Czarina Medina-Guce

Open access: https://pids.gov.ph/publication/philippine-journal-of-development/making-sense-of-the-seal-of-good-local-governance-policy-design-layering-and-implications-for-shaping-local-government-performance

ABSTRACT: The Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) is considered as the country’s most comprehensive assessment of local governance performance. Launched in 2014 and enacted into law in 2019, the SGLG aims to continuously enhance the performance of local government units (LGUs). However, questions about its effectiveness and evaluative usefulness arise due to its evolving design, which includes changes in measures and indicators alongside a declining trend in passing rates from 2014 to 2023. This paper uses an abductive research approach to fill the research gap, focusing on understanding the SGLG’s “policy layering,” where new goals accumulate in its design while retaining previous ones. The discussion traces nearly a decade of SGLG policy history to explore how it frames good local governance amid changes in national priorities, policy shifts (e.g., SGLG law, Mandanas-Garcia ruling), and maturity in its performance metrics and indicators. It highlights two learning assumptions—learning through time and learning by complying with the instrument—and explores associated challenges. While the SGLG was not initially conceived as a comprehensive local government performance management system, its iterative approach to meet rising performance expectations reflects the evolving landscape of local governance standards. Recommendations are provided to enhance the SGLG’s design (e.g., address resource implications for LGUs struggling to meet higher performance standards, strategically manage the timing of SGLG iterations, and decentralize evaluative processes to ensure rigorous problem analysis and innovative solutions for nonpassing LGUs). These steps aim to enhance the SGLG’s effectiveness in promoting improvements in local governance across the Philippines.

This study aimed for a strategic policy review of the LDC functionality assessment framework to assess its relevance and evaluative utility for various policy discussions and program directions in DILG. Working within current policy parameters, the analysis pivots on the definition of ‘functionality’ from being a list of operational indicators to ‘functional effectiveness’ (accomplishment of goals). The review traces the LDC’s roles and functions from the Local Government Code and policy issuances of the past decade to identify the accumulation of three policy goals: public financial management (the policy development and monitoring and evaluation functions), participatory governance (for inclusiveness and representation), and institutional strengthening (coherence with complementary mechanisms and vertical integration). The study outlines the variables and indicators for LDC's functional effectiveness dimensions identified through focus group discussions with 10 sites and 59 participants from local government units (LGUs), civil society organizations (CSOs), and DILG regional and local offices. The analysis further consolidates an emergent coherence model that optimizes, expands, and democratizes the LDC’s functions from being practiced mostly or only at the level of the full council to activating the Sectoral and Functional Committees and maximizing the potential contributions of the newly formed People’s Councils and CSO Desks. The review concludes by engaging DILG’s policy development pathways on enhancing LGU assessments with the Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) framework, strengthening local participatory institutions, and developing the capacity development agenda for LGUs and CSOs.

[Introduction] The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), through its Support to Local Governance Program (SLGP), commissioned this study to draw policy lessons from the pilot implementation of the Third-Party Monitoring (TPM) project in 2022. TPM engages civil society organizations (CSOs), i.e., nongovernment organizations, learning resource institutions, and colleges and universities, as paid service providers (SPs) to develop independent monitoring reports on the implemented infrastructure and non-infrastructure projects under the Local Government Support Fund (LGSF) – Support to the Barangay Development Program (SBDP).

DILG launched the TPM with two key policy goals: (a) to ensure transparent, accountable, and responsive implementation of the SBDP (DILG 2022) and (b) to advance the deepening of participatory governance mechanisms and strengthen local institutions, as one of DILG’s commitments to the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028 Chapter 14 (“Practice Good Governance and Improve Bureaucratic Efficiency”). In the FAQs released to the Regional Offices (DILG n.d.), TPM’s specific objectives are outlined as follows:

• “Ensure transparency by verifying whether programs and projects were implemented as planned,
• Validation on the quality and extent of stakeholders and beneficiaries’ engagement,
• Ensure that projects are delivered efficiently and resources are well-utilized in compliance with the government requirements (process of procurement and financial management),
• Ensure accountability by allowing recipients to share feedback in a safe, secure, and dignified manner,
• Provide a participatory opportunity for beneficiaries in decision-making that affects their lives,
• Facilitate lessons learned and best practices for accurate and objective feedback,
• Identify challenges and recommend corrective actions that will address the needs of the affected population appropriately and efficiently.”

This review is a policy learning exercise intended to inform the Department’s future iterations of the TPM, with a medium-term objective of setting-up structures and mechanisms for capable, independent monitoring of local government projects by CSOs.

Key Questions. DILG’s policy learning interests in the TPM pilot’s review are the following:

• In terms of process implementation, what were the bottlenecks faced and strategies deployed (both effective and ineffective)?
• How could the TPM pilot implementation lessons inform the Department’s continuing policy work toward its participatory governance and local institutional strengthening goals?

Executive Summary

This report draws insights from the pilot implementation of the Participatory Governance Metrics (PGM) for Local Special Bodies (LSBs) to enhance deployment protocols and the tools’ design and outline policy and capacity development directions. The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) seeks such insights to pursue its strategic goals for deepening participatory governance and enhancing local government performance. Highlights of the analysis are as follows:

1. Enhance the guidance for the local enumerators to ensure completeness and comprehensiveness of the PGM deployment and to underscore their role in managing risks and expectations of the local stakeholders regarding the PGM process and results. The instructions may be best packaged as an enumerator’s guide document that consolidates technical information on the tools, follow-through questions to substantiate the qualitative answers, and parameters for the final/exit conference report, among other relevant protocols. Clarity and uniformity of submissions may be improved through a unified online submission portal specifying the requirements, translations, and level of detail required for a consolidated national dataset.

2. Refine the PGM tools’ design to ensure that participants could better nuance their feedback on both quantitative and qualitative components and avoid risks of response biases. The PGM tools could include additional data points for monitoring the Local Government Units (LGUs)’ observance of mandatory representation policies and compliance with DILG’s circulars.

