highlights
Newsletter of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines
ULAP Expands Program Partnerships for Local Governments
April 2014
President’s Message
The Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) in its continuing service to local governments has cultivated program partnerships to converge the work of national government, private and civil society sector with local governments units (LGUs). From 2011 onwards, ULAP is able to expand its portfolio of mainstreaming, scaling up, and advocacy of programs to and for local governments, so that projects that have been tested in pilot runs may reach more interested LGUs.
Since the start of our service in ULAP in 2011, we have significantly improved the organization in terms of its relevance to its member leagues and the national government, its scope and quality of partnerships, and performance of plans and programs. Dahil nagsama-sama tayo, mahusay nating nagawa ang ating mandatong pagsilbihan ang ating mga lokal na pamahalaan.
HEALTH
What we have achieved is a result of our convergence among the leagues. We have worked closer than ever, especially in light of the emergency situations that befell our country in 2013. Our united voices have made impact in representing our voices in national agenda, such as what we have seen in the passage of the Sin Tax Law, our representation in the Board of PhilHealth, in the Joint Memorandum Circulars we have developed with national agencies, and our quick and effective response to the relief and recovery operations for Typhoon Yolanda-affected areas.
In 2011, ULAP co-organized the formation of the 162-52 Coalition for Accelerating Collective Action to Achieve Maternal and Child Health, with the Department of Health (DOH), Zuellig Family Foundation (ZFF), Access Health International, PhilHealth, Sanofi Philippines, Philippine Business for Social Progress, League of Provinces of the Philippines, and 30 more organizations all over the country. As Co-Chair, ULAP serves as the Coalition’s Secretariat to assist the convergence of various programs of the member organizations for implementation in priority LGUs. In its formal launch in 2012, the health Coalition conducted a Health Summit which convened the local chief executives and DOH officers of 30 provinces with the highest maternal mortality rates. These 30 provinces became the first batch of priority areas for the Coalition, which was swiftly followed by the second batch of municipalities following the 609 priority areas identified by the national government and supported by the Health Leadership and Governance Program (HLGP) of ZFF. The HLGP will be scaled up to cover cities and more provinces in 2014 onwards. The Coalition has engaged the DILG Local Government Academy for the “Health Governance” and “Bridging Leadership” module develop-
We journey on with much hope and determination as we push through with our partnerships with private and civil society sectors. We will continue our work even more rigorously, and achieve inclusive growth in the level of the local governments, in line with the national government’s vision. Mabuhay at maraming salamat!
2 Highlights ment as included in the Newly-Elected Officials (NEO) Capacity-Building Program in 2013. Aside from the continuous liaising among the Coalition member organizations with LGUs, ULAP assists the Coalition in monitoring the status of MMR and IMR in the priority areas, PhilHealth enrolment and coverage status, and distributes relevant information from various fora and policy workshops for reference of partners in enhancing their work with LGUs. ULAP also helps in resource mobilization for scaling up converged projects of the Coalition members. The Second Health Summit sponsored by the Coalition will be held in July 2014. Updates on the Coalition achievements and highlights, as well as discussions on improving health governance and service delivery by addressing social determinants of health will be given focus. ULAP’s Coalition work also serves as the platform by which it contributes to its advocacy commitments to the Inter-Agency National Convergence Program for Establishing a Social Protection Floor for Workers in the Informal Sector. Under the agreement signed in 2012, ULAP helps in disseminating information and developing policies for the target sector. Related to its work with the Coalition and health governance, ULAP signed an understanding with the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) in February 14, 2014 to jointly undertake capacity-building initiatives to enhance the LGU spending of funds for primary care, in line with DOH’s “Alaga Ka Program”. PhilHealth, Access Health International, and ZFF are collaborating for raising the funds needed and the development of modules for the project.
ULAP (represented by its President Gov. Alfonso Umali Jr.) and Zuellig Family Foundation (represented by its President Ernesto Garilao) signs an agreement with DILGLocal Government Academy (represented by its Executive Director Marivel Sacendoncillo) for module development for the Newly Elected Officials Program.
ULAP President Gov. Umali (rightmost) joins Department of Education Undersecretary Mario Deriquito (fourth from left) and other partners in signing of the memorandum of understanding for support in implementing the Abot Alam Program for Out of School Youth.
