A new ‘purpose’ for LGUs in 2024?

It’s still too early to respond to the question, but it seems that local government units (LGUs) would soon have a new “purpose” once the new year sets in.

On Christmas Day, Malacañang “gifted” the nation with the news that President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has instructed national government agencies to “conduct an analysis on the operationalization of the full devolution initiative and come up with a list of functions that should be devolved to LGUs.”

This particular news is pivotal as an LGU is the one that oversees local governance in provinces, cities, municipalities, and barangays. More than the national agencies, an LGU has a direct impact on our daily lives. We just have to look at the recent pandemic to see how important an LGU is in terms of ensuring our safety, welfare, and the delivery of basic services.

The Local Government Code clearly defines the role of an LGU: “(It) shall ensure and support, among other things, the preservation and enrichment of culture, promote health and safety, enhance the right of the people to a balanced ecology, encourage and support the development of appropriate and self-reliant scientific and technological capabilities, improve public morals, enhance economic prosperity and social justice, promote full employment among their residents, maintain peace and order, and preserve the comfort and convenience of their inhabitants.”  With this definition alone, any new pronouncement from Malacañang about an LGU’s full devolution will have a significant impact.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) was instructed to come up with a list of functions and services that the LGUs should be performing based on their devolution transition plans. The DILG is given until January 2024 to present the list to the President.

On the other hand, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) is ordered to conduct a sensitivity analysis to determine what the government can gain from its investments. It will also recommend ways to better implement a phased-in devolution.

It should be recalled that early this year, the President announced the national government’s plan to move forward with fully devolving certain executive branch functions to LGUs. This action is a response to the Supreme Court’s decision in the Mandanas-Garcia case, which mandates an increase in LGUs’ share of all national taxes and revenues.

The execution of complete devolution is set out in Executive Order No. 138, series of 2021. For its proponents, full devolution “promotes decentralization, as enshrined in the Constitution and the Local Government Code, by giving LGUs more autonomy in managing their resources. This decentralization system is based on the assumption that LGUs are better positioned to address the basic needs of their constituents and thus provide better services.”

As national government agencies start to delve deeper into this full devolution for LGUs, Malacañang has assured that it is “actively listening to concerns and inputs,” especially among LGUs that may face economic challenges or those that will need capacity development assistance.

As the nation welcomes a new year in the coming days, there will be more updates on this devolution plan. Whatever these may be, the hopeful long-term outcome is an LGU that is stronger in economic aspects, more responsive to the times, and more resilient to challenges.  A day should come  when LGUs would not run to Malacañang to help solve its problems as they could already stand on their own feet.