3. Improve analytical rigor by observing standards for sample size and data gathering processes at LGU, provincial, and regional levels. Reporting PGM results should always uphold the anonymity of the CSO participants. Priority for expansion should target LGUs that have already passed LSB functionality indicators.

4. Intensify the discussions of the CSO representatives’ roles, functions, and possible activities in DILG’s capacity development interventions. CSOs’ awareness of their respective LGUs’ compliance with DILG’s circulars on LSBs must also be enhanced.

5. Consider extending the capacity development and knowledge-sharing interventions to LGUs, specifically the offices in charge of the LSBs’ communication with CSOs. Incentives and motivators for LGUs’ commitment to deepening participation should accompany the CSO capacity development and PGM assessment. PGM tools specific for LGUs may be developed for such an instructive function and open opportunities to unpack the extent of LGUs’ support to LSB-CSO members vis-à-vis CSO strengthening issues among civil society networks.

6. The PGM initiative presents concrete entry points for the Department to develop feedback loop mechanisms that utilize digital innovations, particularly civic tech. The direction contributes to fulfilling the Philippine Development Plan’s thrust for digital transformation and strategies for practicing good governance.

Executive Summary

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) commissioned this study to make sense of the enablers and remaining challenges regarding the improved Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) compliance of local government units (LGUs) and identify entry points for further policy development. DILG’s monitoring shows that LGUs’ CDP compliance increased from 25.83% in 2017 to 79.29% in 2021.

Through a sequential explanatory mixed methods approach, the study identified the components of a policy mix (structure, support, and incentives) that, through the years, layered the CDP policies into an ecosystem that addressed a broad range of LGU challenges.

• The policy structure component is enabled by clear processual guidelines and quality standards for the CDP formulation and updating, the CDP’s harmonization with other sectoral and thematic policy areas (e.g., disaster management, peace and security), institutionalized CDP assessments, and the introduction of administrative sanctions.
• The support (technical assistance) component encompasses access to a pool of capable experts (on-call trainers/coaches and consultants) with consideration of the ratio of trainers-to-LGUs per region, cost-sharing the engagement of experts with DILG and the provincial governments, and human resource capacity (local planning and development offices’ staffing) augmentation.
• The incentives component is enabled by awards and recognition (CDP as an indicator in the Seal of Good Local Governance), additional funding (CDP compliance as eligibility criterion), and administrative sanctions for non-compliance.

The study furthered its analysis of emergent thematic issues and forwards these considerations in DILG’s continuing policy development and strategic action:

1. DILG’s active pursuance of the policy mix components across issuances and programs with other NGAs, development partners, and local stakeholders;
2. Furthering policies concerning the provincial governments’ oversight responsibility on their component LGUs’ CDP compliance;
3. Actively embedding the network of experts and coaches with the CDP processes while addressing the financial limitations of LGUs that cannot afford contracting consultants;
4. Pursuing an organizational development inquiry on the human resource challenge of local planning offices, setting appropriate guidelines and support mechanisms, and,
5. Prescribing processes and standards to operationalize political support of the mayor, i.e., across the CDP activities, with the LDC, and through clarifying conditions meriting administrative sanctions.
 

Final Evaluation of the Reducing Incidence of Child Labor and Harmful Conditions of Work in Economic Strengthening (RICHES), conducted under DevTech Systems Inc., commissioned by United States Department of Labor - Bureau of International Labor Affairs
Downloadable via the US DOL website: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/riches

This report is part of a series of policy papers and technical notes on the Participatory Governance Metrics developed under the partnership of the United Nations Development Programme and the Department of Interior and Local Government.

This policy paper is one of the outputs of the Participatory Governance Metrics pilot customization initiative for three Local Special Bodies (LSBs). Supplemented by the technical notes on the customized tools , this document provides key findings and lessons from the customization process with corresponding recommendations.

This evaluation responds to Hivos’ interest to assess the extent of a Voice-supported ‘influencing’ project’s effectiveness and its impact in empowering partner communities while improving their participation policy and decision-making practices to initiate government engagements. The project aimed to empower marginalized groups from three Philippine project sites to influence local Management of the Dead and Missing (MDM) policy implementation through crafting and lobbying for local legislation. Informed by the Voice theory of change, the evaluation used a social network analysis approach to policy influence and deployed mixed methods to assess the project’s relevance, effectiveness, coherence, efficiency, potential for impact and sustainability.

The evaluation provides three key points of analysis. First, the project’s success is its facilitation of the rightsholders’ cognitive shift – away from treating MDM-related services as private familial problems addressed through mobilizing personal networks or seeking favors from politicians, towards articulating the services as collective claims of a public nature, thereby setting a public policy agenda. The affective ownership and collective identification of the rightsholders and champions to the MDM-as-advocacy sets the potential for impact and sustainability. The communities are set to continue to use the MDM as a participation language. Second, the project success is significantly tempered by its lack of strategic agility to look beyond the passage of local MDM ordinances (for financial assistance as reparations to bereaved families) as a change pathway. The alternative – coursing assistance through alignment with other government programs and projects – is considered more coherent with the rightsholders’ claim to efficient receipt of the financial support. Third, the project missed the opportunity to facilitate a policy coalition to coordinate strategies, consolidate various local resources, support community champions, and provide civic spaces for collective ideation on co-owned and co-created solutions. Without a policy coalition or mechanisms for its emergence, the project transferred the burden of delivering the articulated claims to the community champions as individuals, while the rightsholders found themselves excluded from exercising agency on the MDM lobby’s future, leading to participatory frustration.  A policy coalition among local organizations and other interested parties would have provided alternate spaces for the rightsholders’ sustained participation, not only for the post-project options, but also for strengthening the communities and their claims amidst a local advocacy landscape of political elite domination and compromised civic spaces.

The evaluation further provides insights on innovation and linking and learning and recommends points of needed clarification to align principles and expectations with implementers of future influencing grants.

