The Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP), together with Atikha Overseas Workers and Communities Initiative, Inc., conducted a Policy Subgroup for Migration and Development (M&D) Meeting (otherwise known as 2nd Technical Working Group Meeting) on March 29, 2016 at the 9F DILG NAPOLCOM Building, EDSA corner Quezon Avenue, Quezon City. The initiative to convene relevant government and non-government organizations working on local initiatives for M&D as part of the Policy Subgroup is part of the Scaling Up Initiatives in Mobilizing Migrant Resources towards Agriculture Development in the Philippines, supported by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
Among the participants who attended were Assistant Secretary Grace Relucio-Princesa of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Atty. Golda Roma of the United Nations Development Programme, Mai Dizon-Anonuevo of Atikha, Edwin C. Pasadol of the Department of Trade and Industry, Jamie S. Vergara, Jr. of the Department of Interior and Local Government, Maria Janica V. Brigola of the Philippine Commission on Women, Lovely S. Mores of the National Economic and Development Authority, Sherwin C. Tapalla of the Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Training Institute, and Melvin D. Caseda of the Department of Labor and Employment-National Reintegration Center for Overseas Filipino Workers.
Continuing the efforts and success of the 1st Technical Working Group (TWG) Meeting conducted last October 23, 2015, the Policy Subgroup Meeting was organized to converge initiatives of key national government agencies, local government agencies, private sector, and civil society organizations to facilitate the sharing of financial, technical, and human resources in mobilizing migrant resources towards local development. Furthermore, it was conducted to develop the requisite policy support linking M&D to the Sub-committee on International Migration and Development, under the National Economic Development Authority.
The 2nd TWG for M&D was able to generate and consolidate policy directions for a planned Round Table Discussion (RTD) on M&D in relation to ULAP’s #ParaSaBayan advocacy. The meeting identified specific policy directions that will eventually advocate for the development of sound policies to promote M&D initiatives to national and local government, which will be further discussed in the planned RTD this year.

ULAP convened local government officials among its member leagues, particularly the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP), League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP), League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP), Liga ng mga Barangay sa Pilipinas (LNB), League of Vice Governors of the Philippines (LVGP), Philippine Councilor’s League (PCL) and National Movement of Young Legislators (NMYL) for the Regional Dialogues of the “#ParaSaBayan: Pagtataguyod ng Makabuluhang Adhikain ng Pamamahalang Lokal” advocacy in Central Luzon (January 25, 2016) in Tarlac City, CAR (January 26, 2016) and Ilocos Region (January 28, 2016) in Vigan City.
#ParaSaBayan was launched on December 2, 2015 during the ULAP National Executive Board (NEB) meeting and has since conducted dialogues and consultation in the following regions: Puerto Princesa City on November 24, 2015 for MIMAROPA, Cebu City on December 11, 2015 for Cebu and Negros Island Regions and Butuan City on December 16, 2015 for CARAGA .
The #ParaSaBayan advocacy, through gathering commitments of the local government officials, pushes for a set of key reforms that empower local governance actors – LGUs and civil society organizations alike – such as direct access and downloads to local government shares in national wealth, performance measurements and incentives, improved financing guidelines for basic services, and improvement of inclusive local government platforms. These key local reforms are informed by the spirit of devolution and decentralization of governance and development espoused in the Local Government Code of 1991, which would be celebrating 25 years of passage in October 2016.
ULAP developed the #ParaSaBayan advocacy to open spaces for consensus-building and collaboration among local governance champions. The gains of the advocacy will inform the continuing agenda of the local governments beyond the Code anniversary.
According to Governor Albert Garcia of Bataan during the Region 3 dialogue held in Tarlac on January 25, 2016, the local governments are the face of the whole government because they are more accessible to the people. There is a need to be more responsive to the growing needs of Filipino people, and both national and local governments must recognize policy reforms that strengthen the capacities of local governance actors.
Sustainability and Institutionalization of Performance-based Incentive Programs
According to DILG Undersecretary Austere Panadero, after the passage of the Code, the national government has provided capacity building and trainings to the local governments to provide guidance on how to perform their functions. In 2000s, it started to measure the capacities of the local governments by setting-up and creating performance indicators based on what is in the Code through the Local Government Performance Management System (LGPMS).
While in the 2010 up to today, further performance measurements were developed – such as the Seal of Good Housekeeping (SGH), which is the award for transparency and disclosure, and the Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG), which is the upgraded, expanded version of the SGH which includes service delivery indicators. Moreover, these performance measurements are now tied to access to financing facilities, such as the Performance Challenge Fund (PCF), the Bottom-Up Budgeting (BuB), and the newly-started Konkreto at Ayos na Lansangan at Daan Tungo sa Pangkalahatang Kaunlaran (KALSADA) for provincial road maintenance and rehabilitation.
