Running head: Analysis on Participative Approaches
Analysis on Participative Approaches:
Constitutional Framework of Participatory Development in the Philippines
Kelly Vanessa Mundiz
Candao Bationg
Charren Kate Carta
Matias Baring
Professional Schools, University of Mindanao
EP302: Participatory Environmental Development Planning
Charlyn T. Gorgonio, MSF
10 October 2020
1
Analysis on Participative Approaches
2
For more than three hundred years, the Philippines has been colonized by the
Spanish rule. Unfortunately during these years, the abusive treatment was
highly evident making Filipinos the lowest class member of the society. The
Spanish Government served as an ultimate decision-maker of the state
policies, programs, and other activities which excludes the Filipinos to
participate in such. However, after the Philippines regained its independence,
its culture and policies were still patterned with the ancient times emphasizing
social differences and less prioritizing the poor.
It was only after the EDSA People Power Revolution that the majority of the
Filipinos regained consciousness to properly exercise equality and freedom
with the help of the establishment of the 1987 Philippine Constitution that
guaranteed equal protection of the rights of the people. With this initiative,
people both from the private and public sectors are starting to be proactive in
crafting developmental programs that are beneficial to the welfare of the
majority and themselves.
In recent years, the Philippine economy has made progress in delivering
inclusive growth, evidenced by a decline in poverty rates. Poverty declined
from 23.3% to 16.6% from 2015 to 2018. In part, this might be accredited to
specific policies in the country that encourage participatory development.
According to Tobias (2017), “Participatory development seeks to give the poor
a part in initiatives and projects that are designed by outside organizations in
the hopes that these projects will be more sustainable and successful by
involving local stakeholders in the projects’ goals.”
Analysis on Participative Approaches
3
Participatory planning is often employed where the concern is on poverty
reduction and increasing social rights; ergo participatory governance
mechanisms are widely promoted in developing countries. It is an approach
that aims to make urban planning accessible, community-driven, and more
relatable to its stakeholders. They claim to bring about several public policy
benefits,
including
increased
accountability,
higher
government
responsiveness, and better public services (Speer, 2012).
As quoted from Alvin Toffler “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those
who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.”
Thus, Participatory Development is a way of learning, unlearning, and
relearning practices that are beneficial for both the community and the
planners involved. Expert planning can be inhospitable and ​unrelatable with
the disregard of potential input of the stakeholders’ local knowledge.
In connection with this, relatability is a quality people subconsciously gravitate
toward. It isn’t a coincidence that politicians advertise themselves strolling
through the public markets in their election campaigns, nor when the latest
viral ​tiktok is how moms blame everything on their teens’ phone usage—it’s
relatable to the everyday consumer. Planning should also be ​relatable​; albeit
often misunderstood and labeled anti-poor by the vocal and uninformed.
The Philippines is one of the most dynamic economies in the East Asia Pacific
Region. With increasing urbanization, growing middle class, and a large and
young population, the Philippines has sound economic fundamentals and a
globally recognized competitive workforce supporting their economic growth
momentum. Despite this, the Philippines is still a developing country.
Analysis on Participative Approaches
4
Participatory development is already being exemplified by some of the
country’s policies and programs; the said policies acknowledge the
involvement of sectors—primarily, the community, which embodies the
definition of poverty. The aforementioned described are as follows:
First, we have the ​Republic Act No. 7160​, which is known as the “Local
Government Code of 1991”. It is the policy that decentralizes planning to a
more local level from the original retrograde planning. The policy encourages,
not only the local government unit but also non-governmental, people’s
organizations, and other concerned sectors of the community to be involved in
projects and programs within their respective jurisdictions.
Since the 1990s, the Philippines’ various administrations have attempted to
introduce participatory programs concerned with poverty reduction and
agrarian reform; all of which have varying success in implementation, but
otherwise employ the participatory approach (Reid, 2005).
Second, ​Republic Act 8425​, otherwise known as the “Social Reform and
Poverty Alleviation Act”, is a policy directly concerned with alleviating poverty
in the country. The policy places emphasis on enhancing the Social Reform
Agenda (SRA) which refers to the continuing process of addressing the basic
inequities in Filipino society through the systematic, unified and coordinated
delivery of socioeconomic programs and packages. Furthermore, the SRA
highlights to recognize and reflect the core values, cultural integrity, gender
neutrality, and spiritual diversity of target sectors and communities in their
agenda.