The implementation of Dagyaw in 2020 features notable design differences from its 2019 run. Aside from taking the town hall discussion online due to the COVID19 pandemic, Dagyaw 2020 introduced technical working groups (TWG) at the national and regional levels wherein civil society organizations (CSO) collaborated for the design and implementation of the sessions. All the sessions also followed more extensive protocols for documentation and reporting. This policy paper assesses if Dagyaw 2020 effectively met its objectives to provide an open, neutral, and protected space for dialogue between government and citizens on national and local issues while promoting transparency, inclusion, and participation in governance. The analysis forwards three key points. First, acknowledging that the regional online sessions were provided minimal standards on inclusion and openness as an experiment, Dagyaw effectively met its own terms. Second, because the documentation of Dagyaw is not oriented towards measuring outcomes, there is limited evidence if the discussions (which were found to be overwhelmingly technical and clarificatory) lead to results beyond 'the talk.' While anecdotal, documented government response on Dagyaw issues shows that such intermediate outcome is both possible and capturable for analysis. And third, future Dagyaw should embrace the social accountability implications of opening spaces for participation and dialogue, thereby committing to monitor intermediate outcomes, e.g., government effectiveness and responsiveness and citizen/CSO influence on decision-making. Strategic and operational recommendations are provided to leverage Dagyaw 2020's gains and advance its participatory, inclusive, and open government aims in succeeding runs.

Full paper available at the National Economic and Development Authority website: https://nep.neda.gov.ph/evaluations/76

Republic Act 11032 or the Ease of Doing Business (EODB) Law amends the standards of its policy predecessor, the 2007 Anti-Red Tape Act (ARTA) and incorporates standards from other initiatives seeking efficient government frontline services, elimination of corruption, and conducive environments for businesses to thrive. To input to the EODB implementation, the authors assessed the ARTA implementation through analysis of the datasets of the Civil Service Commission’s Report Card Survey and Contact Center ng Bayan, and development of case studies on selected national and local agencies.

The study found substantiated evidence that the ARTA was able to influence improved efficiency of government frontline services by setting the standards uniformly acknowledged in agency-led interventions. However, evidence is weak on how ARTA and its implementation was able to influence its aspired higher-level anti-corruption outcome, especially on the elimination of fixing in frontline services.

Hence, in light of the EODB Law implementation, the study recommends, first, technical improvements in the monitoring and data gathering tools and protocols for robustness of data and comparability across assessment years and agencies; and second, a more purposive multi-stakeholder set of strategies to address integrity and anti-corruption and improve conditions for frontline and business transactions.

Recommendations for the Participatory Governance Cabinet Cluster: Giving Flesh to its Milestones for Enhancing Citizen Participation


This paper contributes to objectives of the PGC to understand the terrain of issues and substantiate directions to Resolution 01 of 2019 which set the national and local government milestones for participatory governance, with due regard to the policy developments and commitments in the OGP international initiative, the SDGs, and the changing landscape of local governance with the anticipated increase in the IRA.
To contribute to the fleshing out of the PGC milestones into concrete policy and programmatic directions, the paper accounted for challenges identified through the various data gathering tracks, organizing them thematically with corresponding recommendations. The themes discussed in the succeeding subsections of the paper are:
1) Uneven appreciation of the functions and results of citizen participation, on issues of inclusion, legitimacy, and results;
2) Disproportionate geographical and thematic presence of organized civil society groups;
3) Constrained resources to empower CSOs; and
4) Politicization and protection of participation

Executive Summary

Introduction

This research report is a direct continuation of an earlier analysis (Medina-Guce 2019) on Development LIVE (DevLIVE) as a civic tech initiative of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) as supported by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). It uses a retrospective view to generate lessons learned from the DevLIVE pilot implementation and provide concrete recommendations for prospective analysis, specifically to input on the following policy development tracks of DILG:

• The continuing work in the Participatory Governance Cluster (PGC), which seeks to develop and implement civic tech as a governance innovation in national and local governments,
• The DILG’s commitment to the Open Government Partnership Philippine Action Plan 2019-2022 which specifies the implementation of a civic tech for citizen participation, and,
• The ongoing policy conversations to enhance DILG’s support and oversight functions on local government units (LGUs) in anticipation of implementing the Supreme Court ruling on the Internal Revenue Allotment computation.

The following assessment variables guide the research:

• Relevance of DevLIVE to the needs of its target benefiting publics: citizens and civil society organizations (CSOs), DILG central and local offices, and LGUs;
• Coherence of DevLIVE with the ecosystem of priorities, structures, and processes existing at the local level, specifically those intended for similar goals of increasing citizen participation and improving local governance;
• Factors affecting DevLIVE implementation effectiveness at the local level; and,
• Factors affecting DevLIVE implementation efficiency in terms of time, human resources, and cost implications to the stakeholders involved.

Moreover, since the COVID-19 lockdowns are recognized to have halted many of the pilot activities, the assessment also checks on the pilot implementation status and issues encountered in the DILG Regional and Field Offices, with the COVID-19 lessons informing the recommendations moving forward.

The assessment used a mixed-methods approach: (a) processing the DevLIVE backend data on registered users and feedback received, (b) online survey with the DILG Regions, and (c) key informant interviews with 27 participants from DILG Regions, CSOs, and LGUs.

Results and Findings

Pilot Implementation Status and Effects of COVID-19

1. COVID-19 compelled the shift of organizational resources (time and human resources) towards more urgent public health responses, which affected not only prematurely halted the DevLIVE pilot implementation field activities, but also paused most participatory platforms and citizen engagement activities at the local level. Despite such a scenario, civic tech's relevance to facilitate information and interaction between government and civil society, and among CSOs and their communities, is underscored even more.

2. While DILG Regions and Field offices were not able to continue with the orientations and field visits, DevLIVE data on the processing of reports show that most ‘valid’ feedback received (94.78%) have been ‘closed,’ which means that DILG offices have been able to follow-through its required review and monitoring for the feedback received.

3. DevLIVE user and feedback data also show good gender representation and an increased number of registered users and received feedback. It is worth noting that the percentage of ‘citizens’ users increased from 53.62% (2019) to 69.18% (2020), suggesting that citizens could engage with the app with appropriate strategies in place. 