These said programs have provided incentives through downloading of funds to the local governments, who passed certain governance criteria such as transparency and accountability, for the implementation of projects and programs in their communities.
“What is good right now is that we are not looking at personality-based but policy-based, which means the (programs) are looking at our capacities and commitment to good governance. The partnership of the local governments and the national government looks at how to make the resources more felt at the grassroots level,” said Governor Garcia.
During the regional dialogue in the Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR) on January 26, 2016, Benguet Governor Nestor Fongwan said, “Local government units are feeling that they are being consulted and their needs are being met by the national government (through these performance-based incentive programs).”
Pursuing Meaningful Agenda for Local Governance Reforms
The regional dialogues also focus on other local governance reforms in strengthening the roles of the local governments in achieving development that will trickle down to the people. These reforms seek to further empower while uphold accountability among LGUs in their mandate of delivering services in the frontlines of the development agenda.
During the dialogue in Ilocos Region, Governor Ryan Singson of Ilocos Sur noted that current programs of the national government provides additional support and capacity for the local governments, however, systems reform must be introduced to speed up the processes of releasing local shares from the national wealth, particularly on excise taxes on tobacco and mining.
The local government officials also discuss the review of the Local Government Code, particularly on increasing the share of the local governments in Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) and revisiting the computation and distribution, to address issues of inequity among the local governments.
Moreover, the local governments are seeking to improve health financing guidelines and co-sharing of expenditures between the national government and local governments to enhance local health systems. They are also keen on developing performance-based mechanisms for local education financing that will empower local governments to more effectively respond to local education needs. The same policy approach is pushed for reforms in the National Disaster Fund and People’s Survival Fund to allow local governments to be more responsive during natural disasters.
Lastly, to ensure that the programs and projects are more targeted and evidence-based, the local governments want the national government to develop an ICT Policy Framework to assist LGUs in financing and investing on ICT infrastructure and programs that will make local data more transparent and efficient. This will allow innovations in technologies that can open spaces for greater and wider participation of more sectors in the governance agenda.
The #ParaSaBayan advocacy will continue on with consensus-building and agenda-setting activities, such as policy workshops and dialogues with potential champions of the local government agenda both in the local and national levels.
The #ParaSaBayan advocacy is being conducted in partnership with the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Budget and Management (DBM), Philippine Open Government Partnership (OGP) Steering Committee, United Nation’s RePubliko advocacy, and Microsoft Philippines.

The Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines, the umbrella organization of all the leagues and elected officials in the country, has partnered with the Community- Based Monitoring System (CBMS) Network Office, headed by its team leader, Dr. Celia Reyes in the conduct of the 12th CBMS Philippine National Conference, with the main theme: “Pursuing Meaning Devolution through CBMS”, on February 29- March 2, 2016 at Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria, Ortigas, Quezon City. Approximately, 670 attendees including national agencies, LGUs, development partners, civil society organizations, academe and private sectors from all across the region in the country gathered together to attend this conference.
One of the highlights of the event is the panel discussion on Meaningful Devolution through CBMS. Invited panelists shared their experiences on the challenges of devolution, their key strategies in addressing them and the role of CBMS for better delivery of services and programs at the local level. Mayor Mariano Martinez of San Remigio, Cebu, who is also the League of Municipalities-Cebu Chapter Treasurer, represented ULAP in the panel discussion. Together with him were Mayor Maria Angela Garcia of Dinalupihan, Bataan, Mayor Allan Gamilla of Bongabon, Nueva Ecija and Valenzuela City 1st District Congressman Sherwin Gatchalian’s representative.
Meanwhile, ULAP Executive Director Czarina Medina-Guce chaired the Session on Localizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The session featured presentations and discussions on the United Nations Development Program’s (UNDP) current program initiative on the global development goals. It also looked into the country’s experience with regards to the millennium development goals (MDGs) and other key initiatives of the national government in line with mainstreaming and monitoring the SDGs. More so, the discussion also touched on indicators and planned data collection for monitoring the sustainable development goals. They were discussed by Dr. Emmanuel Buendia of United Nations Development Program (UNDP)-Philippine Country Office, Director Myrna Clara Asuncion of NEDA and Dr. Liza Grace Bersales of the Philippine Statistics Authority, respectively.
According to Dr. Reyes, the 3-day convention aimed to be a venue for information sharing of good practices and innovations in the implementation and use of CBMS, and for mapping new development challenges ahead and corresponding strategies to address them. Aside from pursuing meaningful devolution, the conference also focused on promoting youth development, entrepreneurship and providing social protection to the informal sector.
