What do the Local Government Code of the Philippines (LGC) and the Caucus of Development NGO Networks (CODE-NGO) have in common? Both are 20 years in existence, and both, the law and the network, aim for participatory development in local communities. For decades, civil society has strived to put forward the practice of participatory local governance, putting the LGC into action, creating informed and empowered communities, and holding local public officials accountable. In the span of 20 years, though, the conditions affecting communities and local governance has continuously evolved.  Abuse or misuse of power granted by the LGC is not an unusual story to hear at the municipalities and cities across the country, making it seem like the stories of good governance are few and exceptional.

A story of good governance is unfolding today — a national government open to reform has paved ways for practitioners of participatory local governance to carry-on proven practices and find new ways of engaging local governments towards development.  CODE-NGO has been validating these stories by translating it to profound experiences through a project entitled “Deepening Democratic Governance”.  Components of this project include case studies, training workshops and budget analysis and monitoring by civil society organizations who look at provincial and municipal governments, and generating a Civil Society Satisfaction Report Card (CSRC).

The CSRC will generate feedback from leaders of local civil society organizations (CSOs) on the strengths and areas for improvement of the local government, measure the satisfaction of the same leaders against the local government’s performance in service delivery and in governance, and communicate the results to concerned agencies   CODE-NGO plans to implement this in 12 municipalities across 6 provinces namely, Laguna, Leyte, Zamboanga del Norte, Maguindanao, Davao del Norte, and Davao Oriental, in partnership with CSOs and CSO networks that are active in these provinces.  

The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) is tasked to conduct a similar report card, which will focus on ordinary citizens’ concerns.  DILG will be launching the Citizens’ Satisfaction Index System (CSIS), which will generate a report card from the constituents of the municipality or city to assess the performance of the local government unit.  Members of the Task Force Participatory Local Governance, convened by the Philippine Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural Areas (PHILDHRRA), wherein CODE-NGO is also a member, has contributed to developing the CSIS. CODE-NGO is optimistic that the efforts of the CSIS, which is the viewpoint of the citizens, and CSRC, which is the viewpoint of the organized groups, will complement each another.  — By Dino Soliman, Project Coordinator, Deepening Democratic Governance, CODE-NGO