Impact of Gawad Galing Pook in Public Administration of Local Government Units

I.

Introduction

What is public Administration? Local government units? II. Background

The Gantimpalang Panglingkod Pook or Gawad Galing Pook was launched in October 21, 1993 as the pioneering awards program on innovation and excellence in local governance.

It was a joint initiative of the Department of Interior and Local Government (through its Local Government Academy), the Ford Foundation, and other individual local governance advocates from the academe, civil society, and government. The Asian Institute of Management anchored the program until the Galing Pook Foundation was established in 1998 and a new Foundation Secretariat took over in 2001.

A total of 215 local governance programs were awarded in the annual search for outstanding and trailblazing local governance programs from 1994 to 2005.

The winners of the Gawad Galing Pook are chosen every year from a national search of local governance programs sifted through a multi-level rigorous screening process based on the criteria of positive socio-economic and environmental impact, promotion of peoples empowerment, transferability and sustainability, efficiency of program service

delivery, and creative use of powers provided by the Local Government Code and other decentralization and local autonomy policies.

Specifically, it was established to achieve the following:

to recognize innovation and excellence in local governance; to inspire replication of innovative and excellent practices in local governance; and

to advocate citizen awareness and participation in innovative and excellent local governance programs.

The Gawad Galing Pook Awards has the following award categories: Outstanding Local Governance Program and Trailblazing Programs- The

Outstanding Local Governance Program Award is a yearly award given to at most ten (10) local governance programs assessed as most outstanding in terms of the Galing Pook Foundation selection criteria while the Trailblazing Program Award is given to the next ten (10) set of programs that emerge as finalists from the same screening process. Award for Continuing Excellence (ACE)- is awarded to past winners of the Outstanding Local Governance Program Award, which have significantly shown expansion, replication and institutionalization after they were awarded. The ACE awards are given once every five years. Special Citations- These are accorded to those programs which have been adjudged as exhibiting the most significant achievements in specific developmental

areas, i.e., child rights responsive local governance, good urban local governance and gender responsive local governance.

Aside from these categories, awardees are also classified by program type. Those which are related to the management and improvement of the environment and provision of health services are the ones which have the most number of awardees. The environment programs range from river rehabilitation programs to forest protection programs while the health programs and services, on the other hand, were focused on providing more innovative, efficient and affordable health care to constituents. Table 1 shows the different types of programs awarded through these years and the corresponding number of awardees in each type.

Awardees by Program Type Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 Program Type Environmental and Rehabilitation Health Programs and Services Agriculture Social Welfare and Services Coastal Resources Management Enterprise/Livelihood Development Community Development/ Integrated Area 7 Development 8 Infrastructure Development 10 15 No of Awardees 18 18 15 15 13 11

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

Service Delivery Housing Local Financial Management Multi-sectoral participation in governance Waste management Education Culture and Tourism Emergency Assistance/Disaster Management Management System Peace and Order Cleanliness & Beautification Cooperative Organizational Development Capability Building / Information Dissemination Information and Community Technology

12 7 7 7 7 7 8 5 5 5 3 3 2 1 1

Further review of the nature of awarded programs reveals that common key factors may have enabled local authorities to be more creative and innovative. These are: Conducive policy environment- The operationalization of the provisions in the Code has definitely been a critical factor and basis for the initiatives and innovations taken by the local governments.

