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KPI Congress 20th
122
2018
Thai Democracy on the Move

Some of the major lessons learned over the past 25 years are positive due to an

enabling policy framework, strong leadership at the local level, improved access to financial
resources, stronger inter-local government partnerships, wider participation and engagement

with civil society institutions, and a broader role for the leagues of local governments.

However, there are some emerging questions and issues. The present set-up of the
Philippine government has created pervasive government ills and problems that may be
addressed only with a shift in government structure. The implementation of decentralization

in the country has some aspects that can be assessed as poorly executed. Still even after

the decentralization program, government expenditures and revenues have remained highly
centralized. The central government continues to be directly involved in the provision of
devolved services resulting in ambiguity and lack of coordination. The LGUs remain relatively

small actors in the Philippine economy with expenditures amounting only to just 2.75% of

GDP while own-source revenues amounting only to 1.20% of GDP.

There is also weak government coordination between and among different levels of

government. The requirements for strong coordination are lacking: clear division of responsibilities,
adequate funding, and bureaucratic capacity (Balisacan, Hill and Piza, 2006). Moreover, the

Philippines local government system is highly fragmented with no strong middle level government.
It has not delivered what some of its proponents might have expected: a decisive shift of

power and resources out of the center, a vibrant, efficient and responsive system of local
government, and a general shift in the quality of governance through the competitive “voice

and exit” accountability mechanisms.

Still, in spite of the deficiencies of the implementation, it cannot be termed fully
as a failure because some administrative and political authority have been transferred to

the regions, and some local governments have performed well as shown by our Galing Pook
winners, among others.
เอกสารประกอบการประชุมกลุ่มย่อยที่ 3 national agencies, harness potentials and energies of the schools / higher education institutions
What can be done is to deepen financial decentralization, build capacities of local and

to do what they do best (research, analysis, evaluate). Given the Philippine context, and given

our experience over the past quarter of a century, a federal system is more hospitable as an
enabler of deepening local autonomy for local governments.