The workshop with ARMM LGUs on local policies (August 14-15 in Davao City for LGUs from Maguindanao and August 21-22 in Zamboanga City for LGUs from the island provinces) comes on the heels of the forthcoming changes in the political landscape brought about by the entrenchment of the Bangsamoro political entity– the product of the 16-year negotiations between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

 

Congress is expected to start deliberations on the Bangsamoro Basic Law, the legal tender of the GPH-MILF peace agreement, as soon as it receives copy of the proposed bill drafted by the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC). The draft Bangsamoro Basic Law is still being reviewed by the Office of the President. Once approved in Congress, the BBL will pave the way for the establishment of the Bangsamoro, the new political entity that will replace the ARMM.

 

From prepping ARMM LGUs for the big change and the recurring lament that ARMM is a flawed autonomy to points of challenges in LGU policymaking, we listened to the proceeding of the workshops and here are our major takeaways:

 

Exciting times up ahead for LGUs.

 

Benedicto Bacani, former law dean and now executive director of IAG, says the political landscape under the Bangsamoro presents new opportunities for LGUs especially in terms of decentralization and devolution. By new opportunities Bacani means more powers and resources at the disposal of local officials at the LGU level.

 

Citing past attempts at autonomy for Muslim Mindanao, from the 1976 Tripoli Agreement between the government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) to the Organic Act that established the ARMM, Bacani believes this is the way to go, if not the inevitable.

 

The GPH-MILF peace agreement signed in March this year features a list of exclusive powers for the Bangsamoro. What of these powers will be exercised exclusively by the regional government, shared with or devolved entirely to constituent LGUs will depend on legislation.

 

But are the LGUs ready for more?

 

“The local government code for the Bangsamoro – if ever there will be one – should take into consideration what local governments will be in a position to undertake under the existing situation,” says local governance expert Edmund Tayao.

 

He cautions that new powers and resources always mean new responsibilities and accountabilities (and new problems, too!)

 

The LGUs would do well if they start building their capacities – administrative, human, and technical – by now.

 

The Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro says that the new political entity will follow a ministerial form of government and will have its own local government code. It is not clear though whether this measure can be passed by the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) given its limited term of one year. If not, the task is left to the regular government – specifically the Parliament – that will take over from the BTA.  

 

Whatever the case, Bacani urges LGUs to have an “open mind for dialogue and changes in the journey towards a hopefully brighter future.”

 

The new order in the Bangsamoro offers palpable opportunities to establish the right kind of relations between the upcoming regional government and its constituent LGUs, even correct the “structural defect”, as Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG-ARMM) Secretary Anwar Malang puts it, evident in the current ARMM setup.

 

Malang cites some ‘loopholes’ in the autonomy of the ARMM. Most glaring in his list is the absence of Department of Budget Management (DBM) in the ARMM and the consequent absent of authority of the ARMM regional government over the budget of its constituent LGUs. Even the region’s policymaking body, the Regional Legislative Assembly (RLA) has no power of review over the budget of LGUs.

 

“We do not have the BLGF [Bureau of Local Government Finance] in the region, the one in-charge of local treasurers. We cannot fix this because it’s in the law,” laments Malang. His department is remedying this flaw but can go only as far as striking a memorandum of agreement between the ARMM regional government and DBM Region 12, the one having jurisdiction over the budget of LGUs [in the ARMM mainland], “so we can have a part in the review of the budget, especially of LGUs with poor performance.”

 

For a local government unit, it pays to understand the concept of autonomy and decentralization in the bigger picture of knowing its role in governance and making sense of its relationship with the national government, Prof. Tayao says.

 

This understanding can begin in knowing “where the existence of national government starts and ends, where the function of LGU starts and ends,” he adds.

 

Don’t assume that you can do everything. At the same time, don’t assume that you cannot do anything.

 

Prof. Tayao reminds local officials: “A local government unit is a proper government itself, not necessarily independent but already a potent authority.

 

Even if we’ve identified the problem and we have already found the solution, the work doesn’t end there. Always work on benchmarks: where are we now, where do we want to go, and see all factors contributing to the output, including extraneous ones…”

 

Because politics is about who gets what where, when and how, the idea is to always reinvent it.

 

Politics is not an enterprise but the means to determine how to go about things, in this case, how to divide and allocate limited resources.

 

“Resources will always be not enough. The key is to maximize. This can be done only if you organize,” Prof. Tayao says.

 

There is where development planning is needed. And a good development plan has to have the proper ingredients.

 

First up: a good data. This is where departments talking to each other and complementing each other’s function matter because comprehensive planning needs to see the whole picture to have the right diagnosis of the problem and a good solution.

 

“Coordination and collaboration should always be the dynamics between the key departments,” Prof. Tayao tells workshop participants.

 

How reliable and complete the data reflects how functional the LGU organizational structure is and how seamless data-sharing between and among key departments is.

 

How data is managed to form part of coherent information which may need policy intervention to effect the desired change requires technology.

 

LGUs still looking for a computer system may want to consider Geographic Information System (GIS) as an essential tool in development planning for storing, analyzing, and managing data.

 

Another key consideration in development planning is sectoral participation.

 

Some LGUs may see women and children as not an interesting issue but they are as fundamental as the other components.

 

“Always go back to data to identify the sectors, what are their needs,” Prof. Tayao says.

 

Talking to stakeholders can also foster ownership of programs and policies. The local chief executive can promote what plans he envisions for the community.

 

LGUs should remind themselves however that participation as a component of development planning is not an end but the means to enrich a policy or program. It has to be meaningful and constructive.

 

Finally, we saw these common threads on the state of policymaking in the LGUs:

 

Discrepancies in data or the lack of it hinder municipalities from identifying problems and policy needs. There is also the challenge of compliance during implementation of new policies and the predicament of sustaining projects and programs. The former is attributed to low participation of stakeholders in the crafting of policies; the latter due to constant and fast turn-over of personnel implementing critical projects.

 

On the brighter side, LGUs appear more open to incorporate participatory processes in policymaking. The role of women and children is being acknowledged as one important cornerstone of good governance. Also, there seems to be an emerging trend of forming alliances among LGUs in pursuit of common development agenda and striking partnerships with the private sector, civil society or funding agencies in the implementation of projects or programs with mutually beneficial returns. This highlights the need for LGUs to package themselves well to attract the much-needed intervention from donor organizations or investments from the business sector.

 

What’s our take on the workshops?

 

As Prof. Tayao notes, the outputs of workshop activities suggest vast potentials of participating LGUs. It’s just a matter of cultivating them.

 

 

Notes:

The workshops in Davao City and Zamboanga City are part of the ongoing project “Promoting the Policy Environment to Secure the Rights and Welfare of Children, Youth and Adolescents in the Proposed Bangsamoro Region and Constituent LGUs” being implemented by IAG and partner UNICEF.

The workshops were facilitated by LOGODEF headed by its executive director, Prof. Edmund Tayao.

LGUs of Upi, South Upi, Parang and Mamasapano in Maguindanao province were represented in the Davao workshop.

LGUs of Siasi, Sulu and Languyan, Tawi-tawi participated in the Zamboanga workshop.