The month of October is Local Government Month in the Philippines, in honor of the signing of the Local Government Code on Oct. 10, 1991. That means that this year, it has been 30 years since that landmark piece of legislation was signed into law, during the waning months of president Corazon Aquino’s term. The journey towards its passage was not easy, for many of the same reasons why its passage was so necessary.
Since the Spanish occupation first created the aggregate nation of the Philippines, government had primarily taken a strongly centralized form. This left most of the country dependent upon the policies set in Manila, which did not always take localized considerations into account, leading to a legacy of underdevelopment.
This was why, when the 1987 Constitution was enacted, it came with the mandate for Congress to enact a local government code. This was easier said than done. Yet the benefits of greater local autonomy won out in the end. Experts in public policy and jurisdictional design have long believed in the benefits of greater local autonomy. George Stigler once wrote that “[t]he closer a representative government is to the people, the better it works.”
This is because of several factors: (1) ideally, officials that live in that locality will better understand the lived realities of local residents; (2) local residents have a proportionally greater power to hold local officials accountable than national ones; (3) local officials would, conversely, have greater incentive to see that the public service needs of their constituents were met; (4) unnecessary layers of red tape or other jurisdictional matters would be done away with, leading to more prompt and efficient action.
The enactment of the Local Government Code was certainly a milestone and has had many positive effects, and the greater flexibility and autonomy afforded by the Code has allowed many local governments to improve the responsiveness of public service within their areas.
However, there’s a reason why many groups have sought for a review of the Code over the past 30 years, efforts that have only stalled because of the sheer magnitude of the scope of such a review. Devolution is inherently a complex matter, and many provisions of the Code were either not fully fleshed out, or have not stood the test of time. Many of the functions that were devolved to local governments were not accompanied by the corresponding funds, and confusion about what exactly constitutes the “just share” in the national taxes to which local governments have a right to.
A few years ago, however, this last matter was resolved by the Supreme Court. In the case of Mandanas vs. Executive Secretary, the Court clarified the amount of the internal revenue allotment (IRA) that was due to LGUs and adjusted it upwards from the amount at the time it had been granted. This ruling of the Court will be implemented starting next year, and reports indicate that LGUs would see an increase of roughly 50 percent in their budgets, growing to P1.08 Trillion in 2022. In line with this, the government has issued Executive Order No. 138, which mandates full devolution of certain national government functions by 2024.
The increase in funds will be a boon to local governments – but not an unqualified one. Simply adding more money into the pot will not instantly capacitate LGUs to perform their devolved functions, and could potentially lead to their own problems: a World Bank press release cautions that while the Mandanas ruling is an overall boon for LGUs, underspending may become a larger problem as not all LGUs may have the capacity to absorb such an increase in revenue as they are still without the ability to fulfill re-devolved mandates. This could lead to a gap in service delivery as the responsibility for a public service is transferred to a body ill-equipped to handle it, and that can have disastrous consequences as we still deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Health services have proven to be particularly difficult to devolve. An overly fragmented approach can lead to difficulties when tackling issues that have a spill-over effect beyond the borders of the locality, a prime example being the containment of contagious diseases such as COVID-19. Effectively dealing with a pandemic requires coordination in data gathering and deployment of interventions, and a failure to contain the disease in one locality can lead to its spread to contiguous regions regardless of the actions of these neighboring LGUs.
The struggle against COVID-19 has led to many Filipinos feeling keenly the importance of their local governments, and this importance is only going to increase in the future with increased funding and devolution, as well as the looming threat posed by climate change. It’s important that steps are taken to make the utilization of the expanded IRA and the devolution of public services as transparent, responsive and equitable as possible.
Special assistance should be given to LGUs that need to build capacity in order to fully implement devolved functions. EO No. 138 proposes a Growth Equity Fund and capacity development initiatives to be overseen by the Local Government Academy of the DILG, but it’s essential that consultations with stakeholders and regular reviews be present, given the complexity of this task.
Better planning will be important to lessen the chances that essential services fall through the cracks during the transition, and alliances between local government units should be explored in order to improve coordination, particularly in pandemic or disaster response. The requirement in EO No. 138 of devolution transition plans is a good first step.
Just as important, voters going to the polls next year should not let the flashier campaigns of national bets prevent them from rigorously vetting those seeking local positions. It’s crucial that we support local candidates that have a plan for the newly empowered LGUs that they will inherit in 2022.
One of the things that this pandemic has made crystal clear is that local governments are at the front line in ensuring the day-to-day well-being of Filipinos. When our people face disaster, it’s important that help be close at hand. Let us do what we can to ensure that our local governments are fully equipped to provide that help.