With a brief review of relevant concepts and the historical and legal context of local government and central-local community relations, it begins with an overview of the reforms introduced by the Local Government Act of 1991 (Republic Act No. 7160). 1 This discussion paper is part of the study “Assessing Local Governance and Autonomy in the Philippines: Three Decades of the Local Government Code of 1991” under the Policy Studies for Political and Administrative Reform (PSPAR) project funded by the General Appropriations Act (GAA) 2021 for the Comprehensive Release Project (FCR): January to December 2021. Funding for this project was through and managed by the University of the Philippines Center for Integrative and Development Studies (UP CIDS).
Special emphasis is placed on the evaluation of the impact of the local self-government code from 1991 on local administrations, relations between the central and local communities, people's cooperation and development after three decades of implementation in various administrations to date since the implementation of the code. Three decades have passed since the passage of the Local Code of 1991 (Republic Act No. 7160). In view of the above, this discussion paper addresses the issues and concerns of decentralization, democratization and development vis-à-vis local governments in the Philippines.
Provide local governments with their fair share of national taxes, which will be automatically paid to them; Entitle local governments to a fair share of the proceeds from the use and development of national resources within their respective areas; For example, officials from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) in Leyte noted that regional offices, rather than local government offices, still control and dominate the delivery of social and agricultural services (FGD #1 2019).
As for other mechanisms for greater participation of other sectors in local self-government, the situation is different depending on the local self-government.
Conclusions, Continuing Issues and Challenges
"However, ARMM remains the poorest region with its per capita income equal to only 17 percent of the national figure and just 6 percent of that of Metro Manila in 2016 (Cabuay and Hill 2019, 168). In short, even though it has been 36 years since the ratification of the 1987 Constitution and 31 years since the entry into force of the Local Government Code, great differences exist in local governments. Performance is affected by limitations in the Code and the electoral system, as well as the difference in the quality of local leadership, staff expertise, local civil society presence, and citizens' awareness and participation;.
The COVID-19 pandemic since 2020 has further exposed the diversity in the performance and capacities of LGUs to address crises, as well as the problems of coordination and power relations between national and local governments. The year marks the beginning of the implementation of the Mandanas-Garcia decision of the Supreme Court, which increased the base of national fiscal transfers for LGUs and Executive Order No. In his first State of the Nation address to both houses of Congress in July 2022, he did not discuss the future of decentralization, the role of local governments, and autonomy in Muslim Mindanao.
But despite this absence of a clear commitment to the process of decentralization, democratization and local autonomy on the part of the new president, the same problems remain for local communities and advocates of decentralization and autonomy. In fact, recently, officials from the Department of Budget and Management, the Department of Finance and the Interagency Committee on Deconcentration said that “the national government should extend the timeline for the transfer of some functions to local units while implementing the Supreme Court (SC) Mandanas-Garcia ruling” for a few more years (Robles 2022). The congressman also recently challenged the executive and legislative branches of government and called for a delay in deconcentration, saying that local units are not yet ready for full devolution and citing inconsistencies in the formula for dividing national taxes and the cost of transferring functions to local units ( Begas 2022) – facts that have been pointed out by academics and other experts since the LGC was implemented in 1991.
Based on the foregoing assessment of local governance and autonomy in the Philippines and the status of the implementation of the 1991 Local Government Code, we do not recommend or support the full shift to a federal form of government as originally recommended by the Duterte administration during the first half of its term. Development of a true proportional representation system in place of the current party list system at both national and local level, which may also include some degree of closed representation with a "zip". Determining in the LGC the process of selecting the three sectoral representatives in the local councils or sanggunians, or that Congress pass a separate legislation establishing the manner of selection of the three local sectoral representatives.
Institutionalization of the Mandanas-Garcia ruling in terms of the IRA/NTA's base in the LGC; Modification of the distribution formula of the 40 percent share of national revenue in the Code to ensure that provinces and municipalities, which have absorbed most of the transferred responsibilities and services, as well as poorer LGUs, can receive more shares than cities and economically developed LGUs;. Increased information dissemination and skills training for citizens and communities, not only on livelihoods and other practical local issues, but also on knowledge of the basic laws of the land, their rights and responsibilities towards local and national officials , especially in terms of demanding accountability and transparency and voters'.
Acknowledgments
Government Documents Cited
Focus Group Discussions (FGDs)
Renewed dynamism, old challenges.” In From Aquino to Duterte Change, Continuity—and Disruption, edited by Imelda Deinla and Björn Dressel, 145–83. Autonomous Regions: Cordillera Autonomous Region. In Philippine Politics and Governance: An Introduction, edited by Noel M. Quezon City: UP Department of Political Science, in collaboration with the Commission on Higher Education.
Dreams of Redemption: Localist Strategies for Political Reform in the Philippines." In The Politics of Change in the Philippines, edited by Yuko Kasuya and Nathan Gilbert Quimpo, 418–44. The Philippines: From Centralism to Localism." In Central-Local Relations in Asia-Pacific: Convergence or Divergence?, edited by Mark Turner, 97-110. They contain findings on topics aligned to the core agenda of the research programs of the University of the Philippines Center for Integrative and Development Studies (UP CIDS).
Angara, the UP Center for Integrative and Development Studies (UP CIDS) is the university's policy research unit that connects disciplines and scholars across the different units of the UP system. It is mandated to encourage collaborative and rigorous research that addresses issues of national importance by supporting researchers and securing funding, enabling them to produce outputs and recommendations for public policy. UP CIDS currently has twelve research programs grouped under the areas of education and capacity building, development and social, political and cultural studies.
It publishes policy briefs, monographs, webinar/conference/forum, and the Philippine Journal for Public Policy, all of which can be downloaded for free from the UP CIDS website. The Program on Social and Political Change (PSPC) provides a platform to understand the various social and political challenges facing contemporary Philippine society and politics from an interdisciplinary perspective. In relation to this, the program also designs empirical studies using a variety of methods and approaches, which form the basis for policy input and discussions at local, national and international level.
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