Introduction
Good governance is the sum of the many ways individuals and institutions in the public, private and civil society sectors plan and manage the affairs of society based on commonly held principles and values. The public domain refers to the state whose purpose is to govern and to rule. It contains the political regime and the bureaucracy. The private sector is that part of the nation that produces goods and services for profit. It contains enterprises of different kinds. Civil society embraces the broad range of activities and institutions outside the market and the state.
These three sectors overlap. The greater interplay there is between these spheres of governance, the greater is the interaction between the state, the private sector and civil society leading to wider good governance.
There are eight major characteristics of governance, namely: (a) participation; (b) rule of law; (c) transparency; (d) responsiveness; (e) consensus-oriented; (f) equity and inclusiveness; (g) effectiveness and efficiency; and (h) accountability. Underlying these is the conscious effort of each stakeholder to stand by the core values (i.e., God-centered, self-reliance, obedience, honesty, initiative and sincerity) that promote cultural integrity.
Good governance means better delivery of services which leads to poverty reduction and human development. The most important step to create good governance is to increase the participation of all stakeholders, including women and the various socially marginalized population groups in decision making, project planning and monitoring.
Any circumstance that hinders the achievement of at least one of the characteristics of governance leads to corruption which eventually hinders the development of an area. Corruption may be committed by any of the stakeholders from the public, private sector and civil society and at times their clients.
Situational Analysis
Regional line agencies and local government units pursued activities towards good governance. Activities that aimed at rendering effective delivery of basic goods and services included service guides in line agencies and facilitated public transactions by some local government units. Internet-based facilities like agency websites provided an option to the public in getting information about agencies, and local government units and even in transacting business with them. Agency anniversary celebrations were done with activities that promoted greater awareness of their services. The distribution of information materials by line agencies to Gabay sa Mamayan Action Centers (GMACs) gave an opportunity to people at the barangay level to know about their services. To date there are 2,534 barangays with functional GMACs, that is 73 percent of the 3,471 barangays in the region.
Capacity building of government institutions was conducted both at the national and local levels. Training activities that promoted clustering of participants and reduction in training cost were conducted in strategic locations in the region.
The process of transforming line agencies into globally competitive and service-oriented institutions involved the following activities: a) capacity building of personnel down to the barangay level; b) recruitment of personnel using qualification standards for career positions; c) use of ICT resources for disseminating information and transacting business; d) maintenance of public assistance counters (PAC) in frontline agencies; e) adoption of the organizational performance indicator framework (OPIF) approach. The institutionalization of the Government E-Procurement System (GEPS) promoted transparency in bidding and procurement in government.
Joint Memorandum Circular No. 1 by DILG, NEDA, DBM, and DOF, which was issued in March 2007, will lead the way towards synchronized planning and budgeting activities of the provincial, city/municipality with the national.
The DILG has been promoting the use of the Local Governance Performance Management System (LGPMS) and Executive-Legislative Agenda (ELA) in formulating the priority programs and projects of local government units. To date, more than 86 percent of the 120 LGUs have inputted data in the system. These LGUs are conducting utilization conference as a feedback mechanism in preparing their State of Local Governance Reports. Thirty-three LGUs were able to formulate their executive legislative agenda, which will articulate the program of the LGU. It contains the major development thrusts of the local administration including the development priorities of the local chief executive towards the attainment of the LGU vision.
The DILG V Local Governance Resource Center (LGRC) was established in 2006 to foster community relationship and culture among local governance stakeholders toward excellence in local governance. It is a knowledge management network that recognizes non-monopoly of knowledge by any one of local governance stakeholder.
Government-business-civil society collaboration was strengthened with the continued accreditation of civil society organizations by line agencies and local government units. The Regional Development Council (RDC) likewise approved the guidelines for the selection of private sector representatives in the region.
Development Challenges
Good governance can be achieved if interventions reach the barangay level and communities are willing to accept them.
Objective
The objective of this chapter is to promote good governance in all sectors of society.
Strategies
The strategies are presented corresponding to each major characteristic except for rule of law, which is taken up in the chapter on Peace and Order (Chapter 28).
Participation
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Government-business-civil society collaboration shall be strengthened. In this regard, DILG should ensure that Local Development Councils are organized and effectively functioning. The representation of basic sectors, including; women, be enforced.
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The Sangguniang Panlalawigan/Bayan should establish a system of accreditation of private sector organizations.
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Special development bodies created by the LGU should have representation in LDCs.
Transparency
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Publication/Display of service pledge, workflow chart by agencies.
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Utilization of radio, print, TV and the internet by agencies, local government units and the private sector in letting the people know of its services, programs and projects.
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Institutionalization of the government e-procurement system (GEPS) at the barangay level. Related to this, DTI shall encourage more participation from suppliers, DILG shall advocate for the participation of barangays, and DBM shall continuously improve procurement services.
Responsiveness
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Frontline agencies and local government units shall continue to pursue its efforts in providing efficient and effective services.
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Concerned offices shall simplify procedures to reduce processing time of documents.
Consensus-Oriented
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Synchronize activities of the barangay units with the provincial, municipal and city in terms of planning, programming and budgeting. This will be achieved through the NEDA, DILG, DBM and DOF Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) No. 1, s. of 2007.
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Organize Peoples' Councils other than the LDC to increase civil society participation.
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Strengthen the local Lupong Pamayapa.
Equity and Inclusiveness
