2023 Award "Best Practice in Citizen Participation"

17th Edition

Phase 6 of 7

Publication Preparation 18/09/2023 - 06/11/2023

Process phases

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Ormoc: "Ormocanong Panagtambayayong": Grassroots Leaders as partners in Governance, transitioning from Beneficiary to Ownership Approach

Official proposal

02/06/2023 13:20

Prior to the innovation, passivity was observed in the political landscape in Ormoc City, in the Philippines. There is less interest among civil society to participate in government affairs. At most, they see themselves as beneficiaries or as recipients and they would just wait for dole out assistance from the government. On the other hand, the government failed to see the potentials and opportunities of engaging the people in government affairs. They saw civil society as dispensable and their presence in policy deliberations less relevant.

The proponents of the innovation desire to strengthen the spirit of people’s participation in the government affairs. Most important is to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of mechanisms for participatory democracy so that there is improvement in the quality of decision-making and public policy.

Innovations were introduced to accomplish the objectives. The Sanggunian made changes in the conduct of accreditation hearings to impress upon applicants the seriousness in the process. There were efforts to make the application process easier for the organizations. Changes were also introduced in the election processes to make sure that there is matching civil society representatives with the thrusts of the local special bodies (LSBs). Proper coordination was done with LSBs to determine their priority sectors and these determination guided the conduct of elections.

Given that Ormoc City is a densely populated first-class independent component city, comprised of 110 barangays surrounded by vibrant nature and history, we were able to profile and identify around 500 CSOs known to be operating in our beloved City. With this innovation, 108 CSOs were granted accreditation. This is lower than the previous term of 128 accreditations. However, we noted the number of new applicants and we also noted the 24 CSO applicants that were deferred.

The innovation has also facilitated the transition of Beneficiary-to-Ownership approach. Our grassroots leaders transitioned from the mindset of being beneficiaries to having a maximum sense of ownership in their role as partners in the push for progress and development in the City, participating in practices to review and evaluate the programs of the City resulting to informed-decisions and inclusive projects. The “Ormocanong Panagtambayayong: Grassroots Leaders as partners in Governance, transitioning from Beneficiary to Ownership Approach” is an important ingredient that increased the motivation of CSOs to take a proactive role in the community through participatory governance. With the platforms and channels in place, our CSOs are now able to engage in intelligent discussions and take part in the decision-making process of the Government as CSO Representatives elected into local special bodies.