This event is part of the collaboration effort of the Innovative Technology for Open Government Partnership (ITOGP) Coalition, where ULAP sits as Co-Chair. This is also in support of ULAP’s “#ParaSaBayan: Pagtataguyod ng Makabuluhang Adhikain ng Pamamahalang Lokal” Advocacy in celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the Local Government Code (LGC) in October 2016.

The Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP), in partnership with Making All Voice Count (MAVC) and HIVOS International, conducted Negotiations and Communications, and Data Interpretation and Management Workshops for the “Developing technology-based innovation platforms at provincial level: Supporting Bottom Up Budgeting (BuB) projects for 2015 in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao to identify context specific tech-based innovations to support with making the BuB reporting and monitoring more feasible and information accessible to civil society organizations, provincial government and communities at large” in Surigao Del Norte and Abra on March 9 and March 15-16, 2016 respectively.
ULAP Programs, Plans and Policies Manager Crystal Eunice Dela Cruz together with Project Officer Irish Generoso welcomed participants from the Municipalities of San Isidro and Malimono and the Province of Surigao Del Norte. Technical Officer Norbert Peter Indunan joined the team for the Abra workshop with participants coming from the Municipalities of San Isidro and Langiden and the Province of Abra.
The brief orientation on the current BuB monitoring and reporting mechanism as well as the overview of the project and previously implemented activities were presented by Ms. Dela Cruz in Surigao del Norte and Mr. Indunan in Abra.
ULAP Executive Director Czarina Medina-Guce served as resource person for the Negotiations and Communications Workshop held in Surigao del Norte on the morning of March 9. The session started off with a role playing game simulating a situation requiring communication and negotiation between 2 groups. A short discussion followed as the simulation was processed by the speaker. The session ended with another simulation, this time requiring negotiation between 7 groups with different advocacies and agenda. The processing of the simulated negotiation was a free flowing discussion of learnings from the entire workshop. The same session was conducted by Ms. Dela Cruz during the Abra workshop.
The Data Interpretation and Management for Surigao del Norte was facilitated by Department of Budget and Management – Open Data Philippines, Program Assistant Miss Raisa Perez, while the Abra workshop was facilitated by her colleague Citizen Engagement Officer Ms. Michelle Manza. The session started with a short lecture on offline and online data management. This was followed by two simulation exercises which focused on the application of all things they learned from the workshop where they were given data sets to appreciate, interpret, visualize and present. The participants were even given the task to translate these data into policy recommendations and actionable points.
The workshops were designed to develop the skills of both representatives from Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and Local Government Units (LGUs) on negotiations and communications, and data interpretation and management. The need for these trainings was identified during the design thinking workshop and monitoring visit of the ULAP project team to the project site. The improved capacity to negotiate and interpret data is in preparation of the upcoming prototype testing for the BuB 911 hotline prototype which aims to improve BuB reporting and reporting through the province as info-mediating platform.
For both areas pre-tests and post-tests were conducted, which were categorized based on familiarity per subtopic and session. The evaluation had a range of 1 to 5 with 5 being ‘extremely confident’ and 1 being ‘least confident’. Results showed that more participants became more confident on the topics after the training. Pre-test for both workshops ranged between 2-5. Post-test for the negotiation and data interpretation workshops registered an increased score range between 3-5.

The 162 to 52 Coalition for Accelerating Collective Impact for Maternal and Child Health convened on February 19, 2016 at the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) office. It was attended by representatives from lead conveners Department of Health – Bureau of Local Health Systems Development (DOH-BLHSD), Philhealth, Population Commission (POPCOM), Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP), Zuellig Family Foundation (ZFF), Access Health International Philippines and Microsoft Philippines.
As an overview, the 162 to 52 Coalition was conceptualized and created as a result of the Third Philippine Health Outlook Forum in December 2011. The coalition envisions itself to be a catalyst of strategic, targeted and innovative public-private partnerships for local health system development and the attainment of desired maternal and child health indicators, with primary focus on areas with poor maternal and child health indices and high poverty concentration.
The meeting aimed to discuss the coalition’s plans for 2016 and aligning them the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In the spirit of convergence and collaboration, participants were requested to share current and pipelined programs and activities for the year. This led to discussions on clarifications, sharing of insights and suggestions and possible partnership opportunities among coalition members and even their partners.
The current Lead Conveners of Coalition are the following: DOH-BLHSD, Philhealth, POPCOM, DOST-PCHRD, ULAP, Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health (ASMPH), PIDS, Access Health International Philippines, Sanofi Aventis Philippines, ZFF and Microsoft Philippines.