EDUCATION Through partnership with the Department of Education (DepEd), ULAP sits in the Steering Committee of the Abot Alam Program for Out of School Youth (OSYs) which seeks to map out all the OSYs in the country and connect them with education and livelihood projects offered by LGUs, national government agencies, and private and civ-
il society partners. ULAP assisted in piloting the project in Nagcarlan Laguna which emerged as a best practice for the program. ULAP also brought in its member leagues for greater advocacy for the program, which was sealed with a Memorandum of Understanding signing on March 27, 2014. ULAP is continuously assisting DepEd to promote Abot Alam to LGUs that are also sites of other ULAP program partnerships, in line with ULAP’s convergence work.
Newsletter of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines 3
ULAP’s partnership with the Department of Education is furthered with the School-Based Feeding Program (SBFP), which is a national initiative that seeks to curb malnutrition among school-based children by creating local alliances, co-led by the LGUs and local DepEd officers. The national government allots funds to feed children falling under the ‘severely wasted’ category, while LGUs and partners (national and local) provide counterparts for the children under the ‘wasted’ category. As of this report, SBFP orientations have been co-organized by ULAP in Samar, Iloilo, and Bohol. More LGUs, as selected by the SBFP partners, are being reached by ULAP in assistance for the program implementation. SBFP also serves as a platform for ULAP to further its partnership with the Jollibee Group Foundation (JGF) for the “Busog Lusog Talino (BLT)” program, which aims to improve school performance of children by providing nutritious meals in school. From 2012 onwards, ULAP co-organized regional orientations with JGF to promote BLT among LGUs that provide counterparts for the implementation. These orientations helped JGF surpass its target of 1000 schools wherein BLT is implemented. To assist LGUS to provide counterparts and for sustainability of the feeding program, ULAP engaged the Department of Interior and Local Government for advocacy
work, which resulted in the release of a Joint Memorandum Circular of DILG, DepEd, and ULAP in 2013 that outlines possible modes of financial and technical counterparts of LGUs. In a similar program advocacy work, ULAP is now engaged with the Ayala Foundation Inc. (AFI) for its Text2Teach Program, which provides technology-based curriculum support materials and technical and stakeholder management assistance. As advocacy partner, ULAP sits in the program’s Steering Committee to help AFI reach 850 schools for Text2Teach Phase 4, and 60% of all DepEd divisions for the program’s Phase 5. Regional orientations are pegged to be conducted in the fourth quarter of 2014 until 2015. Furthermore, ULAP has partnered with the DFAT (formerly AustralianAID) and The Asia Foundation (TAF) for its “Coalitions for Change” for Education program in the Philippines. In the first phase of the engagement in 2013, ULAP conducted nation-wide consultations to map out the needs and issues of LGUs with regard to education governance, which ended with a Local Education Policy Workshop conducted in October 2013. In the policy workshop, 50 Local Chief Executives committed to expanding the composition of their Local School Boards and to continue working on locally initiated programs that re-
ULAP and Ayala Foundation Inc. partner to promote the Text2Teach program ULAP organized the Local Education Policy Workshop to gather recommento more LGUs. dations from Local Chief Executives on improving the policy environment for education governance.
