Lay down the foundation for inclusive growth, a high trust and resilient

Societal Outcome
society and a globally competitive knowledge economy

Sectoral Outcome
Sustainable Development-Oriented Local Government

Sub-Sector Outcome

Business-Friendly Environment-Protective,
Socially-Protective Peaceful, Orderly,
and Competitive Climate Change Adaptive
LGUs and Safe LGUs
LGUs and Disaster Resilient LGUs

Organization Accountable, Transparent,

al Outcome Participative
and Effective Local Governance
Multi-Sectoral Partnership

Multi-Sectoral Partnership

Major Final Output LG Capacity Development and

Performance Oversight and Awards &
Incentives

Internal Strengthened Internal

Governance Organizational Capacity
Outcome
Societal Outcome

To Lay Down the Foundation for Inclusive Growth, a High-Trust and Resilient Society, and
Globally Competitive Knowledge Economy

This is an outcome statement expressed in the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) for
2017 to 2022. The PDP, which is anchored on the newly formulated collective long-term vision
and aspirations of the Filipino for the next 25 years known as AmBisyon 2040, serves as the
guiding light for all national government agencies. The country’s development roadmap is
attuned to the end game of the long-term vision which envisages the country as a prosperous
middle-class society where no one is poor. People live long and healthy lives and are smart and
innovative. The Philippines is a high-trust society where families thrive in vibrant, culturally
diverse, and resilient communities.

The overarching strategic framework of the updated Philippine Development Plan, with
inclusive growth, high-trust and resilient society, and global knowledge economy as the desired
outcomes are characterized by guaranteed human security, highly trusted, clean, efficient and
service-oriented government, and innovative means of production.

For inclusive growth, low poverty incidence in rural areas is seen as the primary indicator.
Economic conditions will be uplifted by creating more quality jobs in the countryside, developing
an integrated agricultural map and equipping farmers and fisherfolk with modern methods and
machineries, monitoring of food inflation, and relaxing policies in business and trade. These will
be complemented by intensive promotion of human development through investing on quality
education and accessible comprehensive health care.

For a high-trust and resilient society, the efficiency of the government to deliver public
services and the capacities of the communities to recover from disasters are perceived to be core
indicators. Government offices will be equipped with adequate facilities, trained personnel and
improved systems to ensure the prompt delivery of services.

For a globally competitive knowledge economy, promotion and acceleration of science,

technology and innovation in agriculture, industries and service sectors serve as key indicators.
Policies and programs to facilitate knowledge flows and protect intellectual rights will be
heightened. A culture of creativity will be ingrained in the education system through innovation
hubs as a way of providing venues to nurture creativity and innovation.
Sectoral Outcome
Sustainable Development-Oriented Local Governments
This recognizes the importance of local governments in the fulfillment of the societal
outcome. The likelihood of a local government contributing is better assured of success under a
condition where sustainable development is valued. Such is under an environment where a local
government is able to grow and flourish with a very limited dependence, if any, on national
government support, is capable of setting the direction of local development and of mobilizing
local or external support systems, including the resources to finance development and where law
and order and public safety prevail.

Sub-Sector Outcomes

The sub-sector outcomes indicate that a local government has reached the state where it
is already capable of addressing local needs and challenges along the lines of economic
development, environmental protection and preparedness to deal with climate change
phenomena, providing for the basic needs and protection of the constituents especially the poor,
vulnerable and marginalized, and maintaining peace and order and public safety. In the
contemplation of the framework, a local government that is able to deliver or achieve these sub-
sector outcomes can be considered as a leader of the pack in development.

It must be emphasized that, while the DILG offers a menu of programs and projects that
are geared towards the hastening of the fulfillment by local governments of these outcomes, it
is not only the Department that is into this continuing challenge but other agencies and
community of interest as well. The key is to build a collaborative tension among all concerned
partners.

Inclusive growth and poverty reduction are anchored on sustainable development.

The environment provides the natural resource capital for economic development.
Unshared economic prosperity further marginalizes the poor. The poor cannot productively
engage in economic transformation. Survival drives the poor to be instruments of environmental
degradation.

Subsector Outcomes
Business-Friendly and Competitive LGUs
This is a condition where a local government is genuinely committed to take the lead in
sustainable and inclusive economic development. Setting the direction and minding it are aptly
the role of local authorities. Investing in it is the domain of the business sector.

