CIDS Exec. Director chairs TWG to review Local Government Code – Book I

Executive Director Edna Estifania Co of UP Center for Integrative and Development Studies (UPCIDS) formally chairs the technical working group (TWG) assigned to revisit Book I of the 1991 Local Government Code (LGC), as the Senate Committee on Local Government chaired by Sen. Sonny Angara kick starts the initiative to amend it.
At the organizational meeting held March 6 at the Senate, Dr. Co was tasked to lead the TWG that will review Book I of the LGC that contains General Provisions regarding the roles, functions, and conduct of local government units (LGUs).
The LGC is the landmark Philippine law, which empowered LGUs and legally devolved previously centralized powers and services such as healthcare.
Book II—Local Taxation and Fiscal Matters and Book III—Local Government Units of the LGC, will be reviewed separately by two other TWGs whose members also include key stakeholders such as representatives from government, academe,  research institutions, union of local authorities, and civil society organizations
As a research think-tank based in the academe, UPCIDS is expected to provide policymakers and other stakeholders evidence-based guidance leading to formulation of public policy.
As the LGC review progresses, Dr. Co is also keen to present UPCIDS’ Natural Region Framework (NRF) which outlines an alternative design of governance based on mapping and planning of natural endowments and vulnerability to risks among others, alongside socio-economic factors like poverty, income, etc. The NRF is the bedrock study supporting UPCIDS’ proposed revisions in the LGC and is currently on progress.