So the public may know: The first 100 days of DILG Sec. Jesse Robredo

November 16, 2010
Prepared by the Department of Interior and Local Government
 
THE FIRST 100 DAYS:  Where Local Governance Reforms Converge

In the first one hundred days of the administration of His Excellency President Benigno S. Aquino III, we at the Department of the Interior and Local Government have sown and nurtured the seeds of good governance and peace and order in provinces, cities and towns all over the Philippines, in the hope that the years ahead would see transparency, accountability, responsiveness, and committed volunteerism at the heart of local governance in the country.

PERFORMANCE-DRIVEN LOCAL GOVERNANCE

We have combined ongoing and pioneering programs to ensure that local governments (LGUs) provide high level of performance in meeting the demands and expectations of our people in accordance with mandated functions, duties and responsibilities.

The Local Governance Performance Management System (LGPMS), an assessment tool which measures the performance of LGUs in various areas of governance, ensures that more than half of all LGUs are accomplishing their State of Local Governance and State of Development Reports (SLGR and SDR).

The Seal of Good Housekeeping identifies LGUs that performs excellently in the key governance areas of planning, fiscal management, transparency and accountability, and performance monitoring.  This seal is essential for LGUs to avail of the Performance Challenge Fund (PCF), which seeks to recognize best practices in local governance that guarantee attainment of development goals.

TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY

We have implemented the Full Disclosure Policy that urges all LGUs to reveal fully their budgets and finances and bids
and public offerings by posting them on the Internet, print media of community or general circulation and in conspicuous places. To affirm our people’s right to information, the policy requires full disclosure by all LGUs of their CY 2010 annual budget and quarterly statement of cash flows.

We have conducted extensive dialogues and consultations with LGU leagues and other development partners in making the policy more effective.

We have forged partnership with Balay Mindanao, a non- government organization that seeks to alleviate poverty and promote peace and order, and people participation in local governance in Mindanao.

We will utilize the organization’s Budget Tracking Towards Transparent and Accountable Governance(BTTAG) program in extensively monitoring the performance of LGUs.

We have instituted reforms in our procurement procedures to reduce discretion of people involved in the process and to make sure that our people’s money are utilized for meaningful and necessary programs and projects.

We have encouraged non-government organizations to act as observers during biddings to ensure that procurement laws are being followed.

PEOPLE POWER VERSUS POVERTY

We have localized our approach in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to strengthen efforts to significantly reduce poverty in the country and to spur economic development in the countryside.

We have intensified the Community-Based Monitoring System and have implemented theLocal Government Support Program. These measures enable LGUs to effectively monitor and evaluate the progress of local poverty-alleviation programs that contribute to the attainment of the MDGs.

We enhanced the delivery of basic services to the people of Visayas and Mindanao and opened up their lives for more economic opportunities through our Provincial Road Management Facility, a governance reform project that uses road rehabilitation in improving local government systems and processes.

We stepped up our efforts in delivering affordable and quality potable water to people living in 45 local government units nationwide through the Enhancing Access to and Provision of Water Services to the Poor or the MDG:1919 project.

ACCESSIBILITY

To make processes and procedures in local governance work, it is important for LGUs to be very accessible to stakeholders. Hence, we have strengthened the implementation of theComprehensive and Unified Response to Eliminate Red Tape (CURE) program through policy audit and compliance tracking of LGUs’ initiatives against red tape.

Our campaign against red tape was highlighted by the signing of a Joint Memorandum Circular between the DILG and the Department of Trade and Industry for the nationwideStreamlining of Business Permits and Licensing System Reform Project.
From the initial 40 local government units that have been capacitated early this year, we expect close to 200 LGUs to have been capacitated by the end of this year. This paves the way for making LGUs havens of investment and business.

We have enjoined local chief executives to designate a Local Economic and Investment Promotion Officer to help in the preparation, coordination and execution of local economic investment promotion policies and projects and activities.

DISASTER-RESILIENCE

We implemented calamity response protocols and associated actions in flood and landslide-prone areas that calls for among others the activation of all disaster command and auxiliary command centers and area-wide warning and alarm system.  The protocols and actions facilitate deployment of emergency response, rescue and medical teams in areas hit by disasters.

We forged a Memorandum of Understanding with local government units for the implementation of Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction/ Climate Change Adaptation to Local Government Processes, a project urging LGUs to integrate disaster mitigation and prevention programs into their local physical and developmental plans.

