Implementation of the Citizen’s Charter of Frontline Service Providers in the 4th District, Camarines Sur, Philippines

The passage of RA 11032 or Ease of Doing Business for Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018 aims to improve services by re-engineering, simplifying requirements and procedures, and promptly responding to the needs of the public. However, its passage did not result in salutary gains. The study evaluated the Citizen’s Charter compliance of the Local Government Units in the 4th District of Camarines Sur. Specifically, it has two objectives: 1) to evaluate the compliance of the local government units in 4th District, Camarines Sur with the information requirements of the Citizen’s Charter as provided by RA 11032, 2) to obtain feedback on its implementation in terms of visibility, clarity of content, usefulness, and actual compliance. The study is Descriptive-Evaluative. Participated by 161 respondents composed of the key officials, frontline service providers, and service recipients from the Local Treasury, Business Permit and Licensing, and Engineering Offices of Tigaon, Goa, and Lagonoy, Camarines Sur. Purposive sampling technique was used in choosing the key officials and frontline service providers while convenience sampling was used in choosing the service recipients. The study used site observation scoring guide, 4-point Likert scale questionnaire and interviews. The study found that the required information in the Citizen’s Charter of the study areas did not meet the CSC Report Card Survey passing mark of 8.4 or 70% using the scoring rubric. Conversely, the three groups of respondents strongly agree that the Citizen’s Charter is implemented in terms of visibility, clarity of content, usefulness, and actual compliance of the Citizen’s Charter. Thus, a disparity between the Likert survey results and interviews during the validation of data was found. Service recipients are not aware of the Citizen’s Charter. The routine procedures of doing business with the service providers enable the service recipients to transact even without knowledge about the same. The study recommends LGUs, CSC and other line agencies to strengthen the implementation of the Citizen’s Charter through awareness programs, capacity building, updating of the Citizen’s Charter, monitoring of its implementation, and continuous research and extension undertakings of academic and field practitioners.