Relevance to Stakeholder Needs

4. The pilot implementation surfaced DevLIVE’s observed relevance in three levels. First is the relevance of the technical accessibility, which allowed more citizens to participate even with low familiarity with the technical specification of projects that usually shape CSO monitoring forms. Second is the relevance of direct participation, which allowed another element to the ‘inclusion’ benefits of DevLIVE for citizen engagement. And third is the relevance of a safe space provided by DevLIVE that combines the anonymous reporting and validation components in the process.

5. Despite the halt in the pilot implementation activities because of COVID-19, the potential relevance of DevLIVE for the different groups were identified, e.g., CSOs for more inclusive evidence-gathering for agenda-development, DILG for enhancing its citizen participation initiatives and exercising LGU oversight, and LGUs for trust-building with citizens and improving performance. DevLIVE is also seen as a potent anti-corruption tool, especially for citizens reporting ‘ghost projects.’ These potential use value of DevLIVE come with corresponding assumptions and further enhancements in the DevLIVE tech, processes, and policy environment.

Coherence with Local Stakeholders and Potential for Mainstreaming

6. For CSOs and citizens, coherence of DevLIVE means meeting CSOs and citizens on their current functions and capacities, notably through: (a) mainstreaming its implementation and use with participatory platforms such as the Local Development Councils (LDCs) and Local Special Bodies (LSBs), and the Project Monitoring Councils (PMCs); and (b) familiarizing the public about DevLIVE.

7. For DILG Region and Field Offices, coherence and the potential for mainstreaming are identified with three main directions: (a) Co-ownership with local CSOs not only for promotion but more so in the monitoring and use of DevLIVE data for agenda-setting and policy-making; (b) Streamlining of DevLIVE with other citizen engagement platforms and programs; and (c) Developing an enabling policy ecosystem so that DILG could deliver on DevLIVE’s higher-level outcomes of citizen participation, participatory governance, and particularly, anti-corruption.

8. For Local Government Units, coherence means enabling them to swiftly and effectively respond to citizen feedback, especially to the ‘red flags,’ which has been the primary effect of receiving the validated reports from DILG. Enabling swift LGU response could be pursued through providing LGUs access to a dashboard with a local disaggregation of the feedback without compromising the anonymity of the citizens reporting; providing LGU with DevLIVE accounts that allow them to upload their investigation response; and intensifying visibility and buy-in among local political actors who, for most areas, were minimally involved with the DevLIVE pilot implementation processes.

Effectiveness of Local Implementation

9. Practical hindrances to effective DevLIVE implementation revolved around issues of internet connectivity, gadget availability and compatibility, and user readiness to use the app.

10. During the pilot, effective engagement practices involved high levels of strategic coordination among DILG offices, CSOs, and LGUs. This includes stakeholder groups leveraging on each other’s networks and resources, and when possible, organizing activities with their respective constituencies (for CSOs and LGUs). Further inclusion of the youth (students and Sangguniang Kabataan) and professional and neighborhood associations were also observed. Making DevLIVE an agenda in various participatory and collaborative platforms was also seen to encourage more citizens' participation.

Efficiency of Implementation (Section 3.5)

11. Potential gains of DevLIVE for efficiency are clearly articulated by stakeholders, as DevLIVE is seen as (a) a more cost and time-efficient alternative for CSOs and citizens to send feedback to their municipal governments, (b) a mechanism to help CSOs prioritize which communities to visit for public dialogues, and (c) a strategic way to adjust to the funding and mobility restrictions during and post-pandemic to conduct community-level activities.

12. The remaining issues for efficiency revolve around the costs needed by DILG and CSOs to continue and intensify the work of mainstreaming DevLIVE. There are suggestions towards more efficient prompts for DILG when new or updates on feedback reports are received and for LGUs to become more directly involved in locating projects on-site. 

Recommendations

On the technical components of implementation: Recommendations include improving project data accuracy for ease in project identification during site visits and reflecting the real-time status of feedback, and addressing accessibility and inclusiveness through diversifying input options for feedback (beyond the Android app) and enabling CSO accounts that could submit multiple feedback from different citizens who may not have their own gadgets or internet access.

On feedback loops and processes: Recommendations include specific action points to further evidence-informed policy-making and government responsiveness, inclusion and CSO co-ownership, and public awareness and stakeholder buy-in.

On policy support: Recommendations include tracks for mainstreaming of DevLIVE (and citizen feedback mechanisms) into DILG’s priorities, programs, and processes, and concrete approaches to support outcome-oriented policy for citizen participation, participatory governance, and anti-corruption.

This document provides the Participatory Governance Metrics (PGM) tool prepared for the Participatory Governance Cabinet Cluster (PGC) by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) through the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The PGM follows an earlier DILG-UNDP policy paper (Medina-Guce 2020) that gives flesh to the PGC Milestones identified in the PGC Resolution 01 of 2019. Insights were gathered through in-depth interviews with NGAs, LGUs, and national and local CSOs on the issues, challenges, and opportunities on their citizen participation experiences.

The study highlighted the citizen participation principles (with rubrics) that may guide the deepening work of the PGC, based on literature and emerging themes from the interviews conducted. The principles are:

• Opening/widening spaces for participation, which means the proactive provision of platforms for citizens to participate in various functions;
• Inclusion, which means the absence of barriers to participating;
• Protected and autonomous spaces for participation, which pertains to civic freedoms for citizens to organize, create their agenda, and express them as claims to government without coercion or co-optation;
• Political effectiveness, which means that the governance is responsive to the agenda put forward by citizens; and,
• Political efficacy, which means that citizen trust and confidence increases on the governance platforms and processes because those have delivered for their agenda.

