval of the Senate.

(1.) The congress must pass a law for Local Sctoral Representation in local legislative bodies (provincial board, Sanguniang Bayan aand Sanguniang Pambarangay).

(2.) The LGUs must demonstrate that electing Local Sectoral Representatives in local councils possible and relevant by passing and implementing ordinaces for LSR.

Good governance must be gender-sensitive,
fair and responsive

National and local policies that institutionalize Gender and Development Framework must be faithfully enforced.

(1.) The GAD budget policy must be strictly implemented by all LGUs. Proposals and existing practices of transforminf the full budget of LGUs gender sensitive and responsive must be studied and adopted.

(2.) Participation of women and other gender types must be promoted and increased.

(3.) The provision and delivery of services must be gender-sensitive and responsive. Particularly , women’s and reproductive health must be given priority by the LGUs and the NG.

The BBGC 2010 Agenda for Change in Local Governance and Politics shall nurture and reproduce the patches of green in a landscape that is starting to show promises. These patches of green shall demonstrate that success of change in (local) governance and politics will breed more success.