Pragmatic scattering: Decentralization and the concept of IGR by Candy Angliongto
Leadership is influence. This is what someone once quoted to me from a book. It means that you are a leader if you have the ability to influence another person or group, if I recall correctly.
As our Philippine history textbooks tell us, we have been colonized by the Spanish, American, and Japanese peoples. We can see as a product of colonization the different ways these groups of people have influenced us (and continue to) in almost every aspect of our lives. Take for example the Americans’ influence on Philippine public administration. Many of the theories in public administration that we are studying are mainly American ones. From this example, we see that the Philippines still looks up to the United States as a leader or kuya figure
The United States, as we all know, has a federal structure. This means a system of authority constitutionally apportioned between the central (federal) and regional governments (states). We must not also forget the presence of the local governments. Authority over agency and program activities is frequently shared by these various levels, jurisdictions, and units of government. In the Philippines, we don’t have a federal structure but a unitary form of government. What is notably missing also is the presence of the states. But what is of interest in this public administration article is the concept of intergovernmental relations.
Intergovernmental relations or IGR for our convenience involves comprehending the complexities of the federal system based on mutual interdependence, shared functions, and intertwined influence. But remember that this is the US setting since we are using the book of an American author – Stillman. IGR is the subject of how the many and varied American governments, meaning the federal, state (which remain independent governments with correspondingly independent jurisdictions), and local governments (counties, municipalities, townships, school districts, special districts) deal with each other and what their relative roles, responsibilities, and levels of influence are and should be. And in the United States, this means approximately 85,000 governments! Imagine how these governments are interlocked with each other. There are interactions in times of conflict, but these governments also interact to address immediate concerns through cooperation.
As the years pass by, American federal involvement has escalated, especially in the financial scene with the transfer of funds (called grants) from the federal to the other lower levels of governments.
Now let us look at the Philippine setting where we have the national government headed by the president. Of course, considering that there are more than 70 million Filipinos, naturally the central government cannot address the needs and deliver basic services to all its “clients” without the help of other governments (local governments) that could concentrate on a particular area. Just imagine how difficult and impossible it would be if there is only one government to formulate and implement policies, that is why the existence of Local Government Units (LGUs) are essential. Local governments are better able to address the needs and problems of its constituents since it is so much more closer to its clients. So the job of the central (national) government is to oversee the LGUs.
According to the article “The Nature and State of Local Government” by Prosperina Domingo Tapales, there are three layers of local authority (government). First are the intermediate units of local government that coordinate services in a larger area and supervise lower levels of local authorities. In the Philippines these are the provinces. Below them are the basic units of local government, those performing services for people who live together in a community. These are the cities and municipalities that we know. Last but not the least is a lower and smaller form of local government that constitutes the sub-municipal level – the barangays which have a historical significance to its existence. Only few countries have this layer of local government and the Philippines is one of them.
But let us look at what is really the relation of the national government and the LGUs and how autonomous are the LGUs to decide on their own without the interference of the national government.
The Philippine government has been plagued with “overcentralization” from what they call as “imperial Manila”. It started from the period of colonization where colonialists thought it necessary to control everything from Manila. It continued until the time of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos. During the time of the incumbency of President Aquino, a Local Government Code was passed in 1991 focusing on decentralization. This Code intends to strengthen and empower local governments (all three layers/levels mentioned above) so as to make them autonomous or to free them from their utter dependence on the national government, according to the article “Reforming Government: New Concepts and Practices in Local Public Administration in the Philippines” by Mila Reforma.
Also, there was the establishment of regional offices of the many national government agencies throughout the country within the context of decentralization.
Hence, the shift from deconcentration (administrative decentralization) that actually occurred during the time of Martial Law to devolution (political decentralization) which is equivalent to local autonomy. At this point in time, powers, functions, and resources never previously devolved to local governments were transferred to them, which makes it revolutionary in this sense.
The Code transferred the responsibility for the delivery of basic services to the LGUs, including appropriate personnel, assets, equipment, programs and projects. This period saw the increase in financial resources available to LGUs with this increase in responsibility. But there is the issue that this increase in financial resources is not enough for the rise in responsibilities of the LGUs. And take note that the main source of revenue of the LGUs is the internal revenue tax shared with the national government. But “giving off” responsibilities to LGUs is not the only interaction between the national government and the LGUs.
LGUs are also given the power to create laws/ordinances within their area or territory. One could take as an example the case of the billboards to see the harmony in the laws concerning them. The Arroyo administration released an administrative order on billboards (maybe as a result of the recent typhoon Milenyo). Metro Manila cities also have their respective ordinances regarding this matter. Congress, I hear, might also move to pass legislation about billboards. In this manner, we can say that LGUs are also a means to implement national policies at the local level.
But if you think about it, this seemingly harmonious relation between the national government and LGUs are also a function of the relation between the executives of these respective government entities. Naturally, executives of LGUs who are allied with the current president are more prone to harmonious relation with the national government and maybe more willing to follow the national policies while local opposition executives, I think, will not always go with the flow. I think they are more prone to conflict with the national government, more specifically with the president. But of course there are also times that even though they come from different parties or sides, there is still some manner of cooperation between them for the interest of the constituents.
posted by candz at 6:31 PM
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