These principles are highlighted because of the challenges identified in operationalizing the milestones. The issues are as follows, discussed in the report with corresponding recommendations:

1. Uneven appreciation of the functions and results of citizen participation (among NGAs and LGUs), seen on issues of:
a. Rationalization of inclusion criteria in participation platforms;
b. Legitimacy of the CSOs representing their sector/communities;
c. Perceived conflict between the time needed for consultations versus the efficiency required to conduct government activities;
2. Disproportionate presence of CSOs geographically (across the Philippines, especially in the subnational level), and thematically (for sectoral and issue-based participation);
3. Constrained resources to empower CSOs, especially the financial requirements that would enable sustainability and autonomy of agenda of CSOs; and,
4. Politicization of participation, as perceived in affiliations with political actors taking precedence over representation and legitimation priorities.

While not intended as an assessment of citizen participation in the Philippines, and instead only for the PGC milestones’ implementation inputs, the insights from the paper provided clear entry points for government to enhance the conduct of citizen participation at the national and local levels.

On July 3, 2020, the PGC, through Resolution 01 of 2020, formally adopted the recommendations and the principles provided by the study and enjoined NGAs and LGUs to adopt the principles to ensure the same measures across various levels of government especially in the context of new realities posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The PGM is forwarded as a recommended tool for the PGC to follow through with its resolution.

This policy note responds to the questions:
1. What approaches could be adopted to address the fragmentation of local government plans from those of the national government?
2. How could local plans be evaluated more effectively specifically to address fragmentation?

The analysis draws from international literature and practices to recommend a triple-variable approach that implements and evaluates local planning based on policy integration, coherence, and coordination.

*Policy Paper Developed under the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) – Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Participatory Governance Cluster, "Paving the Road to SDGs through Good Local Governance" Project (2019-2020)

**Policy Paper Developed under the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) – Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Participatory Governance Cluster, “Paving the Road to SDGs through Good Local Governance” Project (March 2019 to March 2020)

This policy paper addresses the question, how could national government address the prevalent uneven power relationship between local government and civil society in Local Development Councils (LDCs)? The analysis identifies policy formulation and implementation gaps that have contributed to the persistence of uneven power relations, specifically concerning (a) size and proportion of the LDC composition, (b) political intervention in the selection of civil society organization (CSO) representatives, (c) LDC functionality and development planning, (d) LDC Secretariat, (e) the relationship of LDC with the Executive Committee and Sanggunian, and (f) the policy ecosystem of incentives and sanctions on the LDC. The discussion of such gaps is coupled with recommendations for policy reforms and areas for capacity building engagements for both local government and civil society organizations.

Citizen Participation in Public Financial Management:
Preparing for the ‘Post-Mandanas’ Local Governance Scenario

Policy note prepared for the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) – Support for Local Governance Program (SLGP), taking off from outputs of the Governance Specialist from various United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) projects 

The first draft of this policy note was presented at the DILG Roundtable Discussion (RTD) on Strengthening Citizen Participation Policy and Practice in the Public Financial Management System, 05 December 2019. As such, the contents of this policy note are directed toward answering the RTD guide questions: (a) What are the key governance issues that can be addressed in the post-Mandanas era? (b) What are viable mechanisms by which a citizen empowerment initiative can be rolled out? (c) Will the government invest/How much would it cost to fund it? (d) What are the necessary steps to make this happen? (e) Who should be accountable? (f) What is the roll-out strategy?

Executive Summary

This study is one of the outputs produced under the partnership of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) for the Participatory Governance Cluster, “Paving the Road to SDGs through Good Local Governance” project, which runs from March 2019 to March 2020. The project, as a whole, inputs to the DILG and the Participatory Governance Cabinet Cluster (PGC) to enhance citizen participation through policies and programs in national and local governments.

The study is driven by DILG’s aspiration to transform the DevelopmentLIVE (DevLIVE) mobile application to become the civic technology for citizen participation, consistent with DILG’s goals and commitments in line with the Open Government Partnership initiative and the Participatory Governance Cabinet Cluster milestones. The central problematique is if DevLIVE, in its current design and protocols, is ‘enough’ for a civic technology that can achieve outcomes for substantive citizen participation.

The author addresses the civic tech dilemma on DevLIVE on two levels, reflecting the overall structure of the report.

First, the notion of a ‘civic technology’ is unpacked through review of the discourses in literature and practice. The review highlighted nuances on what are perceived as ‘tech’-focused versus ‘civic’-focused platforms, emphasizing that the latter category better encapsulates outcomes of citizen empowerment and improved democratic spaces. This means for DevLIVE a steering of focus to citizen participation-related outcomes, rendering tech use and reach only contributory to the effectiveness of the platform to improve government service delivery and the experience of citizens of their government. The review also draws attention to the current project implementation (monitoring) tool characteristic of DevLIVE, which yields direct benefits to national government agencies and only assigned specific functions to citizens on their ‘participation’ in monitoring. This means that DevLIVE needs to redefine itself to open the space through and within the app for citizens to direct the attention of government to their agenda, and even to facilitate the development of citizens’ agenda in the first place (through co-ownership and collaborative implementation with civil society organizations).

From the civic technology analysis, the author provides five key strategic tracks that DILG and UNDP may use for future strategic iterations of the DevLIVE app and protocols:

1. Project redefinition, which transforms DevLIVE from a tool for project monitoring to a tool for  citizen agenda-setting and consolidation;
2. Scope of projects, which means consolidation of all projects implemented by national and local governments alike, addressing access and accessibility and interoperability of information in the process;
3. Openness on nature of feedback, which expands the options for feedback within DevLIVE to enable the generation of citizen-created agenda for government and for broader citizen claims;
4. Civil society co-ownership, which empowers civil society to steer the agenda of DevLIVE itself and use the information from DevLIVE to enhance democratic deliberation and citizen’s engagement with government; and,
5. Double feedback loop, which expands the gaze of DevLIVE to not only measure the responsiveness of DILG as mediator of the citizen reports to local governments, but also including the local government units’ response as a second, more determinative, feedback loop.

