When local governments do good

Local government units have commonly been the very obstacles to generating more jobs in the Philippine countryside, as I lamented last week. But no way do I mean to imply that LGUs are generally bad. I have in fact drawn great inspiration over the years from numerous wonderful LGU initiatives that have been truly helpful in uplifting people’s lives. I have long felt that if there’s any government entity best placed to do so, it would be the units of government closest to the people and the challenges they face—provided they do things right. Let me thus end 2015 on a positive note by focusing on “right things” local governments have done that are worthy of emulation by all other LGUs across the land.

Take Siayan in Zamboanga del Norte, for example. When I visited this town seven years ago with a research team I was heading, it was the poorest town on record in the entire country. Back then, Siayan’s communities were beginning to work to address their needs through a community-driven development (CDD) program that deliberately keeps the local government’s hands off resources directly delivered to communities to address their challenges. Even so, the mayor himself endorsed this CDD approach fostered globally by the World Bank, and in the Philippines through the government’s Kalahi-CIDSS program.

Siayan has come a long way since then. Not only has it ceased to be the Philippines’ poorest town, it also won this year the prestigious Galing Pook Award for its Community Enterprise Development Program through Pangkabuhayan Centers (CEDP-PCenter). The program established small community-owned and -managed merchandise stores in Siayan’s 22 barangays (villages). It calls on the poorest residents to pool together their resources, with the LGU providing the initial capital to set up the PCenters. These stores sell commodities at much cheaper prices, while buying agricultural produce from farmers at prices higher than those normally paid by farm traders. Profits are reinvested, while part is paid out as dividends to the individual members who invested in the enterprise.

Externally audited financial reports show that the PCenters had earned P12 million in combined gross sales in 2014, with net surplus averaging P500,000 annually. Investing members have already earned annual dividends averaging P85 for every P100 invested, even as they enjoy a 20-30-percent discount on goods purchased from the centers. Part of the annual surplus generated by the PCenters goes to community development initiatives such as child feeding programs. Indeed, through this social entrepreneurship program initiated and fostered by the LGU, Siayan is now well on its way to eradicating poverty, in what had been the poorest municipality in the country not too long ago.

The municipality of Taytay in the province of Rizal also won the 2015 Galing Pook Award for its Local Garments Industry Institutionalization program. Taytay had long been known for garments production based on numerous informal and small family-based enterprises. Noting that only a handful of the small garments businesses were registered, the municipal government moved to help formalize the industry and thereby improve the local economy. It employed two strategies to this end: institutionalize the local garments market by making Taytay business-friendly, and enjoin civil society organizations to participate in the initiative. The municipal government also worked in partnership with local business organizations such as the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Taytay Sash Contractors Cooperative, Baclaran Garments Producers Inc., and Freedom Bazaar sellers.

In 2010, the municipal council established the Kalayaan Park to encourage small retailers to register and sell their goods there, and attracted an initial 400 registrants. Three years later, a larger space was leased to accommodate even more micro, small and medium garments manufacturers selling their products. Now known as the Taytay Municipal Tiangge, the venue drew 1,526 registered vendors at its opening. To entice informal enterprises to integrate into the mainstream formal economy, the LGU streamlined its business licensing process and implemented incentives such as exemptions from the business tax and minimum wage requirements. The support package also includes according priority status in securing loans from government banks to registered small firms, and free training assistance and market linkage support, provided in partnership with various government agencies. Through the program, the town saw its business registrants multiply tenfold from 400 in 2011 to 4,000 by 2015, and revenues from business permits ballooned from P1,455 in 2011 to P409,440 in 2015. The positive impact on local business has been quite palpable.

Barangays win the Galing Pook, too. Barangay Graceville in San Jose del Monte City in Bulacan was recognized for its LETS GO (Livelihood, Education, Training, Services, Good Governance and Opportunities) program. It has shown the way in participatory planning and budgeting, and in creative approaches to human resource development, health services delivery, community dispute resolution, maintenance of infrastructure facilities, and professionalized barangay administration.

Yes, many LGUs are doing much good around the country. The others who aren’t would do well to simply emulate the treasure trove of good practices demonstrated by well over 200 LGU programs that have won the Galing Pook Award over the past 22 years. In that way, LGUs need not be hurdles to inclusive development, but be the spearheads toward achieving it.

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