Analysis on Participative Approaches
5
Section 4, emphasizes a multi-dimensional approach to poverty, including
democratizing the decision-making and management processes; enabling the
basic sectors to effectively participate in decision-making and management
processes that affect their rights, interests, and welfare. An approach that
makes the programs relatable to the stakeholders.
Lastly, ​Republic Act 9700 also known as the “Comprehensive Agrarian
Reform Program (CARP)” focuses ​on the equal dissemination of land, with
the thought of providing landowners with just compensation. This act provides
the opportunity to improve the quality of the farmers and farmworkers’ lives
through greater productivity of the agricultural lands.
The implementation of the program is participatory in a way; it is
recommended that the implementation shall be community-based in order for
the farmers to have greater control over the products’ prices and shall have
easier access to loans. Social rights were established in this act​—​gender
equality is being promoted through the recognition of the rights of rural women
in taking ownership and control over land. Distribution of the land’s products
can be equal between men and women. Both genders are also accepted and
recognized to be part of or to represent the decision-making bodies.
Community activities wherein protection and promotion of women’s rights are
also being driven by establishing a women’s desk to be led by the Department
of Agrarian Reform (DAR).
The program requires full cooperation and participation of all sectors in order
to be sustainable; it has already contributed to the reduction of social conflicts
Analysis on Participative Approaches
6
and promoted peace and order in some areas that the program was
well-established (Villamora, 2003).
The Constitution is known as the supreme law of the land. At present, the
1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines is the highest law in the
country. With the established law, a framework can be created which serves
as a system of rules and ideas that can be used in planning. The following
diagrams are the conceptual and design framework based on the
above-mentioned policies:
Figure 1. Framework for RA 7160, also known as The Local Government
Code of 1991
The constitutional framework of LGU and authorities relies on the ​system of
decentralization with a responsive and responsible range of services in
political, administrative, fiscal and market or economy. In terms of politics, the
Analysis on Participative Approaches
7
duties must preserve local decision-making, representation, local election and
devolution. Administrative aspects must have more in deconcentration and
delegation while the fiscal sector relates to revenue assignments, expenditure
responsibilities and intergovernmental fiscal units. One of the important in the
system of decentralization of Local Government is the market economy. It
involves public and private partnership, deregulation and privatization. In
summary, the LGU and authorities are multi-disciplinary bodies responsible
for distributing a range of services in relation to roads, traffic, planning,
housing, economic and community development, environment, recreation and
other services.
Figure 2. Framework for RA 8425, also known as the Social Reform and
Poverty Alleviation Act
In recognizing poverty as multidimensional, the strategies are anchored on
several dimensions, namely: economic, social, political and governance,
ecological and gender dimensions as well as the human rights dimension.
Analysis on Participative Approaches
8
The ecological dimension emphasizes the protection of the environment and
the vigorous enforcement of environmental laws. The holistic mechanisms
require policies, programs, institutional arrangements, monitoring and
evaluation, and advocacy, and social marketing.
Figure 3. Framework for RA 9700, also known as the Comprehensive
Agrarian Reform Program (CARP)
The Department of Agrarian Reform has its own mandate and personnel to
implement the backbone of CARP such as Land Tenure improvement,
Delivery of Support Services, Delivery of Agrarian Justice. At the end of
CARP Development initiatives are developed communities and empower the
beneficiaries.
Analysis on Participative Approaches
9
Participatory Approach. ​A participatory approach brings together all the
representatives. This is often a diverse group of users, health workers,
NGO's, and others, who might not usually work together, might come from
different backgrounds, and have different values and interests.
Figure 4. Constitutional Framework with Participatory Approach
This constitutional framework was based on the relationship of given policies
and development projects promoted with participation that ranges from
information to consultation, involvement, and collaboration. With each level
comes an increased opportunity for public input to influence or impact the
decision-making process, with collaboration being the most participatory form
of governance.
Analysis on Participative Approaches
10
CBFM: A National Strategy for Sustainable Forest Management​. The
Philippine
government
implemented
various
people-oriented
forestry
programs, developed a strategy believed to be more holistic, equitable, and
sustainable. One of these is the Community-Based Forest Management
(CBFM) program adopted as a national strategy to ensure sustainable
development of forestland resources and achieve social justice in consonance
with the provisions of Executive Order No. 263 issued by the government in
1995. The mandate was to take into account the needs and aspirations of
local communities whose livelihoods depend on forestlands.