These five strategic tracks are themes that shape the second approach to the main dilemma, which is to unpack the implementation process of DevLIVE (from ‘Citizen’ to ‘System’ to ‘Backend’) for concrete recommendations to transition the platform to a citizen participation-focused civic tech. The author draws from literature and the data emerging from the DevLIVE pilot run in 282 municipalities for the insights. 

The analysis and recommendations provided covers for enhancements on the protocols to gather the ‘supply’ of feedback from communities (Community-based Monitoring System), the design and protocols for the DevLIVE app itself and those guiding the responses of the DILG local officers (Response Mechanism Design – System Component), and the ways that information generate from DevLIVE can inform further policy and program enhancements (Response Mechanism Design – Backend Components).

Furthermore, the report includes the design for a Client Satisfaction Survey for DevLIVE as a concrete government service. The report also appends an earlier submitted output on the Response Messages and Protocols which were recommended for use to correspond to citizen clients at every point of interface within the DevLIVE process.

Prepared for the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Bureau of Local Government Supervision, under the auspices of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)–DILG Support for Local Governance Program (SLGP) project: Participatory Governance Cluster, “Paving the Road to SDGs through Good Local Governance”

This study mines insights from the five years of the Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) data, guided by the following questions:

• What does the data suggest about the performance of local governments (LGs)?
• What are policy recommendations arising from the findings?
• On a technical perspective, what emerges as a research agenda arising from the SGLG dataset analysis?

The interest on the SGLG is set against the backdrop of important policies, including the SGLG Law of 2019, and the Participatory Governance Cabinet Cluster Resolution 01 of 2019. The study takes off from the Theory of Change of SGLG, that through evaluating performance of LGUs and awarding ‘qualifiers’ (passers), and by tying SGLG to incentives and stakeholder support, LG performance should improve. The study also recognizes that SGLG has both technical and political dimensions, which allowed it to gain momentum in setting the agenda of what LGUs consider as ‘core’ and ‘essential’ components of performance.

The analysis makes an important note that there the SGLG evaluation framework changes year by year, on three levels: (a) Qualifying Criteria, which determines the overall passing requirement for every LG, (b) Assessment Criteria, or the general competency areas for governance, and (c) the Indicators, which are governance outputs which concrete data points from various sources. In essence, the results of every year would have to acknowledge comparability limitations. This study reckons with this limitation by focusing at a certain level for each analysis conducted.

[A] Summary of Findings

Has performance of LGs improved?

• The analysis shows that because of the variable increases in the Qualifying and Assessment Criteria, and the indicators thereof, an overall view of qualifiers show a downward trend.

• However, when nuanced against similarities in the Qualifying Criteria, the trends show that LG performance, overall, improves within two years, as was seen in 2014 to 2016, when LGs were given a post-compliance period and were assessed after with relatively the same set of criteria.

• There is also evidence suggesting that gradual intensification of performance standards enable some learning, as manifesting in the results of the 2017 4+1 Qualifying Criteria. The leap to a 7-All-in Qualifying Criteria in 2018 affirms this, as the LG performance dropped nearly as much as how they performed during the first 2014 SGLG implementation.

• When disaggregated per LG type, the average performance trend is downward for provinces, HUCs, and municipalities, and upward for CCs-ICCs. This may be a product of various factors, such as the differences in the level of difficulty of the Assessment Criteria and indicators per LG type, and the differences in the general learning retention ability among LG levels.

• When disaggregated per Core and Essential Principles, the number of criteria passers is decreasing, with fewer LGUs passing the core principles. These may be a function of the criteria in the core principles being deliberately designed to be harder to provide weight and importance, or, that LGUs may be better adept in meeting the indicators under the essential principles.

Are local governments adapting to increasing performance standards?

• Focusing on the comparable Qualifying Criteria years of 2014 pilot, 2015 post-compliance, and 2016 results, and disaggregating by LG type, the results affirm the two-year performance period (2014-2015 results) and some learning manifestation (in 2017).

o However, improvement is more starkly observed for HUCs and CCs-ICCs, compared to the performance of the provinces and municipalities. Moreover, if just within the post-compliance period (2014-2015), data suggests that more municipalities and HUCs were relatively more intent on qualifying for the SGLG, with a 312% increase among the municipalities, and 183% for the HUCs. This may speak about the incentives tied to the Seal, particularly the access to financial support from the national government.

o The analysis also identifies LGs that qualified in 2015 but did not qualify in 2016, and vice-versa did not qualify in 2015 but qualified in 2016. These establish that performance of LGs may fluctuate even within relatively the same terms of evaluation, which raises more questions about the factors that enable and hinder performance given a set of controlled variables.

• Focusing on the Financial Administration Assessment Criteria and indicators, the data shows that only the cities show relative increases, particularly on the Audit Opinion (for HUCs, and CCs-ICCs), and Local Revenue Growth (for HUCs). All other LG types have downward trends for indicators. This calls the attention for a more articulated rationale for determining critical points when Qualifying Criteria, Assessment Criteria and indicators are made more difficult. Further indicator-focused analysis may also give insights which ones are better tied per LG type, as evidenced by the impressive performance of HUCs on Local Revenue Growth.

• Meanwhile, the analysis also itemized the 35 consistent SGLG qualifiers, and the LGs who have shown improving performance through the years, for reference for further exploratory and explanatory analysis.

What does the SGLG suggest about provinces’ performance of its oversight function?

• The analysis borrows from data science techniques for a comparative analysis of the performance of provinces vis-à-vis the performance of their component LGUs. The figure provided enable narratives, on a per-province basis, how provinces have been performing in the SGLG assessment, and how much, in percentages, are component LGUs are also performing.

o Some notable observations are: (a) the good performance of Region 3 Central Luzon component LGUs compared to most other regions, and, (b) the consistently qualifying provinces with component LGUs also qualifying at a minimum 20% per year (Ilocos Sur, La Union, Pangasinan, Isabela, Bataan).

