Ongoing efforts in capacitating local governments in the Cordillera highlands are being undertaken by the Local Government Development Foundation (LOGODEF), with the University of the Cordilleras – Cordillera Local Government Development and Research Center (UC-CLGDRC) at the forefront. The municipality of Tuba in the province of Benguet is currently the pilot area in the Region. Memoranda of agreement were forged in 2006 and 2007 between and among the municipal government, UC, LOGODEF, and its major institutional partner the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), for capability-building programs and the GIS (Geographic Information System) Project, respectively.
One of the major program components is the establishment of a GIS-based Real Property Tax Information System (GIS-RPTIS), which is primarily aimed at increasing the municipality’s revenue collection. It involves a series of hands-on training on digitizing the land parcels of the selected pilot barangays with the application of the GIS technology. The GIS team, comprising of some twelve staff from the municipal Assessor’s, Treasurer’s, and Engineer’s offices are being skilled on the digitization and linking up land value information using the Manifold software and MS Access’ Database management system. Training interventions are about to conclude by February this year. Sustainability plans have been formulated to ensure project completion and full realization of its projected outcome and benefits.
Municipal service standards and performance indicators are also being developed by the Tubans in lieu of the DILG’s (Department of Interior and Local Government) local government performance management system (LGPMS). In view of the shortcomings of the said system (i.e., it is more of databasing the performance of LGUs based on the previous year, and therefore a reactive system), the LOGODEF has initiated a project on Developing Service Standards and Per Capita Budget in Tuba. In contrast with the DILG’s system, said project is a proactive approach to enhancing the LGU performance in that through the formulation of service standards, the municipality could perform service forecasting for the next 5 years or so based on the linear progression of their income and the population growth rate. The expected output of this project is a Handbook on Performance Indicators and Per Capita Budget for Local Governments, which is about to be completed and published by March this year. Part of the handbook will feature the processes and procedures undertaken by Tuba in the development of its service standards. It will serve as a model to the neighboring municipalities in Benguet as well as to other municipalities of the Cordillera provinces in the development of their own performance indicators and service standards.
Other program components include training interventions to local government officials (both to organic and elected officers) to improve their skills in local government administration; and the exercise of LGU corporate powers through the establishment of an economic enterprise (i.e., Cutflower industry).
It is remarkable that a barangay captain in Barangay Paco, Mankayan, Benguet in the name of Brgy. Capt. Carlos S. Ringor was a KAME awardee (Konrad Adenauer Medal of Excellence) in 2006, a recognition given to best-managed local governments in the Philippines.