Abstract
After 27 years since the passage of the Local Government Code of 1991, how are local governments today? This chapter reviews the literature on decentralisation in the Philippines, focusing on cities’ experiences within Metro Manila and local government units outside the national capital. Looking at local governments’ different experiences with varying contexts provides a perspective on how decentralisation has been implemented. Local governments are deemed primary service providers. This chapter will focus on two main service sectors: health, which has been devolved, and education, which has been decentralised. Based on the existing studies on health devolution and education decentralisation, the chapter lays down some recommendations on policy changes, specifically possible amendments to relevant provisions of the LGC of 1991, or proper policy implementation, such as enabling the existing institutional structures and guarantees provided.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
However, not all municipalities have their own permanent health officer.
- 2.
For example, then Quezon City mayor Herbert Bautista, during a comment on the presentation of an earlier version of this paper, noted that the city does not have a 1:1 barangay-health center ratio. In some areas, there is one health center for a number of adjacent barangays.
- 3.
In some municipalities, financial and capacity-building support are provided by non-governmental organisations, civil society groups, and medical foundations to improve services. However, the municipal governments need to exhibit improvements in health outcomes in order to continue receiving support. For more insights on this, see Go 2016b.
- 4.
Outside the basic education level, cities have also put up their own locally funded and maintained universities, such as the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Valenzuela (PLV; City of Valenzuela University) in 2002 Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Marikina (PLM; City of Marikina University) in 2003 and Taguig City University in 2004.
- 5.
In the study of Go (2016b), the municipal mayor was able to take advantage of the resources available to him as chair of the LSB and received positive feedback from the public.
- 6.
This is the case in five of the eight municipal mayors the author interviewed in between 2014 and 2015. For a discussion on the decentralised education sector, see Saguin and Ramesh (2020).
- 7.
For example, some municipalities have included a holistic approach to health and included the school principals and parish priests in their health board.
- 8.
This has been mentioned by municipal mayors during a series of interviews conducted by the author.
- 9.
The municipal mayors were very candid about this. Especially in poorer municipalities where mayors are not necessarily medical or education professionals, they admit heavily relying on the advice of their health and education officials.
Bibliography
Abrigo, Michael Ralph M. and Danica Aisa P. Ortiz. 2018. Devolution of health services, fiscal decentralization, and antenatal care in the Philippines. PIDS Discussion Paper Series, No. 2018–42. Quezon City: Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).
Amatong, Juanita D., ed. 2005. Local Government Fiscal and Financial Management Best Practices. Manila: Department of Finance.
Arguelles, Cleve V. 2018. “Health as an electoral currency in the Philippines: Insights from political ethnography.” Philippine Journal of Health Research and Development 22 (1): 44–54.
Atienza, Maria Ela L. 2004. “The politics of health devolution in the Philippines: Experiences of municipalities in a devolved set-up.” Philippine Political Science Journal 25 (48): 25‒54.
———. 2006. “Local Governments and Devolution in the Philippines.” In Philippine Politics and Governance: An Introduction, edited by Noel M. Morada and Teresa Encarnacion Tadem, 418–427. Quezon City: UP Department of Political Science in collaboration with the Commission on Higher Education.
Atienza, Maria Ela L., Jan Robert R. Go, and Herby Jireh Esmeralda. 2019, May 9. “Structure of Local Government Units in the Philippines.” Infographics. UP sa Halalan. https://halalan.up.edu.ph/structure-of-local-government-units-in-the-philippines/.
Barcillano, Malu C. 2005. “Reinventing the Naga City School Board: Improving Education Outcomes.” Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism. http://pcij.org/blog/wp-docs/Barcillano_Reinventing_Naga_School_Board.pdf.
Brillantes, Alex Jr. B. 1998. “Five-Year Assessment of the Implementation of Devolution in the Local Government Code.” In Local Government in the Philippines: A Book of Readings, edited by Proserpina Domingo Tapales, Jocelyn C. Cuaresma, and Wilhelmina L. Cabo, 521–535. Quezon City: NCPAG.
———. 2003. “Decentralized Democratic Government under the Local Government Code: A Government Perspective.” In Introduction to Public Administration: A Reader, edited by Victoria A. Bautista, Ma. Concepcion P. Alfiler, Danilo R. Reyes and Proserpina D. Tapales, 324–343. Quezon City: NCPAG.
Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF). 2009–2016. Statement of Income and Expenditures.
Capuno, Joseph J., and Marian Panganiban. 2012. The Ties that Do Not Bind: Party Affiliations and the Delivery of Devolved Health Services in the Philippines. Philippine Political Science Journal 33 (1): 63–80.
