Project

Expanding and Fortifying Local Democracy through the People’s Council in the Philippines

Grantee: Naga city people's council

The project had the overall development goal of facilitating the recognition and replication of the Peoples Council in the country as a democratization mechanism in local governance. The immediate project objective was to establish, expand and institutionalize the Peoples Council in 21 barangays in the city and six municipalities in the Metro Naga area. In Naga City, the People’s Council proved itself as an effective mechanism for public participation, particularly for representatives of poor and other vulnerable groups. The project’s initiative to replicate the success of the Naga City People’s council was a relevant contribution to the broader aim of enhancing local democracy in the Philippines. The project had mixed success in achieving its targets and encountered some major disappointments in reaching the goal of institutionalizing the People’s Council in the 27 target local government areas. However, the People’s Councils were officially recognized in the case of four of the six municipal people’s councils, but only in five of the 21 barangay people’s councils. Despite this, grantee cannot be faulted on its effort to achieve the project goals, and, given the scope of what the project sought to achieve, a great deal was accomplished.