 Triggering crises - Innovations may be brought about in response to a crisis, say, environmental degradation, floods, etc. Pushed against the wall and confronted with a crisis, various stakeholders in the society, whether government or civil society, become creative and innovative. A Bantay Dagat (which literally means protecting the sea) program was launched in Puerto Princesa, one of cities in Palawan province in response to the threat of rapid depletion of its fisheries resources. Dynamic leadership and active civil society - The political leadership usually takes the initiative in addressing felt, or articulated needs in the locality. The reasons behind this may range from simple good and responsive governance, to practical purposes and political expediency. The point is that aggressive leadership and commitment on the part of the formal political system, the government, leads to, and sustains, innovation. Apart from the political leadership, the increasing pressure from the members of civil society has also initiated some of the programs themselves. Inadequate financial resources- The limitations in financial resources has led local authorities to think of additional alternative ways of generating revenues apart from the conventional means, such as taxes and allotments from national government. Various local financial initiatives have been awarded in the last ten years. Demand for specific basic services -This has prompted local governments to become creative in response to a pressing basic need that they simply have to respond to and address. Among these are the so-called basic services including health and housing. National policies and programs - While the national government may provide the policy framework say in addressing specific basic needs (e.g., housing, health care, infrastructure development, etc.), local government may build upon these and adapt

them for local conditions. The national governments policy on solid waste management, for example, has triggered local government units to develop their own strategies to implement this policy in their respective localities.

The selection process for the Gawad Galing Pook was divided into different screening process. These are:

Eligibility Screening: The GPF secretariat reviews whether the program submissions meet the eligibility criteria.

First Level Screening: The Regional Selection Committee (RSC) evaluates the program submissions and recommends programs for elevation to the next screening level.

Second Level Screening: The National Selection Committee (NSC) reviews the RSC recommendations and identifies the programs for site validation.

Site Validation: Assigned NSC members and (as necessary) selected RSC members and GPF personnel validate program claims and clarify concerns raised in previous screening levels. Results of the validations serve as basis for the NSC to select the programs to be subjected to the final validation.

Panel Interview: The local chief executives (LCEs) and/or program officers of qualified entries present and defend their programs before the NSC members and their co-

finalists. The outcomes of these presentations guide the NSC in their selection of the Top 10 Outstanding Programs and the remaining Trailblazing Programs.

III.

Impact of Gawad Galing Pook

IV.

Replicability of Gawad Galing Pook

For the last decade, Galing Pook has put together a harvest of best and innovative practices through its awards program. These practices have proven to be effective, efficient and have greatly improved local systems, management and service delivery.

Aside from the recognition of these exemplary programs, Galing Pook Foundation assists in building the capacities of local government units by disseminating, popularizing and replicating these practices. To accomplish this, the Foundation provides the venue in the form of learning and replication circles that will serve as a means for policy discussion, model building and cross fertilization of lessons among LGUs. By providing the venue to share, discuss, explore and adopt best practices, Galing Pook hopes that LGUs will be able to explore their potential, respond to local needs, maximize their resources, --- and, realize good governance

A. MODES OF REPLICATION

Galing Pook employs several modes to pursue its replication efforts.

Winners

Circle

A conference workshop series involving past Galing Pook winners and other awardgiving bodies with selected LGU officials. This sharing and dialogue between and among LGU winners and international counterparts will provide new perspectives and strategies to local leaders on how to address development and governance concerns in their localities. Galing Pook winners are also organized as a resource pool for peer to peer learning.

Palihan

ng

Galing

A technology exchange workshop series on specific development themes where LGUs, civil society organizations (CSOs) and governance experts will analyze award-winning programs against their own situation towards identifying and refining framework, strategies and tools that can be replicated. This exchange hopes to catalyze capacity development in local governance and sharpen responses to address local problems.

Galing

Pook

Natin

This is community-based replication program that will allow a group of LGUs to adapt a refined framework, strategies and tools in a collaborative arrangement with Galing Pook

and other governance institutions and CSOs. The Foundation provides technical assistance in program design, monitoring and evaluation, case study documentation and mass media popularization while LGU adaptors and their partners provide on-site resources.

ICT

Enabled

Knowledge

Sharing

This an information-communication technology mechanism to connect LGUs that need knowledge in local governance and development. A knowledge network that is userdriven, responsive and participatory . A demand driven Help Desk, composed of individuals with various technical expertise in local governance, will freely give their expert advice through on-line consultation for those who need information and knowledge at the local level.

Ang

Galing

mo,

Mayor

Exemplary municipal governance practices of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) are showcased during LMPs island -wide conference and assemblies in a forum aptly called, Ang Galing mo, Mayor!.