We have started restoring the lives of people in Central Luzon and the rehabilitation of their communities through the project Strengthening the Disaster Risk reduction Capacity of LGUs Affected by Typhoon Parma.

We have taken initial steps in ensuring that LGUs have substantial fund to address disasters that come their way through the proposed National Disaster Funds Pool for LGUs or thePaluwagan para sa Paghahanda sa Kalamidad. The program aims to pool the calamity fund of the LGUs and augment them with the national calamity fund to improve their capacity to respond to calamities and disasters.

GOOD GOVERNANCE IN ARMM

To propagate transparency and accountability in governance in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, dialogues have been conducted and agreements were reached on new measures to improve performance. 

We have started to conduct a Special Audit covering the period January 2008 to December 2009. We have looked into the Office of the Regional Governor’s fund utilization and the regional government’s Social Fund. We also have looked into the provincial government of Maguindanao and the regional offices of national government agencies.

RESETTLEMENT

We have looked into the plight of informal settlers all over the country to comply with the directive of His Excellency President Benigno S. Aquino.

We have identified 1, 011, 916 informal settlers in cities and municipalities throughout the country. We have checked the existence of local housing boards. An ongoing audit reveals that 73 cities do not have housing boards.

To address the situation, we enjoined all local executives to immediately identify lands within their areas of jurisdiction that can be used for urban housing, as well as for them to update their respective Comprehensive Land Use Plan.

We have conducted intervention on forced evictions that resulted in the suspension of demolition.
We have capacitated barangay development councils in helping informal settlers.

We also have forged partnership with government agencies and non-government organizations and other stakeholders to comprehensively address the plight of informal settlers.

EMPOWERMENT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

To improve local governance, promote local autonomy and make the Local Government Code more responsive, we have crafted various legislative proposals that are focused on providing local governments greater flexibility in revenue generation and raising financial resources.

The proposed Local Government Enhancement Fund aims to address the problem of adjustment on the cost of devolved functions and incentive performance by providing five percent adjustment fund to compensate LGUs with negative transfer or where their current IRA does not cover the cost of devolved services, and another five percent performance-based grant to support LGUs which exhibit good performance in fiscal management and local service delivery.

COMMITTED VOLUNTEERISM

To create an environment where our people can freely and actively engage in local governance, we have established the Partnership Coordination Office to provide technical and legal support to our programs and projects implemented in partnership with non-government organizations.

We have accredited organizations that can have representatives to special bodies in the local level and help in promoting accountability, transparency, inclusivity, and performance in local governance.

INTERNAL GOVERNANCE IMPROVEMENT

To walk the talk, we keep in stride with the LGUs in effecting reforms and changes in our own organization, processes and systems to realize the President’s vision.

We have made our website more interactive and user-friendly to allow the public to comment on our draft policy issuances. We reestablished the Public Assistance and Complaint System to attend to the needs of the general public.

We have eliminated redundant positions. With this, we have not only generated savings, but ensured that a “lean but mean” organization is ready to address the needs of our clients.

We also have stopped issuing Fire and Life Safety Assessment Report (FALAR) as supporting document in the issuance of a Fire Safety Inspection Certificate.

PEACE AND ORDER AND PUBLIC SAFETY

To strengthen peace and order drives throughout the country, Regional Peace and Order Councils (RPOCs) have been reinforced. We have put into operation Crisis Management Committees nationwide to anticipate emergency situations.

The Philippine National Police has scored big in our firm and resolute drive against trafficking in persons, in line with the directive of the President.

To give more teeth to our campaign against illegal gambling, the “one-strike” policy is now in place and vigorously enforced.

We have reviewed our guidelines on the procurement of PNP equipment, conduct of public bidding, as procedures for the approval of the PNP procurement manual.

We have restructured the PNP Highway Patrol Group, Finance Service and Intelligence Group.

We have conducted inspection and audit of 527 police offices nationwide to determine their state of readiness in
responding to peace and order challenges.

The Bureau of Fire Protection and the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology have reviewed their inventory and distribution of property and equipment to rationalize the allocation of prisoner vans and fire trucks.

We have made the wheel of justice grind faster in the National Police Commission (Napolcom) nationwide through the implementation of the “zero backlog case” program.  The campaign speeds up the resolution of administrative cases involving policemen pending before the Napolcom Legal Affairs Service (LAS), the Regional Appellate Boards (RABs) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) Internal Affairs Service (PNP-IAS).