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| FENCES & WINDOWS |
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I-GOVERNANCE - NAGA CITY
source: database.bestpractices.org
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context: Naga is a small city of less than 140,000 people. Despite being called the 'heart of Bicol' (one of the Philippines’ 15 administrative regions), it was rapidly stagnating in the 1980s. Business confidence was low, unemployment was on the rise and taxes were in decline. The situation impacted on the delivery of basic services, especially in health and education. Crime was increasing and approximately 20% of the city’s population was homeless.
what: the i-Governance initiative of the Naga city government is a ‘people-driven’ program that promotes transparency, accountability and participation in order to, ultimately, enhance governance processes, local service delivery and city viability. The program uses various media, such as a citizens’ guidebook, the Internet, print and broadcast tools and text messaging, to empower citizens and actively engage them in government policy-making and program implementation and evaluation.
Naga has gradually overcome its problems so that, by the end of the 1990s, it was considered one of the country’s fastest-growing and most liveable cities. The city has also become a recognised model for local Philippine governance, largely because of its effective and innovative programs. Key to sustaining these programs is an emphasis on participatory mechanisms. In fact, the city pioneered several efforts to engage the community in governance processes.
In 1995, it enacted a landmark legislation known as the Empowerment Ordinance. This expanded the public’s role in governance by establishing a functional framework for partnership and participation with more than a hundred non-government and people’s organisations (NGOs/POs) through the Naga City People’s Council (NCPC). NCPC representatives sit on all local special bodies and Sangguniang Panlungsod (city legislative council) committees. Thanks to this project people can now observe, propose legislation, vote and participate in the deliberation, conceptualisation, implementation and evaluation of city government programs.
aim: greater participation by ordinary citizens is the defining feature of i-Governance. For more than seven years, Naga has been pioneering a system of partnerships and inclusive governance through the NCPC. In fact, functional partnerships have powered most, if not all, of Naga’s outstanding innovations over the last decade.
Generally, however, working partnerships are biased towards organised groups for practical and operational reasons. In the process, they unwittingly exclude the faceless, voiceless and unorganised segments of society, which are often the most vulnerable. I-Governance seeks to overcome this inherent limitation by opening wider avenues for participation of individuals in governing the city. I-Governance demonstrates that encouraging participation in governance processes and improving transparency through the free flow of information leads to a more accountable and responsive government, and fuels more innovative approaches in city management.
results: Naga was cited by Asiaweek, in November 1999, as one of the four Most Improved Cities in Asia, in recognition of this participatory process along with its strong democratic traditions and commitment to excellence. In 2000 the Ramon Magsaysay Award cited incumbent Mayor Jesse M. Robredo for “giving credence to the promise of democracy by demonstrating that effective city management is compatible with yielding power to the people.”
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contacts
City Mayor’s Office/i-Governance Program Team
City Hall Compound, J. Miranda Avenue
Naga City, Philippines
ph (63)(54) 811-3961
fax No. (63)(54) 811-1286
mayor@naga.gov.ph
igov@naga.gov.ph
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