Social Welfare and Development Capacity Status: Analysis on the Devolution Transition Plan of the Local Government Unit in Region 10

Abstract

The Philippines' adoption of devolution under the 1991 Local Government Code (LGC) has resulted in a level of local government autonomy unprecedented in the country's history. Devolution, as imposed in the Philippines, included transferring some administrative and budgetary power and responsibility from the national government to province, city, and municipal governments. Social welfare and development services were among the thousands of national government personnel handed over to local governments. This study focuses on determining the capacity status of the Local Government Units in Region 10 in assuming bigger roles by analyzing their capacity development (CapDev) agenda in social welfare and development. The objectives include the capacity status of the LGUs, determining the common CapDev agenda of the LGUs, identifying the differences in the capacity status of the LGUs on social welfare and development, and pointing out the prioritization of the CapDev interventions. The study utilized the Document Analysis Approach. It was found that the Local Government Units in Region 10 have a Low Capacity, meaning they have basic and limited or 20-39% capacity in implementing the devolution requirements. This “low capacity” would only mean the need for the LGUs to strengthen and make more efforts to meet the requirements of full devolution. LGUs need to strengthen a competent workforce with a high level of performance, establish activity centers for senior citizens, street children/families, PWD and AICIS, strong partnerships of CSOs and NGOs in implementing programs and services, and passage local ordinances. The matrix on the common CapDev agenda also proved that the different LGUs have similar needs as far as CapDev. Finally, indicative CapDev Priorities are offered to the LGUs of Region 10 to guide their prioritization of the CapDev interventions.