Capuno, Joseph J. 2011. Incumbents and Innovations Under Decentralisation: An Empirical Exploration of Selected Local Governments in the Philippines. Asian Journal of Political Science 19 (1): 48–73.
Cuenca, Janet S. 2018. Health Devolution in the Philippines: Lessons and Insights. PIDS Discussion Paper Series, No. 2018–36. Quezon City: Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).
de Vera, Ben O. 2020, October 22. “ADB: PH Revenues to Grow 90% if Real Property Valuation More Efficient.” Philippine Daily Inquirer. https://business.inquirer.net/310157/adb-ph-revenues-to-grow-90-if-real-property-valuation-more-efficient.
Tadem, Encarnacion, S. Teresa, and Eduardo C. Tadem. 2016. “Political dynasties in the Philippines: Persistent patterns, perennial problems.” South East Asia Research 24 (3): 328–340.
Go, Jan Robert R. 2016a. “Political Leadership and Education Politics: The Mayor and Education Services in Nasugbu, Batangas”. Philippine Political Science Journal 37 (2): 111‒134.https://doi.org/10.1080/01154451.2016.1193987.
———. 2016b, September 23–24. “Health Services and Reelection in Philippine Municipalities.” Conference Paper. 2016b Korean Association for Policy Studies Autumn International Conference, Olympic Parktel, Seoul, South Korea.
Holmes, Ronald D. 2016. “Local Governments, Civil Society, Democratization, and Development.” In Chasing the Wind: Assessing Philippine Democracy, 2nd ed., edited by Felipe B. Miranda and Temario C. Rivera, 107–141. Quezon City: Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines and the United Nations Development Programme.
Kawanaka, Takeshi. 2002. Power in a Philippine City. Chiba, Japan: Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization.
King, Elizabeth M., and Susana Cordeiro Guerra. 2005. “Education Reforms in East Asia: Policy, Process and Impact.” In East Asia Decentralizes: Making Local Government Work, World Bank, 179–207. Washington, D.C.: World Bank.
Langran, Irene V. 2011. “Decentralisation, Democratisation, and Health: The Philippine Experiment.” Journal of Asian and African Studies 46 (4): 361–374.
Legaspi, Perla E. 2001. The Changing Role of the Local Governments Under a Decentralised State: Some Cases in Philippine Local Governance. Quezon City: NCPAG.
Legaspi, Perla E., and Eden Valmonte Santiago. 1998. “Devolution of the Hospital Care System in Negros Oriental.” In Local Government in the Philippines, vol. 3, ed. Proserpina Tapales, Jocelyn Cuaresma, and Wilhelmina Cabo, 101–146. Quezon City: Center for Local and Regional Governance and UP National College of Public Administration.
Liwanag, Harvy Joy and Kaspar Wyss. 2019. “Optimising Decentralisation for the Health Sector by Exploring the Synergy of Decision Space, Capacity and Accountability: Insights from the Philippines.” Health Research Policy System 17 (4). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-018-0402-1.
Manasan, Rosario G., Janet S. Cuenca and Alicia B. Celestino. 2011. Mobilizing LGU Support for Basic Education: Focus on the Special Education Fund. Brighton: Philippine Institute for Development Studies.
Porio, Emma. 2012. “Decentralisation, Power and Networked Governance Practices in Metro Manila.” Space and Polity 16 (1): 7–27. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562576.2012.698128.
Prilles, Wilfredo Jr. 2006. “Reinventing the Local School Board in Naga City.” In Kaban Galing: Mainstreaming Replication of Exemplary Local Government Practices, 163–181. Pasig City: Galing Pook Foundation.
Republic Act No. 7160, or the Local Government Code of 1991.
Republic Act No. 9155, or the Governance of Basic Education Act of 2001.
Saguin, Kidjie Ian, and M. Ramesh. 2020. “Bringing Governance Back into Education Reforms.” International Review of Public Policy 2 (2): 159–177.
Saloma, Czarina, Maria Elissa Jayme. Lao, and Leslie Advincula-Lopez. 2013. “How to Make Local Government Institutions Work: Some Lessons on Social Change.” Philippine Political Science Journal 34 (1): 83–96.
World Bank. 2016. Assessing the Role Played by Local Government in Supporting Basic Education in the Philippines. Philippine Education Note No. 7. World Bank Group and Australian Aid.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Go, J.R.R. (2023). Decentralisation Experiences in the Philippines: Social Services Sectors and the Local Government Code of 1991. In: Tadem, T.S.E., Atienza, M.E.L. (eds) A Better Metro Manila?. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-7804-3_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-7804-3_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-19-7803-6
Online ISBN: 978-981-19-7804-3
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)