 
[B] Policy Recommendations

• Establish a policy determining the roadmap and rationale (Theory of Change, or TOC) that will guide the increases in the Qualifying Criteria, Assessment Criteria, and indicators of the SGLG. Since the data suggests that it takes time (approximately two years) for LGs to adapt to a constant set of evaluation criteria, policy needs to be articulated if the SGLG will be designed to facilitate a learning process, or will keep on stretching to enforce its agenda-setting function. It is further recommended that the Assessment Cycle of the SGLG be revisited accordingly.

• The SGLG Law has also defined the assessment focus areas, which are echoing Section 17 of the Local Government Code. What may be worth considering on a policy level is how the assessment could gradually shift towards outcome indicators in succeeding designs of the Seal. As per BLGS, there had been discussions in the past on how to gradually shift the SGLG criteria and indicators to move towards more intermediate and medium-term outcomes, but this has not yet been articulated in a roadmap or TOC. This is a step in the right direction that requires policy to support and enact.
[C] Technical Recommendations
From the dataset analysis and in support of the policy recommendations, the technical recommendations as follows may comprise a policy research agenda for the SGLG:

• Determining enabling and hindering factors that contribute to LG performance, covering the well performing, poorly performing, progressing, regressing, and fluctuating. This is, in essence, a further exercise in explaining trends from the dataset results.

• Determining which Assessment Criteria and indicators are better performed by LG type, establishing connections to the common priorities of the LG types and how such manifests into allocating administrative, technical, and political efforts into pushing for performance.

• Establishing relationships of the Assessment Criteria and indicators with the different LG plans (CLUP, CDP, LDIP), in support of integration of these plans with the result areas. This will also be an essential step to move the measurements to the LG performance outcomes.

• Furthering the insight-mining from the SGLG dataset, maximizing the levels of disaggregation it can offer: per LG type, per Assessment Criteria, per indicator, throughout the years. This may take several tracks for further engagement of consultants: statistical analysis, data science methodology, and case study methods. It will be richer if these different tracks can be based on one set of core points of inquiry, eventually growing into method-specific sub-questions. In effect, the different methods may eventually triangulate findings, which is important when the number of LGUs is too large for one study alone.

This paper provides a stocktaking of issues and recommendations in improving the assessments of Local Development Councils (LDCs) and Local Development Investment Programs (LDIPs). LDCs have been measured in terms of administrative processes and composition as stipulated by the Local Government Code, but such indicators on 'functionality' has proved insufficient in approximating substantive outcomes-oriented performance, and effective outputs such as the LDIPs and the Comprehensive Development Plans. The recommendations cover a range of technical, administrative, and political issues. The policy note encourages a shift in evaluation paradigm from treating the LDCs as platforms/organizations that need to be constituted, to relationships of negotiation and power. It is through the unpacking of the dynamics of the LDCs (and LDIP formulation) that a theory of change and outcomes prioritization, and further understanding of the local processes can be further pursued.

New set of elected leaders, but old sets of problems. What are lingering issues in barangay governance? How can barangays, as the smallest unit of government, become more effective in performing its designated functions? This working paper approaches these questions in two levels. First, this paper discusses the continuing issues in barangay government financing, covering the inequities in the distribution of barangay IRA, and the challenges in creation and subsequent funding of barangays. And second, this analysis looks into issues of accountability of barangay officials and provides initial recommendations for policies that target structural and behavioral changes. As a concluding note, the paper situates the barangay governance issues into the greater decentralization and devolution issues confronting local governance today.

This article analyzes the power-blindness problem of participatory governance approaches, particularly the reduction of participation in technical-administrative processes and the insufficient response when confronted with uncongenial power relations. Reviews of participatory governance frameworks and Philippine local governance issues underscore the need for more coherent approaches to power, governance, and participation. As a response, the analysis in this article turns to relational sociology, which rejects essentialist and substantialist views and treats social phenomena (e.g., power and governance) as processual, co-constitutive, and interdependent relations. The article frames the relational analysis of participation as a dynamic of influence among interactants who exercise meaning making from spatiotemporal considerations and co-constitute power through degrees of trust and satisfaction in the participatory space. The implication of such a relational approach to participatory governance is explored to lay out more extensive research agenda to fill in the power analysis where participatory governance frameworks and policies are currently lacking.

This article conducts a review of citizen participation in local governance within the context of the local development councils (LDCs). It argues that the Local Government Code has prescribed citizen participation with a limited set of standards, namely, the 25% civil society membership in the LDC and the administrative indicators of activities that the LDC must perform. The Code and subsequent LGU performance measures it influenced have insufficiently addressed the roles to play and capacities needed by civil society to realize higher levels of citizen participation in the LDCs. Moving forward, the study takes stock of citizen participation initiatives that make explicit the roles and capacities of civil society organizations in local decision making and draws lessons to suggest prospects for deepening and increasing citizen participation in LDCs. The article ends with a note that citizen participation should be in the core agenda of proposed amendments in the Code.

This article conducts a review of citizen participation in local governance within the context of the local development councils (LDCs). It argues that the Local Government Code has prescribed citizen participation with a limited set of standards, namely, the 25% civil society membership in the LDC and the administrative indicators of activities that the LDC must perform. The Code and subsequent LGU performance measures it influenced have insufficiently addressed the roles to play and capacities needed by civil society to realize higher levels of citizen participation in the LDCs. Moving forward, the study takes stock of citizen participation initiatives that make explicit the roles and capacities of civil society organizations in local decision making and draws lessons to suggest prospects for deepening and increasing citizen participation in LDCs. The article ends with a note that citizen participation should be in the core agenda of proposed amendments in the Code.

