PHILIPPINES

Decentralisation in the Philippines came about during the term of President Cory Aquino, primarily as an incentive to local economic development. However, there was a confluence of factors at play. Diversification in the local political economy also resulted in clamor for changes in political administration. Historically, local governments were composed of entrenched elites with the necessary influence to access to funds from Manila and control illegal activity (smuggling, gambling, etc.). With decentralization, local governments now have the power to collect taxes and borrow money in addition to receiving 40 % internal revenue allocations. This has facilitated the entry of a “new” breed of local government officials who are more reform-oriented and better managers.

The Local Government Code of 1991 is cognizant of the transformative role of civil society. There are a number of provisions that mandate people's participation in different aspects of local governance. However, elite-driven patronage politics continue to dampen democratic aspirations from below. This is the challenge Filipino reformers and civil society activists still need to overcome.

The Philippine component of CPLG is anchored in the work of the Barangay-Bayan Governance Consortium, popularly known as Batman. The consortium works to strengthen local government and civil society interaction and has successfully developed mechanisms for participatory development planning at the barangay or village level.

The programmatic focus of CPLG in the Philippines is on scaling up such interventions to the municipal level. Since there are only limited political incentives for local chief executives to institute supporting anti-poverty projects, environmental or inter-municipal investments, a strong “participatory governance” constituency is key. CPLG supports Batman partners through workshops and consultations to this end. To date, there have been specialized learning activities on water services, coastal resource management, and municipal development planning in different parts the country. CPLG support was also sought in the provision of training on development management and bringing the agendas of indigenous peoples into development work.

The members of the Philippine steering committee are: the Institute of Politics and Governance (IPG), the Center for Agrarian Reform and Transformation (CARET), Akbayan, and the Institute for Popular Democracy (IPD).

Engendering local governance interventions
Through a process of problem-identification and visioning with different sections of the women’s movement, IPD is leading the formation of on-the-ground interventions in engendering local urban governance. In this context, CPLG Philippines contributed to a historical women’s conference from 17-18 September 2007, which was organised as a venue for collective reflection and discussions on the current state and imagined future of the progressive women's movement as a strengthened political force. At the conference, IPD facilitated the workshop of urban poor women to share their experiences in participatory service delivery and political organising. Another activity was held on 12 October in an urban poor community in Manila, where three female community leaders are running for seats in the barangay or village council in the upcoming local elections.

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Provision of technical support for community-based initiatives
CPLG enabled the provision of technical support to a range of community-based initiatives—from an evaluation of a district-based health insurance in Palawan to a tariff setting exercise for a barangay-based water system in Dinoronan, Bicol. CPLG also supported a financial management training for an urban poor water cooperative in the northern part of Manila.

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IPD and WEDPRO organize ‘WOMEN IN POLITICS’ workshops
Strengthening women political participation is deemed crucial in deepening democracy and participatory governance. In the Philippine context, a key task in gendering politics and governance is to revitalize the women’s movements. To address this, IPD, together with WEDPRO launched a series of conversation workshops among various feminists and women leaders. The workshops were designed as ‘encounters of discourses’ to reflect on the state of the women’s movements and think of ways to revitalize the women’s movements as a political force. To ensure geographic representation, workshops were held in three main island grouping (Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao) plus Metro Manila. The Metro Manila workshop was held on Jan. 12, 2007. The Luzon workshop was held on Feb. 1-2, 2007. The Mindanao workshop was held on Feb. 10-11, 2007 and the Visayas workshop was held on Feb. 12-13, 2007.

To cap it all, a national validation workshop was held in April 27, 2007 in Manila. The validation workshop featured the insights from the regional encounters with women leaders. Some of the insights include the need to bridge feminist discourse with class-based interests; the need to put forward a women’s agenda and vehicle in politics and governance; the need to continue women’s engagement in local communities/governments. Download full report here.

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IPD and CPE launched PARTICIPATORY SERVICE DELIVERY PROJECT
From January to March 2006, the Institute for Popular Democracy, together with the Center for People’s Empowerment (CPE), organized a series of activities in Bagong Silang, one of Metro Manila’s urban poor communities. The activities, which include research, community forums and learning visits, were geared at devising concrete plans for an alternative delivery of water services within the framework of co-production.

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