A Service of Leibniz-Informationszentrum econstor Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre Make Your Publications Visible. zbw for Economics Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) (Ed.) Working Paper Improving Local Service Delivery for the MDGs in Asia: the Case of the Philippines PIDS Discussion Paper Series, No. 2009-34 Provided in Cooperation with: Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), Philippines Suggested Citation: Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) (Ed.) (2009) : Improving Local Service Delivery for the MDGs in Asia: the Case of the Philippines, PIDS Discussion Paper Series, No. 2009-34, Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), Makati City This Version is available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/126780 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Documents in EconStor may be saved and copied for your Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. personal and scholarly purposes. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle You are not to copy documents for public or commercial Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich purposes, to exhibit the documents publicly, to make them machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. publicly available on the internet, or to distribute or otherwise use the documents in public. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, If the documents have been made available under an Open gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort Content Licence (especially Creative Commons Licences), you genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. may exercise further usage rights as specified in the indicated licence. www.econstor.eu Philippine Institute for Development Studies Surian sa mga Pag-aaral Pangkaunlaran ng Pilipinas Improving Local Service Delivery for the MDGs in Asia: the Case of the Philippines Philippine Institute for Development Studies DISCUSSION PAPER SERIES NO. 2009-34 The PIDS Discussion Paper Series constitutes studies that are preliminary and subject to further revisions. They are be- ing circulated in a limited number of cop- ies only for purposes of soliciting com- ments and suggestions for further refine- ments. The studies under the Series are unedited and unreviewed. The views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and do not neces- sarily reflect those of the Institute. Not for quotation without permission from the author(s) and the Institute. November 2009 For comments, suggestions or further inquiries please contact: The Research Information Staff, Philippine Institute for Development Studies 5th Floor, NEDA sa Makati Building, 106 Amorsolo Street, Legaspi Village, Makati City, Philippines Tel Nos: (63-2) 8942584 and 8935705; Fax No: (63-2) 8939589; E-mail: [email protected] Or visit our website at http://www.pids.gov.ph Improving Local Service Delivery for the MDGs in Asia: The Case of the Philippines A Joint Project of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) FINAL REPORT 28 September 2009 Acknowledgement This report was prepared by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), with the following as lead authors: Allan S. Layug for the Inception Report, Executive Summary, Chapters 1–4, 9, 10, and part of Chapter 11; Dr. Rosario G. Manasan for Chapter 5; Dr. Aniceto C. Orbeta, Jr. and Michael R. Cabalfin for Chapter 6; Dr. Rouselle F. Lavado for Chapter 7; and Dr. Danilo C. Israel for Chapter 8. Dr. Orbeta and Mr. Cabalfin (education), Dr. Lavado (health) and Dr. Israel (water) wrote the sectoral sections in Chapter 10 and 11. Mr. Layug was responsible for the consolidation of the report. For the Local Service Delivery (LSD) survey, the following are hereby being acknowledged: Dr. Manasan for the concept paper of the survey instrument; Dr. Jose Ramon G. Albert and Janet S. Cuenca for the formulation and preparation of survey instruments used for the survey; Ms.Cuenca for the supervision of pretest survey, preparation of encoding template, and supervision of encoding the completed survey questionnaires; and Dr. Israel and Mr. Layug for the enumerators’ training of National Statistics Office (NSO) survey specialists from NSO-Region 7 and NSO-Caraga . The authors would like to acknowledge the excellent research assistance provided by Michael Ralph M. Abrigo, Leilani E. Bolong, Ida Marie T. Pantig, Fatima Lourdes E. Del Prado, and Donald B. Yasay. For the encoding, assistance was provided by Carole Kaye D. Cabahug, Noemi C. Dorig, Andre Phillipe E. Ramos, Jocelyn P. Almeda, Christine Ruth P. Salazar, and Larraine C. Zafe. This report greatly benefited from the comments and suggestions provided by the UNICEF Regional and Philippine Country Offices; from the assistance in the fieldwork by Engr. Deanne P. Fudalan (Provincial Planning and Development Officer of Agusan Del Sur), Ms. Jocelyn P. Gongob (Provincial Planning and Development Officer of Negros Oriental), and Engr. Josephine M. Antonio (City Planning and Development Officer of Dumaguete City), as well as the Local Finance Committees of Prosperidad, Bayugan, and Sibagat in Agusan Del Sur and those of the Province of Negros Oriental and Dumaguete City; and from the assistance for the LSD survey by Director Rosalinda C. Celeste (OIC-Regional Director of NSO-Caraga) and Engr. Ariel E. Florendo (OIC-Regional Director of NSO-Region 7). The views expressed in this report are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the PIDS, UNICEF, and other institutions associated with the studies presented. Abstract This report argues that improving local service delivery (LSD) is about improving people’s lives. It is premised on the idea that better provision of public goods and services is a prerequisite to realizing human capabilities, thus expanding human freedoms and enhancing human lives for a better society. It investigates on improving local delivery of MDG-critical services such as education, health, and water, with a view to formulating sectoral decentralization policy frameworks that would serve as inputs to national strategies and plans in improving LSD in the Philippines. It develops a Triangulation Framework as a tool of analysis that provides a perspective on how to better understand the dynamics of LSD systems and the requirements for improving them through the interdependence of policy, institutions, and finance. Corollary argument is that institutional actors take a primordial role in improving LSD systems and practices despite policy and financial gaps and development challenges. Policy, institutional and financial analyses at the national level are provided in contextualizing the sectoral discussions on primary and secondary education, maternal and child health, and potable water based on sector analysis and performance outcomes in the LSD areas of Agusan del Sur and Dumaguete City. The main thrusts of the sectoral discussions are the key findings, issues and challenges, reforms and recommendations, and areas for further research. The cross- cutting key findings are: (a) seeming universal espousal of people-centered service delivery; (b) critical role of LCEs in improving LSD; (c) scarcity of resources; (d) practice of needs-based prioritization of local officials; (e) need for constant capacity development of local governments; (f) crucial role of the national government in providing support; (g) imperative to balance national, regional and local development plans; (h) presence of success/failure factors related to service standards; (i) nexus of supply-side and demand-side of governance; (j) omnipresence of politics even in matters of local service delivery; and (k) limited availment of opportunities for public-private partnerships. Based on the key findings, the major conclusions are: (i) the three sectors, i.e. education, health, and water supply, are complementarities, and require holistic frameworks; (ii) decentralization can only create an enabling environment for local service delivery if and only if it is designed properly; (iii) improvement of local service delivery systems and practices depends greatly on the interdependence of policy, institutions, and finance; (iv) accountability could serve as an analytic framework of local service delivery; and (v) local service delivery systems do not exist in vacuums but are played out in oftentimes unfavorable political, economic, and social milieu. Key words: local service delivery, decentralization, triangulation, institutions, governance, Millennium Development Goals, Philippines Executive Summary This report argues that improving local service delivery (LSD) is about improving people’s lives. It is premised on the idea that better provision of public goods and services (e.g., education, health, and water) is a prerequisite to realizing human capabilities, thus expanding human freedoms and enhancing human lives for a better society. This report is important for three reasons. First, it assesses LSD systems and practices in the Philippines based on the performance of select three sectors, i.e., education, health, and water. Second, based on the sectoral analyses and comparative assessment, it explores how LSD systems and practices can be improved in order to formulate sectoral decentralization policy frameworks that would serve as inputs to national strategies