The
1991 Local Government Code provides enormous opportunities
for partnerships between citizens’ organizations and
local government. Among other things, the Code promotes
such partnerships by requiring NGO and PO representation
in local special bodies and strengthening their role in
the local development councils. Unfortunately, many jurisdictions
have barely begun to make this participation truly meaningful.
The municipality of Calumpit, however, has invested heavily
in such partnerships, and this work has begun to pay off
in the form of a better quality of life for its people.
In
Calumpit, the LGU-NGO Partnership Program was born in 1988
out of a need to bring together all sectors to (1) achieve
more equitable distribution of wealth and self-sufficiency
and (2) transform the municipality into an agro-industrial
town by the year 2000. The municipal government brought
several innovations into its efforts to make the Municipal
Development Council as a catalyst, resource mobilizer, and
development implementor other than its usual role as the
municipality’s key planning body.
First,
it expanded the MDC’s membership by creating working
committees and increasing the participation of members of
the Sangguniang Bayan. Second, it learned from existing
successful initiatives in economic development started by
Calumpit-based NGOs and the United Pulp and Paper Company,
and urged their replication during the capability-building
programs for every barangay captain.
These
innovations have brought new energy to development efforts
in Calumpit. If the private sector is better placed to conduct
a project, the MDC encourages them to do that. The result
has been a transformation of government’s role into
a flexible supporter of private initiatives and a more aggressive
pursuer of public efforts. People’s organizations
have received loans, training, and technical support far
in excess of what they received in the past.