Media

Advocacy

&

Promotion

Galing Pook recognizes that media plays a key role in promoting good local governance

programs

and

exemplary

practices.

Feature articles and short stories will be released more systematically to effectively promote the good news in the field.

B. DEVELOPMENT THEMES FOR REPLICATION

Participatory

Local

Governance

Effective citizenship participation in local governance is a turnkey to poverty alleviation and sustainable human development. Democratization in local governance, whereby citizens are active participants in governance, is a difficult process to undertake. Galing Pook highlights the value of peoples participation and empowerment as a prerequisite to good local governance.

Solid

Waste

Management

Galing Pook supports the implementation of RA 9003 otherwise known as the Philippine Ecological Solid Waste Management Act for a better and a more sustainable care for nature throughout the country. Galing Pook SWM awarded programs of Carmona and Santa Barbara (Iloilo) were showcased in learning circles / workshops in Quezon City and Negros Occidental to spur replication, in partnership with the Empowering Communities for Participatory Governance (ECPG) Inc.

Coastal

Resource

Management

Being an archipelagic country, most rural communities depend on coastal resources for livelihood. Our coastal resources continue to decline at an alarming rate. Galing Pook, in a bid to do its share, seeks to inspire the replication of the CRM experience of Looc, Romblon (awarded in 1999) in 17 municipalities in Quezon Province. Study tours and workshops were organized to facilitate the replication process.

Improving

the

Quality

of

Public

Education

Focusing on education is an affirmation of Galing Pooks comm itment and dedication to invest on the countrys future, --- the children and the youth. Galing Pook supported the efforts of Synergeia Foundation in the strengthening of local school boards to improve the public education system, using the Naga City experience as model. Galing Pook organized a learning workshop in Bacolod City as well as a study tour in Naga City for several municipalities in Negros Occidental, who willingly took on the challenge. Aside from Synergeia Foundation, Galing Pook is closely working with ESKAN, Inc. in this endeavor.

V.

Way Ahead

Though Gawad Galing Pook is gaining new grounds in shaping public administration as well as the political field there are still many things that we have to take in

consideration to continue to inspire and replicate the innovative and excellent practices in local governance.

Achieving to be better The sharing among the Gawad Galing Pook winners encourages them to achieve better and to set the benchmarks for certain program or service delivery at the local level. The organizing of critical mass of local leaders can mentor and inspire their peers and other local leaders to excel and achieve the best for their constituents.

Transcending Political Barriers Gawad Galing Pook is understandably operating in a very political milieu where changes in leadership happen every three years. The partnership with the DILG, LGU Leagues shall be continued and strengthened to have the necessary political support in implementing its advocacy and replication programs at the local level.

Partnership with other Institutions in Field Replication Partnership building and networking through consultations and consensus building among key stakeholders, both at the national and local levels to augment the limited funds particularly in implementing on-field replication programs. Leveraging and complementation of resources and strategies with other institutions, particularly ODAs maybe necessary to generate greater impact and avoid duplication of work.

Partnership with academic and other resource institutions at the local level shall be continued in order to support the learning processes of the LGUs particularly during the replication processes. These partner academic and local resource institutions can be tapped in the documentation of the best practices at the local level as learning facilitator during the replication procedures

Provision of Support Mechanisms Local government units often have resource limitations in documenting their best practices or supporting their learning processes during the replication. In view of this, the Gawad Galing Pook established the Replication Program (RePro), a fund and technical assistance facility jointly administered with the DILG, which can be accessed by LGUs interested to pursue replication of Galing Pooks exemplary programs.

It provides the seed fund to jumpstart the replication initiatives. Likewise, it will provide technical assistance in program design, monitoring and evaluation, case study documentation and mass media popularization while LGU adaptors and their partners provide on-site resources. This is a cost-sharing facility wherein the LGU proponent will have to shoulder counterpart expenses to pursue the replication initiatives.