Through the CBFM strategy, the government empowers and allocates to local
communities’ portions of the forestland for development, protection,
management, conservation, and further grants them access to utilize forest
resources. Specifically, the CBFM strategy aims to protect the people’s right
to a healthy environment; improve the socio-economic conditions of the
participating communities, and promote social justice and equitable access to
and benefits from forest resources.
Various agencies operating at different levels are involved in CBFM
implementation such as; ​first​, DENR (Department of Environment and
Natural Resources) is the primary agency responsible for the management,
development, and administration of the forestland and resources in close
partnership with the Local Government Unit and People’s Organization for
smooth implementation through several processes; preparatory stage, PO
formation and diagnostic stage, planning stage, and implementation stage.
Analysis on Participative Approaches
11
Under CBFM, DENR has the legal mandate to issue land tenure instruments
in all classified forest lands, to wit;
a.
Community-Based Forest Management Agreement (CBFMA),
is an agreement between the government and the local community
(PO’s) as a forest manager with a term of 25 years and renewable
in 25 years.
b.
Certificate of Stewardship (CS), the agreement entered into by
the government and families actually occupying or tilling portions of
the forest lands covered with CBFMA.
Second​, the implementation of CBFM requires strong partnerships with local
governments and collaboration with other stakeholders. Under the Republic
Act No.7160, otherwise known as the Local Government Code of 1991, the
LGUs shall share with DENR the responsibility of the sustainable
management
environmental
and
development
functions
of
of
forestland
and
resources.
Some
DENR devolved to LGUs including the
implementation of CBFM, particularly the Integrated Social Forestry projects.
Third, ​other government agencies ​involved in the implementation of CBFM
related projects such as NIA and DOF. NIA in cooperation with DENR has
adopted the CBFM strategy in the management and protection of watershed
areas under its administrative jurisdiction. On the other hand, DOF in
collaboration with LGU’s implemented the Community-Based Resource
Management Project with support from the World Bank. It involves the
Analysis on Participative Approaches
12
conduct of community-based reforestation, agroforestry, and livelihood
projects.
Fourth, ​non-government organizations roles in these projects are in the area
of community organizing and training, livelihood development, employment of
innovative techniques for participatory management, technology development
and promotion, rediscovering/harnessing indigenous knowledge systems, the
conduct of actual reforestation activities, project monitoring, and evaluation,
and provision of other support services to communities such as linking them
to appropriate institutions. At the national level, some NGOs also perform
advocacy roles to influence policy-making on matters relevant to CBFM.
Fifth, ​Local Communities or People’s Organizations as one of the major
stakeholders of CBFM implementation. People’s Organization responsibilities
include planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of all activities in
accordance with the agreed-upon Community-based Forest Management
Framework geared to promote the sustainable management of the CBFMA
area. They should also develop and implement equitable benefit-sharing
arrangements among People’s Organization members, observe transparency
in financial transactions, and promote participatory management and
consensus building in all CBFM-related activities.
This program is identified as one of the successful community-driven
developments of the government that illustrates the challenges of promoting
sustainable forest management through the participation of local communities
in forest development and protection. It took the ecological, social, and policy
Analysis on Participative Approaches
13
imperatives into consideration​—​an appreciative effort that supports its identity
as a successful sample of participatory development in the country.
Everyone sees the world in a different way; in their own unique way. ​“Beauty
is in the eye of the beholder,” as they say. It is our experiences and
relationships that help shape us to be the individuals we are today; and it is
through such that we learn to interpret the world with unique perspectives.
“Power makes people happy.” According to psychologists, power is a slight
impulse that we naturally long for. Power has been proven to be a great
common desire of man of all different races (and social status) for all of our
time on this Earth. People feel useless in life when they aren't in charge of
something or a group of people. To compensate for this, they take control by
force to fulfill their need for power; which may be in the form of a revolt or
trending Twitter hashtags in the present norm.
A marriage of all these unique perspectives and the opinions they form is
participatory development. Participatory development also is a way to
redistribute power by empowering people of their own circumstances.
Successful community-driven programs, such as the CBFM, are a testament
to its effectiveness, albeit many challenges.