Monday. 5.59 a.m. Still thinking about the PPP. I think it's really the way out for the Local Government Units to improve their delivery of services. It can solve perennial problems of lack of funding and staff for projects; lack of motivation to increase access to services; the prevalence of hands-out mentality or over-dependence of LGUs on tax revenues, which are more often than not inadequate to match the needs of a rapidly expanding constituency.
I think this PPP strategy is worth trying. The PPP expert, Atty. Alberto Agra, who did the orientation and write-shop last week, was quite emphatic about it: PPP could add value for money in the exercise of local governance.
It is a good thing that the Department of Interior and Local Government is on top of this initiative. That means, the LGUs will get the message PPP is really the way to go. I noticed the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) was also present, indicating this is top priority of the national government. CIDA's Local Governance Strengthening Project for Local Economic Development (LGSP-LED) made available the expert services of Atty. Agra.
Atty. Agra himself said that while the PPP was launched as a national initiative, it is taking quite a while to figure out how to implement it. It will require a lot of things to be put in place: a resource team to carry on with the advocacy and provision of technical assistance to have a relevant and useful PPP Code for the guidance of everybody; a assets assessment per LGU to determine which services can lend themselves to any of the PPP modalities; a regulatory authority to make sure about transparency in business transactions; and the conduct of feasibility studies to ensure viability and sustainability of proposed projects.
Over the years, however, similar initiatives have been put forward by donors and the national government. This is not the first time that improving economic governance at local level will be tried. Perhaps the first thing to do is to assess how the PPP strategy differs from all these approaches; how an inter-agency resource team can work effectively with the LGUs in putting in place a multi-sectoral strategy; and what is the best configuration for the PPP knowing the usual resource constraints at the level of individual LGUs. Will an inter-LGU cluster, like the Bohol Integrated Area Development, be more suited for the kind of projects that can be supported through the PPP?
The audience at the Atty. Agra's orientation was quite excited about the fact PPP could be used to improve the management of prisons, hospitals, and even schools.
PPP is an initiative worth trying seriously both as a poverty reduction measure and a fresh stab at making local governments more effective in the delivery of services to their constituency.
NMP/08 Oct 2012
Note:
ReplyDeleteHere is a comment from Dr. Charles Kick, Community Development and NRM Consultant who has had a long track record as development professionalin Pacific countries, including serving as Regional Advisor for UN-ESCAP.
Let me paste here what he has emailed me. Hope it works:
Thanks, Nes.
It's a good idea.
But for me, I comment where I do not need to sign up, etc.
In keeping with that, here is my note on "PPP":
"PPP" has been around a long, long, time--even though it was not called PPP. In the RP, the health insurance coops and coop-run municipal markets are examples of public-private partnerships that started more than twenty years ago.
Moreover, PPP is an overly marketed concept. That is not to say that it is wrong, merely that there is too often more marketing (sound bites) than substance. It is important to be aware of this because PPP has quite significant risks.
I, for one, am wary about PPP because democracy works when people are involved. I have read of some of PPP's extremes (almost all of a city's services--including its courts--out-sourced) and winced: There isn't much room for the people to be involved with such extensive contracts. When people have less need to be involved, it becomes easier for society to get on track for a return to the paternalistic-monarchial forms of government-and feudalism.
I am also wary because PPP is marketed from the top--by people with an interest in it being adapted. This makes it hard for decision-makers to get unbiased, objective, assessments.
Charles