Quirino governor and Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) president Dax Cua renewed his call for strengthened representation of local governments units (LGU) in the national stage and improved national-local collaboration to empower local government units with strengthened, integrated, and responsive services for their constituency.
Cua made the call during a flag-raising ceremony at the University of the Philippines-National College of Public Administration and Governance (UP-NCPAG) on Monday, April 17, 2023. The governor emphasized the crucial role of LGUs as frontliners of democracy and highlighted ULAP’s advocacy for a local-first approach when crafting policies and projects to be implemented by LGUs themselves.
He said that such approach should take into consideration the current successes and challenges of local governments. Cua also shared his vision of a new age of local governance with democratized access and equitable benefit for all Filipinos, with ULAP catalyzing partnerships among LGUs across the nation to solidify and crystallize efforts for wider inter-local cooperation.
Cua called on the support of the entire UP community, specifically the talents, expertise, and passion of the NCPAG, to help ULAP in its advocacies to push for revolutionary reforms in local governance.
The governor also urged everyone to join in the endeavor to complete the review and development of a Local Government Reform Agenda and push forward the amendment of the Local Government Code of 1991.
Cua also emphasized the importance of amending the Code to make it responsive to the changing times and future-proof. “We must incorporate our learnings from 1991 up to the present on restrictive policies and unsubstantiated responsibilities that hindered growth and progress for local governments,” he said.
The governor also invited the NCPAG in ULAP’s forthcoming program of recognizing top-performing LGUs and their best practices and programs.
The program also seeks to award additional funding to further support these best practices and programs through partner funding agencies.
ULAP also seeks to establish a one-stop-shop on local public private partnerships with the UP system and other relevant stakeholders, Cua shared.