4 Highlights spond to unique education needs of their LGUs. The recommendations of governors and mayors from the policy workshop are now being used by ULAP as reference for its inputs to the Special Education Fund Guidelines revisions with DILG, and other education-related policy reform platforms. In the ongoing second phase of the partnership with DFAT and TAF, ULAP is developing a model for expanding local resources for education based on the experience and achievements of the provincial government of Bohol. The resulting model will serve as reference for DepEd to develop capacity-building initiatives for its local officials to effectively engage local chief executives, and for LGUs interested to gather resources from local alliances and program partnerships for education projects. MIGRATION AND DEVELOPMENT Since 2012, ULAP co-convened the Pinoy Worldwide Initiative on Investment, Savings, and Entrepreneurship (PinoyWISE), with Atikha, NEDA, OWWA, and other national government agencies to develop interventions for both sides of the migration corridor. With help of Philippine Embassies, Filipino migrants abroad are given financial literacy trainings, psycho-social and family
interventions, and are connected to investment and savings opportunities in their source provinces, such as local Landbank-accredited cooperatives and local industries endorsed by LGUs. In 2012, ULAP and the PinoyWISE partners conducted the PinoyWISE Summit in United Arab Emirates which was attended by around 2000 overseas Filipinos. In the week of the summit, around Php 1.2 million of worth of investments were accounted for, which does not include the investments that were gathered for the months succeeding the event intervention. Meanwhile, in the source provinces, PinoyWISE helps LGUs to incorporate migration and development in their plans and programs, organize migrant families, and create Centers that house all available financial and psychosocial services for the families left behind. This strategy has been implemented in provinces in Regions 4A and 4B. Under the umbrella project of Atikha that implemented the PinoyWISE, the project was cited as a Global Best Practice in a conference organized by the World Bank and the International Fund for Agricultural Development in Bangkok, Thailand in May 2013, wherein ULAP, represented by Czarina Medina-Guce (then Head of Plans and Programs, now Executive Director), presented the crucial role of local governments in completing the last mile of migration and development work and in sustaining efforts from private and civil society sectors. As of writing of this report, the Joint Migration and Development Initiative (JMDI) has engaged the PinoyWISE partners (led by NEDA Region 4A, with Atikha, and ULAP), and additional partners (Commission for Filipinos Overseas and DILG-Local Government Academy) to expand and mainstream the PinoyWISE strategies and estabilish sustainable platforms for eventual replication. POST-DISASTER RESPONSE AND REHABILITATION
ULAP, represented by its current Executive Director Czarina Medina-Guce, shared the central role of local governments in implementing migration and development programs for overseas Filipinos and their families left behind in Thailand, May 2013.
In the immediate aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in November 2013, ULAP engaged the consortium of private and civil society organizations which used to implement the Tabang Mind-
Newsletter of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines 5
anao project to create the Tabang Visayas Consortium, which serves as a coordinating platform to converge response and rehabilitation efforts from private and civil society groups to assist LGUs and enhance national government interventions. Closely working with the League of Municipalities of the Philippines, ULAP helped map the immediate status and needs of Yolanda-effected towns, of which database served as a publicly-shared reference for the areas in need of assistance. A post-disaster plan- ULAP convened its member leagues, as well as private and civil society partners, to plan out short-term and long-term response ning workshop was to the needs created by Typhoon Yolanda. The partnerships eventually started the Tabang Visayas Consortium. organized by the Tabang Visayas Consortium with Kaya Natin! Movement for Rehabilitation and Recovery Secretary Panfilo Lacson. Good Governance and Ethical Leadership in December 2013 that brought in 53 municipal mayors from the Yolan- RESEARCH da-affected areas for stress debriefing and networking with private organizations for livelihood and food secu- In 2012-2013, ULAP was engaged by the Ateneo de Marity, infrastructure, and health long-term assistance. The nila University – Department of Political Science Departwork the emerged from the discussions are monitored by ment, through Prof. Anne Candelaria, PhD, to implement the Consortium. a research funded by the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP) on eviULAP continues its Tabang Visayas Consortium work by dence-informed policy making and its relationship on maintaining updated intervention maps, as collated by the winnability of local chief executives in elections. Assisi Development Foundation, which serves as the secretariat counterpart for the private and civil society mem- With the League of Municipalities of the Philippines, the bers of the Consortium. joint research team conducted surveys among municipal mayors and later a focus group discussion for the study. Moreover, ULAP continues to represent local govern- The results of the study are currently being arranged for ments in post-Yolanda “Build Back Better” discussions academic publication, with a technical working paper organized by the Office of the Presidential Assistant for available from the research proponent.
6 Highlights
ULAP Increases Involvement in Policy Development Platforms The Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP), from 2011 onwards, has significantly increased its participation in policy development platforms, in order to continuously represent local governments in national and regional decision-making. Below is a partial list of ULAP’s policy engagements. HEALTH PhilHealth Board of Directors. As of writing of this report, ULAP is facilitating the approval of the LGU representative to the PhilHealth Board of Directors, as endorsed by the League of Provinces of the Philippines, League of Cities of the Philippines, and the League of Municipalities of the Philippines. As the permanent representative according to law must not be an elected official, ULAP President Gov. Alfonso Umali Jr, arranged an agreement that an elected official be accommodated as a non-voting representative, of which role is currently performed by Tarlac Governor Victor Yap. Philippine National Health Research System (PNHRS) Steering Committee. Based on the law that created PNHRS, ULAP now sits as Steering Committee that helps connect health research to LGUs for policy making and technical input.