The thesis forwards sociological reflections on the dialogue on volunteerism and development discourses – particularly the underlying assumptions of organized volunteerism and the factors affecting the discursive changes associated with it – through the experiences of organized volunteering groups. This is inspired by the recent international and national directives/laws declaring volunteerism as a strategy for development. Using grounded theory methodology and pakikipagkuwentuhan, the research explored the experiences of volunteers and program managers of Jesuit Volunteers Philippines, Associate Missionaries of the Assumption, University of the Philippines – Los Banos Ugnayan ng Pahinungod, and Dynamic Teen Company.
Findings show that the dialogue between volunteerism and the development discourse has placed organized volunteerism in a struggle to balance two dimensions of impact: personal formation (transformation of volunteers), and the strategic or social impact of their work on the communities they serve. However, not all organized volunteering groups exhibit the same intensity of the struggle. The intensity of the prioritization for either dimension depends on the declared organizational goals and the nature of the organization itself, the structure of the organization vis-à-vis the community, and the pragmatic considerations in the communities as managers and volunteers try to operationalize formation through the concrete change-making works of the volunteers in concrete situations and communities.
Moreover, the thesis explores the change processes associated with organized volunteering work as strategy for development. The process is highly pragmatic, wherein volunteers share their knowledge and skills, social capital, and inspire some members of the community by expanding lifeworlds of the people the volunteers work with. In understanding and making sense of the volunteer experience, the volunteers and managers generally refer to Filipino cultural concepts, while in more concrete discussions, the volunteers refer back to the declared institutional values espoused by the organized volunteer associations.

The assumptions and characteristics of volunteerism in response
to disasters are explored through the concept of Spontaneous
Volunteerism. Taking into account the socio-political discourse on
volunteerism and the kapwa-loob theoretical approach the study
uses grounded theory and pagdadalumat and other qualitative
research strategies to explore the characteristics of spontaneous
volunteerism. The study identifies the characteristics of
spontaneous volunteerism. It is short-term and dependent on
the urgency of disaster relief. It is very pragmatic in terms of
volunteer strategies and operations. Spontaneous volunteerism
involves all motivated and capable volunteers. Institutions play a
key role in resource mobilization and in providing concepts that
serve as lenses to the volunteers for constructing their work.
Moreover, spontaneous volunteerism leads to change-oriented
outcomes in terms of volunteer formation and the reduction of
the immediate effects of the disaster on vulnerable groups.

Epistemic communities consist of structures and selectivities in citation and referencing that scientists as “practical and economic reasoners” use in order to establish scientific credit and capital in their specialized field. Knowledge then becomes a product of social and economic shaping based on “selectivities,” or decision-making processes in the epistemic community. This paper looks at the use of online resources (i.e., journal databases) in the natural sciences programs (i.e., physics, chemistry, and biology) of two Philippine universities, through key informant interviews with graduating students, thesis advisers, and library personnel. In this context, scientific credit and capital are gained by researchers from the credibility of the resources that they use (i.e., authors and research institutions cited in their thesis), although this is limited by the availability of resources in the universities. The availability of online materials is associated with functional meanings such as convenience. Meanwhile, the substantive meanings of the availability of online resources show the dilemma of universities in balancing costs and research independence, since findings show that the online usage in both universities is insufficient to maximize the costs spent in purchasing the online resources. The first university values knowledge production more than cost-efficiency in the acquisition of references, thus, the structure of knowledge production is more accommodating to the selectivities of its researchers. In contrast, it is seen that the structure of knowledge production in the second university regard costs as more important. This causes its researchers to use non-online materials.

Epistemic communities consist of structures and selectivities in citation and referencing that scientists as "practical and economic reasoners" use in order to establish scientific credit and capital in their specialized field. Knowledge then becomes a product of social and economic shaping based on "selectivities," or decision-making processes in the epistemic community.  This paper looks at the use of online resources (i.e., journal databases) in the natural sciences programs (i.e., physics, chemistry, and biology) of two Philippine universities, through key informant interviews with graduating students, thesis advisers, and library personnel. In this context, scientific credit and capital are gained by researchers from the credibility of the resources that they use (i.e., authors and research institutions cited in their thesis), although this is limited by the availability of resources in the universities. The availability of online materials is associated with functional meanings such as convenience. Meanwhile, the substantive meanings of the availability of online resources show the dilemma of universities in balancing costs and research independence, since findings show that the online usage in both universities is insufficient to maximize the costs spent in purchasing the online resources. The first university values knowledge production more than cost-efficiency in the acquisition of references, thus, the structure of knowledge production is more accommodating to the selectivities of its researchers. In contrast, it is seen that the structure of knowledge production in the second university regard costs as more important. This causes its researchers to use non-online materials.

Civic Tech for Social Accountability in Philippine Local Governments: Nuancing citizen feedback and civil society empowerment for the Supreme Court 'Mandanas-Garcia' Ruling implementation. 2022. Pp. 104-131 in Decentralization, Digitalization, and Development: Strengthening Local Governance for Crisis Response, Recovery, Resilience, and the Sustainable Development Goals (A Report on the Mandanas-Garcia Supreme Court Ruling). United Nations Development Programme. https://www.undp.org/philippines/publications/decentralization-digitalization-and-development-strengthening-local-governance-crisis-response-recovery-resilience-and.

[Overview]

This article appears in the book "Local Matters" (2020), a special issue of the Center for Local and Regional Governance of the University of the Philippines for the 25th Anniversary of the Local Government Code.

The article was written in 2017, and reflects on the strides, challenges, and opportunities for the citizen participation spirit espoused in the Code at the point of the Code's 25th year. There is a section on Open Government Partnership and the good governance initiatives (in 2017, at least), the national-created space of the Bottom-up Budgeting, the transparency policies of the Full Disclosure and Good Financial Housekeeping, the 'carrots and sticks' of the LGPMS, GFH, AM/ADM, CMGP, and PCF, and the deep promise of the Local Development Councils.

"The term democratic backsliding refers to the regression of democracies as the state uses legitimate, democratic means to curtail or eliminate political institutions and principles, such as, rule of law, lawful opposition, freedom of the press, and checks and balances. Historically, democracies are threatened by military take-overs or violent breakdowns of governments, as for instance the imposition of Martial Law and outright curtailment of civic rights during the Marcos years. But the phenomenon experienced now is rather strange; the Philippines is still a standing democracy, and yet signs of authoritarianism are creeping all over.

So, are we still a democracy?"

http://ilead.ph/2018/05/27/philippine-democracy-is-sliding-backwards-why/