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Ripe for a big bang ? assessing the political feasibility of legislative reforms in the Philippines'local government code

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  • Matsuda, Yasuhiko

Abstract

In the Philippines'highly decentralized political system, smooth functioning of inter-governmental relations is key to effective service delivery and good governance overall. Although considered a milestone, the 1991 Local Government Code, the Philippines'basic legislation governing inter-governmental relations, contains provisions that thwart vertical and horizontal resource equalization among local government units, and contributes to mismatch between expenditure assignments and the fiscal capacities of the local government units. Numerous technical reports have called for adjustments to the existing revenue and expenditure assignments, yet no tangible progress has been made. This paper assesses the prospects of legislative reforms on the revenue side of the decentralization framework. Using a variety of approaches ranging from a historical analysis to institutional analysis of the legislative dynamics in the Philippine congress, it assesses the prospects of a major overhaul of the Local Government Code and concludes that a significant reform is highly unlikely under the conditions prevailing in the late 2010s. By implication, any effort to improve the Philippines'inter-governmental framework will have to settle for sub-optimal incremental measures within the inefficient revenue assignment arrangement.

Suggested Citation

  • Matsuda, Yasuhiko, 2011. "Ripe for a big bang ? assessing the political feasibility of legislative reforms in the Philippines'local government code," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5792, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5792
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gamm, Gerald & Kousser, Thad, 2010. "Broad Bills or Particularistic Policy? Historical Patterns in American State Legislatures," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 104(1), pages 151-170, February.
    2. Dillinger, William & Webb, Steven B., 1999. "Decentralization and fiscal management in Colombia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2122, The World Bank.
    3. Kawanaka, Takeshi, 2010. "Interaction of powers in the Philippine presidential system," IDE Discussion Papers 233, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    4. Benjamin E. Diokno, 2003. "Decentralization in the Philippines After Ten Years: What Have We Learned? What Have I Learned?," UP School of Economics Discussion Papers 200308, University of the Philippines School of Economics.
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    Cited by:

    1. Manasan, Rosario G., 2018. "An Assessment of the Fiscal Features of the PDP Laban Model of Philippine Federalism 1.0 and the Gonzales-De Vera Federal Model," Discussion Papers DP 2018-14, Philippine Institute for Development Studies.
    2. Verena Fritz & Brian Levy & Rachel Ort, 2014. "Problem-Driven Political Economy Analysis : The World Bank's Experience," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 16389.
    3. Rosario G. Manasan, 2018. "An Assessment of the Fiscal Features of the PDP Laban Model of Philippine Federalism 1.0 and the Gonzales-De Vera Federal Model," Working Papers id:12931, eSocialSciences.
    4. ElMassah, Suzanna & Mohieldin, Mahmoud, 2020. "Digital transformation and localizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).

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