PH calls for establishment of Asean+3 LGUs’ network vs. Covid-19

MANILA – The Philippine government, through the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and its training arm the Local Government Academy (LGA) is spearheading the establishment of a platform to strengthen local-level cooperation among local government bodies of Asean Plus Three (APT) member countries in battling the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic and pursuing good governance.

In a news release on Saturday, DILG Secretary Eduardo Año said the establishment of an Asean Plus Three (APT) Network of Local Government Units (LGUs) will further reinforce and sustain regional cooperation and partnership at the local level especially at this time when there is a need for greater collaboration not only at the national level but also at the local levels of governments.

“The continued emergence of new variants of concern and the necessity to fast-track vaccination rollout highlights the need for even greater cooperation not only at the national level but also of local governments,” he said during his opening remarks at the Networking Workshop Among Local Government Bodies of APT Countries held last week.

Asean Plus Three (APT) member countries consist of 10 Asean member states and the People’s Republic of China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea.

Año, who was represented by Assistant Secretary Odilon Pasaraba, said that during this pandemic, local governments have been at the forefront of directly responding to the needs of their constituents while facing seemingly insurmountable challenges.

“We have seen the full potential of our local governments in advancing development through innovations they initiated and implemented within their communities such as new food supply and distribution channels, the establishment of mobile testing laboratories and clinics, and migration of local government services to online platform,” he said.

According to Año, these local government best practices can be emulated and replicated by other local government bodies in the APT member countries and can even expand beyond the area of health governance through the establishment of a platform to sustain the local-level cooperation.

“Through this activity, we hope to inspire efforts for deliberately building up our local governments for regional level cooperation and action,” he said.

The networking workshop brought together representatives of local governance bodies of APT states to discuss the role of local governance bodies in achieving shared goals and a call to action for local governance bodies to carry out specific efforts to advance regional integration.

“The community blueprints of the Asean 2025 emphasize the importance of creating a culture of good governance and mainstreaming the principles of the vision into government policies and practices. If we want to realize the vision of having the benefits of our regional community and integration felt at the grassroots level, then achieving local government action is integral,” Año said.

The workshop focused on initiating discussions among country representatives on governance systems in each country; LG experiences on Inter-Local Cooperation; Political & Fiscal Autonomy, and Public Service Delivery responsibilities; LGUs’ Capacities to support the Asean Community Vision 2025; and preparing for an APT Network of LGUs.

For her part, LGA assistant director Daphne Purnell emphasized that “networking will allow benchmarking and when we push for an alliance among LGUs, we could also look into exchanging knowledge when it comes to research and development.”

During the workshop, the following were given emphasis in integrating the Asean community vision in terms of local economic development: access to vaccines for their citizens; available health equipment and health workers; available economic packages and regulations; efforts to collaborate with relevant Ministries to strengthen the local government’s role and responsibilities for community engagement; and local governments work together to address the problems of economic slowdown and negative impact on the tourism sector.

Meanwhile, the hindering factors in integrating the Asean community vision to LG priorities and processes were: severe socio-economic impacts, increasing pressure on governments, which compromise the capacity and legitimacy of institutions; skeptical attitude towards Asean’s roles in defending some values such as human rights, human trafficking, and smuggling; financial and technical capacity; and LGUs’ lack of explicit knowledge on Asean’s vision.

“LGUs should deepen collaborations through broadening economic connectivity, take an active role in facilitating knowledge exchanges and technology transfer, be at the forefront of advancing democracy, human rights, and mutual respect, and advance policies for institution building among member countries,” said Purnell.

According to Purnell, the participants share the same sentiment in the creation of institutionalized mechanisms for partnerships, promotions, engagements, and cooperation in areas of economic, political, and socio-cultural.

The workshop outputs will form part of the Baseline Study on Governance Systems Among APT Countries that is intended to contribute to a better understanding of existing governance systems among APT countries and how these have affected community-building in the region. (PR)