What Ails Local Service Delivery of Public Goods and Services?

This Note provides an account of the problems underlying local service delivery (LSD) in the Philippines and presents some prospective solutions. The problems are examined on the basis of the three components of the Triangulation Framework for LSD developed in a recently completed PIDS-UNICEF study.millennium development goal (MDG), local service delivery, triangulation, public goods and services

Focus on Barangay Economic Development

Because the barangay is considered to be the local government unit closest to the people in terms of access and proximity, its role in local service delivery cannot be undermined. Hence, it is important for a barangay to learn how to maximize and use its limited funds effectively and efficiently so that such can redound to economic gains that would allow the barangay to support the generation and delivery of local services to its constituents. How and where can the barangay use its limited resources? Read on...local government unit, local government unit expenditures, local governance, decentralization and service delivery, institutions, local development, local service delivery

Triangulation Framework for Local Service Delivery

How should local service delivery of public goods and services be improved for desirable development outcomes? This paper attempts at answering this question by providing a framework for improving local service delivery. It argues that improving local service delivery is a function of triangulating delivery of any public goods and services through their policy, institutional, and financial characteristics; zeroing in on their interdependence and normative dimensions; the effectiveness of institutions and capabilities and productivity of their actors; and the role of governance against the backdrop of development constraints and supported by opportunities for reforms. It further argues that institutions and their actors take the primordial role in improving local service delivery especially in cases of policy gaps and financial inadequacies. Corollary argument is that governance--both institutional and democratic--is the key in helping catalyze institutional change and improving service provision to achieve such goals as quality of life, empowered citizenry, and responsive leadership based on normative entitlements. The values (rights, equity, quality, and sustainability) and elements/principles of governance (efficiency, participation, transparency, accountability, and predictability) both lay the groundwork for delivering goods and services, as well as serve as indicators in assessing local service delivery. In other words, improving local service delivery is a function of the triangulation of policy, institutions, and finance within value-based and principle-oriented governance framework.governance, decentralization, development, institutions, local service delivery, triangulation

Bringing the individual back in: a normative argument for human security.

Despite the prevalence of human security discourses, there has been an insufficient argumentation on why the individual should be the referent of security. This insufficiency leads to a central question of human security not being addressed, “Why human security?” On the one hand, this oversight or inattention has been grounded on the proclivity of proponents of individual-centered human security to just assume that the individual matters without arguing for it. On the other, there is the utter disregard of the primacy of the individual from those who cling to society-centered human security approach. This paper claims that both assumption and utter disregard of why we need to reference security on the individual is not unproblematic. Bringing the individual back in, as it were, has to do with a normative argument, not wishy-washy claims. The central argument is that the value of the individual founded on human freedom, well-being, and dignity grounds the reasons why, indeed, we should care about human security.Master of Science (International Relations

Do Barangays Really Matter in Local Services Delivery? Some Issues and Policy Options

This paper is borne out of the need to address the scarcity of evidence-based studies on barangay financing. It analyzes and evaluates key issues on financing of devolved functions at the barangay level, with particular focus on fund utilization and program allocation, and proposes some policy options addressing the issues. Its key findings show: (a) a mismatch between financial capabilities and devolved functions owing to limited funds being spent mostly on personal services; (b) different priorities of barangays mean different utilization of their barangay development fund (BDF), with some of them failing to spend on important basic services such as education and health, as well as on economic development sector; (c) like other barangays, those in the study areas in Agusan del Sur and Dumaguete City are found to be highly dependent on internal revenue allotment (IRA); and (d) barangays are not addressing the misalignment of revenue and expenditure assignment, as well as the counter-equalizing and disincentive effects of IRA, by not raising enough own-source revenues in their localities and optimizing their use of corporate powers.As a policy intervention to help barangays financially and eventually matter in local service delivery, this paper proposes three major options, namely: (a) giving the barangays the option of allowing the higher local government units (LGUs) to development-enhancing services such as education and health that they themselves cannot deliver effectively and sustainably; (b) pursuing a paradigm shift in understanding and practicing barangay economic development by spending their BDF mostly on economic-enhancing activities aimed at increasing their coffers; and (c) giving incentives to barangays that excel in their own-source revenue performance and creative use of corporate powers.local government unit, local revenue, devolution, decentralization, local government code, Philippines, local development, local service delivery, Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA)

Do barangays really matter in local services delivery? Some Issues and Policy Options

This paper, which is borne out of the need to address scarcity of evidence-based studies on barangay financing, analyzes and evaluates key issues on financing of devolved functions at the barangay level, with particular focus on fund utilization and program allocation, and proposes some policy options addressing the issues. Its key findings include : (i) there is a mismatch between financial capabilities and devolved functions owing to limited funds being spent mostly on personal services, with little money left to finance these functions; (ii) different priorities of barangays mean different utilization of their Barangay Development Fund (BDF), with some of them failing to spend on important basic services such as education and health, as well as on economic development sector; (iii) like other barangays, those in the study areas in Agusan del Sur and Dumaguete City are found to be highly IRA- dependent, with IRA comprising 85 to 97 percent of total income; (iv) barangays are not addressing the misalignment of revenue and expenditure assignment, as well as the counter-equalizing and disincentive effects of IRA, by not raising enough own-source revenues in their localities and optimizing their use of corporate powers (as evidenced by zero percentage on borrowings, for example). As a policy intervention strategy to help barangays financially and eventually matter in local service delivery, this paper proposes three major options, namely : (i) giving the barangays the option of allowing the higher LGUs to deliver the development-enhancing services such as education and health that they themselves cannot deliver effectively and sustainably; (ii) making a paradigm shift in understanding and practicing barangay economic development by spending their BDF mostly on economic-enhancing activities aimed at increasing their coffers which would eventually enable them to fund other sectoral responsibilities; and (iii) giving incentives to barangays that excel in their own-source revenue performance and creative use of corporate powers.decentralization, devolution, decentralization and service delivery, institutional design for decentralization, decentralization capability, local government unit, local revenue, local government expenditures, local government code, local governance