Minding development means reducing inequality in economic opportunities, creating an

assuring policy environment and investment climate, engaging in a robust investment promotion
strategy, streamlining the business processing and permitting systems, encouraging innovation
and adoption of new technologies, investing in disaster risk reduction and management, and
investing in rehabilitation of roads to improve connectivity, among other fundamentals.

Environment-Protective, Climate Change Adaptive and Disaster Resilient LGUs

This is a condition where a local government puts premium on the integrity of the natural
environment, and ably confronts the challenges posed by destructive climate change
phenomena such as strong typhoons, extreme rainfall, flood-flashflood, coastal flood or urban
flood, or landslide, or by a geologically-induced disaster such earthquake or tsunami.

Resiliency is commonly understood as an occurrence of rebounding or springing back from

something. When used in the context of climate change or a natural disaster, resiliency means a
local government’s ability to brace or prepare itself. Working under the paradigm of sustainable
integrated area development and participatory environment governance, it means enhancing
adaptive capacities of the community, fortifying it to minimize or cushion the ecological,
economic, political and societal impacts of climate change and natural disasters, adequately
protect and address the sudden and urgent needs of inhabitants during such situation and to fast
track the return to normalcy of the lives of the affected.

Resiliency implies that a local government must have the appropriate and adequate
technical knowhow and equipage – leadership structure, plans, internal and external
administrative systems, logistics and equipment – that can be mobilized at any given time. After
all, adapting to climate change and building disaster-resiliency are the ultimate assuring
measures of local institutional capability in environmental management and in advancing the
interest of public welfare.

Socially Protective LGUs

This is a condition where a local government is capable of addressing the well-being of
every member of the community particularly the poor, the vulnerable and the marginalized. This
can be attained when a province, city, municipality or barangay accords high importance on, and
adequately address, the needs of the least able and most needy.

Social protection in this particular sub-sector outcome furthers the argument that ensuring
livability in a community - safe and potable water, decent shelter, other basic needs, getting
people out of a hazardous location, protecting human rights, addressing issues that engender
conflict, etc. – is at the very core of local government existence.
Accountable, Transparent, Participative and Effective Local Governance
This is a condition where a province, city, municipality or barangay defers and practices the
basic tenets of good local governance.

Governance is all about the valuing of the key principles of performance, accountability,
transparency and participation. Any program or project aimed at improving obtaining socio-
economic and environmental conditions must be guided by these principles. Otherwise, a
program or project is rudderless, and is destined to fail. And contemporary history is replete with
examples of failures.

In keeping with this condition, it is important to work on making government services more
accessible and responsive, engaging the public and civil society organizations (CSOs) in the
decision-making and the budgetary process, and ensuring public access to information .

Peaceful, Orderly and Safe LGUs

This is a condition where LGUs are fully capable of ensuring that communities are free
from danger, violence, and any potential harm, with citizens as active partners. A peaceful,
orderly and safe community is where constituents feel secure and safe from threats to security,
life and limb, and thereby enabling them to go on with their life and endeavors freely and
securely.
This will also result to a high chance of attracting business investors, as peace and order
is the bedrock in the attainment of economic competitiveness and stability.

Where We Are and What We Should Do

Good local governance must be understood as the platform or foundation of any and all
policies, programs or projects that profess commitment to public welfare.

As the national government agency mandated by law to assist the President in the
exercise of the power of general supervision over local governments, the Department must be in
a position to challenge local agencies to value good local governance.

The Department must continuously strive to effectively engage in LG Capacity

Development Services and Performance Oversight cum Awards and Incentives. Agency
initiatives aimed at building a culture of performance, accountability, transparency and inclusivity
must be regularly base-lined. This is a necessary strategy to scale up the focus and content of
intervention, and thereby avoiding the pitfall of one size fits all. The idea is to cause an eventual
transformation of local governments as juridical public exemplars.

Suffice it to say, that if the DILG were to succeed in leading the transformation process,
it must internally reinvent itself continuously, and must rebuild its image continuously.

Internal Governance Outcome

Strengthened Internal Organizational Capacity

This is all about overall administrative competence.

It is a condition where officials and employees possess the necessary technical

capacities, where internal and external administrative systems function as designed and where
institutional value facilitates rather than hinders.

Failing this, it is highly unlikely that we can move forward and succeed in carrying out
our legal mandate.

In the context of the multiple challenges that the Department is faced with, the question
“are we equal to the tasks?” finds greater relevance and urgency. The business as usual mindset
does not fit. Internal administrative systems must come to age, managerial and technical
competencies must be assuring, and employee welfare must not be let to the employee alone
but must now be acknowledged as a primary obligation of the Agency.