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CLG Hosts Study Tour for Bangladesh Officials and NGO Reps
September 15, 2008

The Center for Local Governance, GRF’s training and events management arm, hosted a 10-day study tour for Bangladesh government officials and representatives from non-government organizations on Philippine experience on local governance. The tour, which transpired last August 17-28, 2008, was sponsored by Research Triangle Institute (RTI) as part of USAID’s program for improved governance. Its purpose was to draw lessons from the Philippine experience on local governance, particularly on local finance and resource mobilization, gender association management, citizen participation and policy advocacy.

The participants to the tour, composed of officials from the national and local government of Bangladesh as well as executives of non-government organizations, met with key officials of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Leagues of Barangays, Municipalities and Provinces of the Philippines, Local Government Academy, as well as Provincial and City/Municipal Government officials in the Provinces of Bulacan and Bohol and City of Tagbilaran.

Highlights of the tour include an interaction with the HealthGov Staff of RTI/USAID in the Philippines, where Chief of Party Harry Roovers of the RTI/USAID HealthGov Project welcomed the Bangladesh Delegation and expressed his gratitude for selecting the Philippines as their area of study. The group also met with officers of the Local Government Academy, a national training institute created to coordinate, synchronize, rationalize and conduct training programs for local government units. In the their visit to the League of Provinces of the Philippines, the participants learned, among others, that the organization maintains two core units, namely, the Policy Development and Plans and Programs Development, which work together to formulate policy positions and necessary interventions in order to increase capacities of the provincial governments.

During the stop at the Bureau of Local Government Development of the DILG, Assistant Director Anna Liza Bonague discussed the decentralization process in the Philippines. “The nature and extent of decentralization depends on the context of a particular country. The challenge is to develop pragmatic strategies… to address problems of implementation. The political will of the government determines the future of decentralization,” she said. Mr. Pablo de Castro, Chief of Policy Development and Research Division of the Bureau of Local Government Supervision, on the other hand, shared about DILG’s Local Governance Performance Management System (LGPMS) which is used to assess and measure the performance of local government units in service delivery. The system has five performance areas, namely, governance, administration, social services, economic development and environmental management.

The group visited the Bulacan State University-Center for Local Government, which works for improved community services and increased women participation in governance. The trip to the Province of Bulacan also exposed the participants to an exemplary province where local governance mechanisms are at work. The Bulacan provincial officials exhibited the LGU’s Vison, Mission, Development Thrusts, and Best Practices Toward an Improved Local Governance. Ms. Belinda B. Bartolome, Bulacan Provincial Treasurer, said that, “the successful decentralization of government is usually characterized by a strong financial arrangement that would allow those who will manage devolved responsibilities to carry such mandate effectively.”

In their visit to Tagbilaran City, Honorable Mayor Dan T. Neri Lim shared some of the accomplishments of the city. He cited that Tagbilaran placed third in a survey of Philippine Cities on the Rise conducted by Asian Institute of Management (AIM) under the small cities category or cities with population below 200,000 The City was recognized as the Outstanding Sangguniang Panlungsod in Region VII (Outstanding Legislative Award) and among the FIVE best in the country given by the Philippine Councilors League. He also shared that the non-government organizations are actively participating in the city government’s programs and projects. The city government relies on the surveys conducted by the Holy Name University to help them develop need-driven programs and projects.

For the part of the Province of Bohol, Atty. John Titus J. Vistal, Provincial Planning and Development Coordinator, shared that among the breakthroughs in the local government is the Poverty Database and Monitoring System which was developed with the assistance of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs). He explained that the software accurately targets households, sub-villages and villages for projects and other interventions, and is used as a tool for tracking the impact of such interventions. He emphasized that the partnership with the private sector and civil society serves as a mechanism for transparency and accountability, and that it ensures that all sectors are involved in the formulation and implementation of development programs and projects. During an interaction with the provincial officials, Vice Governor Juluis Caesar Herrera shared that the Provincial Government of Bohol targets to be in the top five provinces in terms of economic activities and expects to reduce poverty by 2010.

During the visit at the Holy Name University-Research Center, the participants learned about the center’s experience in the conduct of Bohol Poll, a system for monitoring the sentiments of the Boholanos on political, social and economic issues affecting them. To complete the tour, the participant went to the Municipality of Loboc to see the Tarsier, the smallest mammal in the world and is endangered specie. The group also went to the Municipality of Carmen for a view of Bohol’s pride Chocolate Hills, and to Panglao Island to appreciate the beautiful white sand Panglao Beach. The visit to the Municipality of Cambuhat, which locates a coastal resource management project by a partnership between the local government and the village folks, excited the participants as they had to take a 30-minute banca (paddled boat) ride through the Cambuhat River to reach the town proper.

In a session among the participants for an evaluation of the tour, they shared that they found significant the unique practice of democracy in the localities, the available venues for strong people’s participation (especially of women), and the remarkable commitment of local government officials.

The study tour was managed by Ms. Agnes Q. Villarruz, GRF Executive Director, and assisted by Ms. Louraine V. Reyes, GRF-CLG Operations Assistant. CLG has previously hosted a similar study tour for a group from Afghanistan. (mab)

Please see the Gallery for pictures of this event

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