Author: Antonio J. Peláez Tortosa
AIT Library Call Number: AIT Thesis no.RD-02-02
Year: 2002
Academic Program: Regional and Rural Development Planning (RRDP)
Type: Thesis (M.Sc.) – Asian Institute of Technology, 2002
Examination Committee: Edsel E. Sajor (Chairperson); Harvey Demaine, Jayant Kumar Routray (Examination Committee Members)
Abstract: The Filipino decentralisation process has been highlighted by many scholars and development-related institutions as a good instance of State reform aiming at strengthening local governance through the setting up of a participatory development approach. The 1991 Local Government Code was enacted under the objective to create a legal decentralisation framework aimed to provide a regionally diversified country with real autonomy and managerial capability at the lowest level of public administration. The Code transfened significant financial resources, capabilities and personal from the national government to local governments. Additionally, this body of laws included several features designed to facilitate the citizenry involvement in the process of local government decision making. Therefore, the Code tried to address the diverse aspects comprising the two mayor dimensions of any decentralisation process, namely planning and financing. In spite of the generally recognised achievements, the Code is, after 10 years of its enactment, clearly showing some of its weaknesses and deficits. A fact that proves it, is the intense debate cunently arising within the Filipino academe and public administration sectors about the true impact of the decentralisation process, and the potential effect and feasibility of its amendment, redefinition and even reformulation. Departing from my own admiration of the process, I focus my attention on those areas where the mentioned weakness are more patent, in order to ascertain the reasons of such constraints and to provide some feasible ways of enhancement. A mayor context where variations in the Code implementation have occurred is the prior existence of wide differences in economic development and diversification and geographical attributes among urban and rural localities. The Code itself has not been sensitive to the heterogeneity of these patterns and the particularities and needs that these imply. The design of the Code focussed on the provision of multiple ways for the LGUs to crea
Scholarship Donor(s): European Commission. (DG1B – EC of the European Union), PTS Program (Postgraduate Technological Studies)
Note: A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science.
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