ULAP Executive Director Ms. Sonia Lorenzo, Head of Plans & Programs Ms. Czarina Medina, and Program Officer Mr. Kevin dela Cruz turn over the end-of-grant report to The Asia Foundation (TAF) Senior Program Officer Mr. Henry Grageda and Assistant Program Officer Ms. Chay Dionco on November 4, 2013.
This officially closes the preliminary engagement of the two organizations under the AusAID-TAF Coalitions for Change (CfC) initiative on "Strengthening Local Capacity to Institutionalize Education Reforms", which ran from March to October 15, 2013, which enabled the conduct of the series of consultations with LGUs, the Local Education Policy Workshop (October 10), and several convergence meetings with development partners.
Also in the picture are representatives from the Jesse Robredo Institute of Governance (led by Prof. Kiko Magno), which is also a partner in the CfC. The three organizations furthered the conversations towards outlining next steps in the policy reform, convergence of programs with other partners, and capacity development of Local Schools Boards. — with Chay Dionco and 3 others.

The Local Education Policy Workshop was organized by the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines, last Oct 10, 2013. Attended by 36 Local Chief Executives (provincial governors, city mayors, and municipal mayors), the event was a venue to discuss the results of the LGU consultation output on the needs and issues of LGUs with regard to local education governance and service delivery, outline policy recommendations, and identify ways of moving forward with national government agencies such as the Department of Education and the Department of Interior and Local Government and other partners from the private and civil society sectors. The event is line with the AusAID and The Asia Foundation's Coalitions for Change initiative.

The Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines, in partnership with the Philippine Alliance of Patient Organizations, as funded by the Australian Aid through The Asia Foundation's Fully Abled Nation campaign, instigated a series of roadshows that aims to increase the public’s awareness on PWD Rights, promulgate the different PhilHealth programs, and encourage active participation among LGUs and the PWDs to uphold the rights of Persons with Disabilities. The sites for the roadshows include Butuan City, Iligan City, Oriental Mindoro, Tagudin (Ilocos Sur), Midsayap North Cotabato, and Nueva Ecija.
PAPO Vice President Ogie Gonzales and Board Member Jean Gonzales gave the orientation for the PWD rights which emphasized on RA 7277 or the Magna Carta of Persons with Disabilities, RA 10070 or the Establishment of the Persons with Disabilities Affairs Office and the Rights of the Children with disabilities.
PhilHealth representatives coming from PhilHealth Regional Office CARAGA gave their orientation on the different packages and programs of PhilHealth for the PWDs.
Lastly, volunteer doctor, Edna C. Del Rosario, conducted a free clinic for the PWDs with medicines provided by UNILAB. She was assisted by local registered nurses.
On the 2nd day of the Roadshow, The PWD Federation officers met up with Local City Officials as headed by Mayor Ferdinand Amante, Jr. for the PWD-LGU Dialogue. To formally open the dialogue, Mayor Amante gave a speech and emphasized that no one should get left behind or “walang iwanan” as he would coin it, stating that the PWDs is being taken into consideration by the LGU for its programs and planning.
ULAP then presented the results of the PWD Survey and Registry and was affirmed by the PWDs as they conveyed their clamors to the local government. The LGU of Butuan responded to each of their concerns and assured that steps will be taken to address these.

Kaya Natin Movement for Good Governance and Ethical Leadership and the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) conducted a public health summit which mapped out the gains and needs of health governance systems in Cabiao and San Jose Nueva Ecija, and Quezon City, in the Ateneo de Manila University, September 6. Cabiao Mayor Baby Congco and Quezon City Representative Bolet Banal, both Kaya Natin champions, presented the status of health systems in their respective localities. Representatives from San Jose and Quezon City LGUs also participated to share their local health system initiatives.
Meanwhile, former Ateneo president Fr. Ben Nebres, ASMPH Dean Manolito Dayrit, ULAP Executive Director Sonia Lorenzo, and Kaya Natin Lead Convenor Harvey Keh helped outline ways of moving forward. The public health summit is the first step towards planning for ways of assisting the participating local governments enhance their health governance initiatives and achieve Universal Health Coverage.

The Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines, through the support of AusAID and The Asia Foundation – Coalitions for Change, presented the outputs of the series of consultations with local governments on education needs and issues on September 2, in Max’s Restaurant, Scout Tuason QC.
The report details the range of issues that hinder the institutionalization and mainstreaming of gains in education programs being conducted by LGUs. Some of the more highlighted issues are: insufficient synchronization of local DepEd and LGU planning, budgeting, implementation, and monitoring of programs; inefficiencies in the distribution of teacher and classroom allocations from national; the interrelatedness of addressing local education issues and needs with other service delivery areas (i.e., poverty reduction, health, nutrition, and sanitation interventions). Furthermore, inputs for possible policy revisions and long-term capacity-building areas were present.
The output serves as input to the partners present as to how to further engage LGUs to work on education needs on the ground. The Coalitions for Change will also use the report to draft the policy agenda which is to be presented to local chief executives for vetting in a later workshop.
Partners present include: USec Mario Deriquito (DepEd), Ms. Virgie Clavel (DILG), Mr. Benjamin Abadiano (Assisi Development Foundation), Ms. Lulli Herras de Leon (Ayala Foundation), Dr. Nora Licup (Bicol University Graduate School), Prof. Anne Candelaria (ADMU-Political Science), and representatives from the League of Provinces, League of Cities, League of Municipalities, Jollibee Group Foundation, Galing Pook Foundation, E-Net Philippines, DLSU-Robredo Institute of Governance, ANSA-Check my School, Parent Advocates for the Visually Impaired Children, Philippine Business for Education, Local Government Academy, Bayan Academy, Knowledge Channel, and PhilDHRRA.