As small towns become cities, it is but natural for the concentration of the governing group on the day-to-day activities of the people to decrease. The same is true for people interaction and involvement. Since everything they do bring about specific, visible results, people living in small towns feel more responsibility toward their neighbors and their community. As people live in bigger areas, the things they do become less and less significant to the other residents of the area. Soon after, indifference might come about.

      In order to avoid such a predicament, the city of Lipa conceived of a movement for people empowerment. This program, which grouped together the 27 barangays of Lipa into 3 to 4 barangays, was initiated in 1990. In order for this program to be more effective, barangays were further divided into 3 to 6 puroks, puroks were further subdivided into pangkats of 5 to 11 houses with their own respective leaders. This enabled the leaders and the residents to find out the problems, plan, and implement changes to their area of concentration.

      One of the outcomes of these meetings is the Sipaglakas Movement, which was institutionalized in 1993 through an ordinance passed by the Sangguniang Panlungson, ensured that all sectors of society met their minimum basic needs through an integrated development approach.

      The Sipaglakas Movement pushed for the increase in the number of small scale industries, thus increasing the income and for the growth of the local economy, as seen in the increase of investors. The movement not only sought economic growth, but also the growth of the lifestyle of the residents. This is evident in the increase in the spirit of volunteerism and the improvement of the status of the women, the decrease in malnutrition and infant mortality rate, and stronger values of self-reliance and cooperation.