New Seminar Series Kicks off with Liberal Local Leaders

Local government officials from all corners of the Philippines attended the Friedrich Naumann Foundation’s first Liberal Leadership Training (LLT) workshop from August 30 to September 1, 2006 in Makati City. During the three-day activity entitled “Local Government and Liberal Politics,” the nearly 30 participants discussed the most important issues they face in their political work in local government today: economic development and poverty alleviation, the protection of the environment and cultural heritage, local finances and public services and the usage of modern information technology.

After an exercise in which the participants discussed and agreed to a set of liberal fundamentals, Dr. Alex Brillantes, Dean of the National College of Public Administration and Governance at the University of the Philippines, gave an overview of Philippine local autonomy: “Decentralization without decentralization of funds is hollow,” said the scholar. In her presentation, former Undersecretary of Finance, Dr. Milwida Guevara, stressed the crucial importance of political decentralization for the country: “Local government will pull the Philippines out of poverty and lead to development.”

During the workshop, successful local (and liberal) government officials presented best practices in various policy fields: Among the highlights was the presentation of Naga City Mayor Jessy Robredo who spoke on the topic of “New Public Management (NPM) in Practice”. According to the much awarded city mayor, one of the core aspects of NPM is “to bring the principles of the private sector to the public sector.” The mayor mentioned participation, transparency, professionalism and quality services as important elements of this modern governance paradigm.

The great majority of the participants were elected local government officials, among them a governor, vice governors, mayors, vice mayors and councillors who belong to the Liberal Party of the Philippines.

FNF-Resident Representative Dr. Ronald Meinardus, who moderated the workshop together with Communications Officer Alexandra Cuyegkeng, was happy with the results: “This has been an excellent start of our new workshop series,” he said. “I am particularly happy that the liberal local officials focused on the core issues and came up with a set of policy recommendations.”

In an effort to communicate the results to the wider public, the participants summarized the workshop proceedings in a blog which is accessible at www.pinoyliberal.wordpress.com