vide policy inputs to the COMELEC En Banc Resolution of disability-inclusive voting guidelines, and the piloting of enhancement of services in Persons with Disability Affairs Offices (PDAO) in selected sites. ULAP’s involvement in the project, which ended in 2012, allowed for the development of an LGU manual for setting up and improving PDAO services. ENVIRONMENT AND DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT National Risk Reduction and Management Council. ULAP is part of the Technical Management Group, Joint Coordination Committee, and the National Selection Committee for Gawad Kalasag (of which 4 out of 28 categories are headed by ULAP). Mining Industry Coordinating Council. Under this en-
Other Health Policy Advocacy Engagements: • National Rabies Prevention and Control Committee • National Council for Disability Affairs policy discussions • Children’s Rights Consortium • DOH Health System Research Management Knowledge Sharing Sessions • DOH National Nutrition Council, which includes ULAP’s membership in the Salt Industry Advisory Board, and Technical Working Group for the Salt Iodization Program ELECTION-RELATED Disability-Inclusive Elections Program. As partner of the Philippine Alliance of Patient Organizations (PAPO), ULAP became partial grantee of the program to help pro-
ULAP and the Philippine Alliance of Patient Organizations partner to engage PWDs and LGUs for the Disability Inclusive Elections Program.
Newsletter of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines 7 gagement, ULAP is a Council Member, and member of the Technical Working Groups on (a) Environmental Protection and Legislation, (b) Economic Concerns on Mining, (c) Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, (d) Small Scale Mining. On February 11-12, 2014, ULAP co-organized a forum for LGUs with EITI, while on April 29-30, ULAP is co-organizing the Artisanal and Small Scale Mining workshop with the MICC partners and the Philippine Poverty Environment Initiatives. Other Environment-related Policy Engagements: • Disaster Risk Reduction Network Philippines (DRRNet Phils) • PHlL-WAVES EDUCATION Early Childhood Care & Development Council. As provided by law, ULAP is a member of both the Governing Board and Technical Working Group.
GOVERNANCE Open Government Partnership (OGP) Philippines Steering Committee. ULAP provides input to policy and program discussion to enhance the different facets of OGP implementation. ULAP is also set to join the first Regional OGP Summit in Bali Indonesia in May 2014. Local Government Code Amendment Workshop. ULAP co-organized the workshop with Galing Pook Foundation and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung on March 28, 2014. The recommendations from local chief executives as gathered in the workshop are being used by ULAP as evidence reference for policy discussions with DILG and other national agencies, while Galing Pook is set to release an official working paper. Other Governance-related Policy Engagements: • Philippine Development Plan Committees • United Nations Development Assistance Framework Technical Working Team
ULAP President Umali (third from left) and Executive Director Medina-Guce (second from left) pose with Galing Pook Executive Director Dr. Eddie Dorotan (third from right) and partners from government and academe for the Local Government Code Review Workshop. The event was possible with the support of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. ULAP President Umali addresses the Local Chief Executives and representatives of local governments in the “Engaging Local Government Units in Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative Implementation” on February 11, 2014.
8
H.E. Benigno Aquino III, President of the Republic of the Philippines, and DILG Secretary Mar Roxas facilitate the oathtaking of select ULAP member leagues on March 18, 2014, at the Manila Hotel.
In Brief: ULAP Transitions ULAP sincerely thanks Ms. Sonia Lorenzo, multi-awarded mayor and good governance champion, for her work as Executive Director from 2011 to January 2014, as she leaves her post to focus on her health. Her commitment and hard work in ULAP has helped the organization build its partnerships for the programs and policy initiatives. Ms. Lorenzo is succeeded by ULAP’s new Executive Director, Ms. Czarina Medina-Guce (formerly ULAP Head of Plans and Programs). She is a fellow of the Asia Foundation Development Fellowship Program on Emergent Leaders in Asia, and has formerly worked with the Asian Institute of Management and Ateneo de Manila University. Meanwhile, ULAP also welcomed Mr. Kenneth Turaray as new Information and Communications Technology Officer in 2013.
For more information on our programs and policy work, and for partnerships, please contact us through any of the following:
UNION OF LOCAL AUTHORITIES OF THE PHILIPPINES Unit 2803 Summit One Tower, 530 Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong City Tel Nos. (63) (2) 718-1812, 717-1810, 534-6787 Telefax (63) (2) 534-6789 Email ulapnatsec@gmail.com Website www.ulap.net.ph Facebook www.facebook.com/ulap.org.ph