The debate on whether or not to abolish the Priority Development Assistance Fund inevitably brings us to the issue of whether or not the members of our Congress should be given a primary role in project identification and implementation.
Republic Act No. 7160, also known as the Local Government Code of the Philippines, clearly provides a framework to guide local government units—from the provincial level down to the city/municipal and the barangay (village) levels—in formulating development plans, including project (soft or hard) identification and prioritization. In Book I, Title VI, the creation of multisectoral local development councils (LDCs) is mandated for all local government units. A local development council, supposedly, should be composed of key stakeholders such as barangay officials (for the barangay), city/municipal officials both elected and from the bureaucracy (for the city or municipality), provincial officials both elected and from the bureaucracy (for the province), the congressman or his representative (in all levels), and a duly recognized nongovernmental organization operating in the locality (in all levels). From this we can say that congressmen are only part of the entire development council setup. In an ideal world, the multisectoral council plays an important role in the overall development of every community.
How much do we know about such development councils? What is the current status of such councils? What are the implications if development projects are identified by congressmen rather than by the local multisectoral development councils?
—KEVIN CONSTANTINE R. FONSECA, fonseca.soksay@gmail.com