Local Governance Resource Center

In Brief
With more than 25 years of excellence in delivering capacity building programs to its field offices, Local Government
Units (LGUs), and other concern stakeholders, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) through
the Local Government Academy (LGA) is true to its commitment towards the achievement of innovative and effective
local governance. The Department makes a positive and significant contribution to the attainment of inclusive growth
among its field offices and LGUs. It provides learning opportunities for DILG Regional and Provincial offices, and
LGUs. Interventions to aid gaps and reduce bottlenecks were carefully formulated and scrutinized to achieve
desirable outcome.
Gaps identified in implementing capacity-building programs brought the inception of the Local Governance Resource
Center (LGRC). It institutionalizes the commitment of the organization to support and enhance the capability of
Regions, Provinces, and LGUs in managing their affairs and services through sharing of information, knowledge
management, (KM), convergence, and innovations. The Academy assumes a strategic role of creating a platform for
convergence in delivering capacity development for LGUs, and so, the creation and establishment of Local
Governance Regional Resource Centers (LGRRCs) in all regions. Initially, LGRRCs were established in selected
regions in 2005 and expanded to all 17 regions in 2009.
In 2005, LGRRC was instituted to serve as a dynamic and interactive capacity development platform implemented in
selected regional offices of DILG with the support from Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). The
formation of LGRRC carries an immense opportunity to harmonize capacity development being implemented in DILG
field offices and LGUs. The concept of LGRC evolves from a perceived platform for capacity development
interventions (training- seminar and lakbay-aral modalities) to convergence of various local governance stakeholders.
Subsequently, the European Commission in 2009 supported the establishment of LGRRC in regions strengthening
the LGRC as harmonizing mechanism for effective local governance in the country. It intended to enhance the
competencies on linkages, involvement of multi-stakeholders, information management technologies and systems,
and monitoring and evaluation as a tool in measuring performance.
LGRC aims to promote a culture of learning and knowledge sharing in pursuit of sustainable development through
excellence in local governance; harness the role of DILG as knowledge broker and facilitator of capacity development
in local governance; and facilitate integration of knowledge management in DILG processes and systems towards
building the Department as knowledge centric and learning organization.
To date, they are 17 regional with sub regional and one (1) national LGRC in the country. Concurrent to the
continuous development of LGRRC, expansion to 10 sub regional strategic locations are being implemented. Each
has adopted various strategies to sustain their operations and continually provide support to its key stakeholders.
As Way of Life in DILG
The Department supports the adoption of knowledge centric and learning strategies for the organization. It was
institutionalized through the inception of the LGRC as knowledge management mechanism of the Department.
Moreover, it established and fostered the practice of adopting multi- stakeholdership, knowledge management, and

convergence in the implementation of interventions for stakeholders. These principles are innovative approaches that
involve strategic partners (Academe, Research Institutes, Development sectors, etc.) and systems in formulating
necessary interventions as the Department scales up the competence of its DILG personnel and LGU officials in local
governance. Through these, the Department ensures a more organized and effective system in providing learning
opportunities for key stakeholders.
As Strategic Platform

The LGRC has four (4) services that can be utilized to support
the key principles of multi- stakeholdership, knowledge
management, and convergence. These services are the (1)
Capacity Development, (2) Multimedia, (3) Public
Education and Citizenship, and (4) Linkage.

LGRC Services
Multimedia Knowledge and
Information Management
Service
2. Capacity Development Program
1.

3. Linkage and Networking

Services
4. Public Education and
Citizenship Development

Function
Includes both physical and electronic library. This serves as the
repository of local governance knowledge products and information
with multimedia service and ICT utilization
Serves as the venue to deliver and facilitate efficient delivery of
quality, strategic and responsive capacity development
Facilitates partnerships and networking of LGUs with other local
government stakeholders initiatives like Go-FAR, LGPMS and local
planning system
Promotes good local governance practices and
innovations among the general public

LGRRC Core Team

A Core team for each region was created to oversee the operations of the LGRRCs. A Memorandum and Regional
Order had been issued by the Undersecretary for Local Government to institutionalize the LGRC in the DILG
Operations and designated the Assistant Regional Directors as LGRC Program Manager.

Figure 1. LGRRC Core Team

LGRRC Status
Assessment frameworks are formulated and implemented in different programs, projects, and activities (PPAs) to
gauge the performance of critical elements involve in PPAs. This can be used to address issues and bridge gaps
surfaced in different phases of implementation PPAs. In addition, it intends to gather baseline data from the
identified critical elements that will be used in formulating future interventions.
To capture close to real time status of LGRRC, an Assessment Framework was designed to evaluate performance
and milestones of every LGRRC. To date there are four (4) assessment conducted since 2009. All four assessments
utilized the LGRC development stages as key indicators in the status of LGRRC operations (see Annex A for
Presentation of Ratings in 2009, 2012, 2013, and 2014).
Development Stages

Build Awareness

Prepare the
Organization

Explore, Experiment,
and Build

Sustain and
Expand

Institutionalize and
Connect Communities

Strengthening LGRRC
I.

LGRRC Conference

LGRC 2nd Quarter Conference is a strategic platform that will enable key persons of LGRRC to review and reengineer their business plans and communication strategies. The Local Government Academy (LGA) envisions the
adoption of business plan and communication tools as strategies to ensure sustainability. Appropriate implementation
of these strategies will increase the probability of stakeholders buy- in. The need to review and update/ revise the
business plans emerged as common innovative strategies identified by LGRRCs during the 2015 1st LGRC Quarterly
Conference.
Objectives
The primary focus of the interventions of the Academy for this year is to strengthen the enabling environment and
capacity of the LGRRCs to sustain its operations through Innovations and Competitiveness. The activities for this
year will expose the LGRRCs to updates and innovations that will contribute to their competitiveness.
The Academy specifically intends to:
1. Reformulate and Innovate the strategies of LGRRC in sustaining its operations; and
2. Utilize Monitoring and Evaluation Systems to improve the operations.

Annex
Annex A: Presentation of ratings per Development Phases (2009, 2012, 2013, and 2014)
Region 1

Very High

Building
Awareness
Prepare the
Organization

High

Explore,
Experiment, and
Build
Sustain and
Expand

Moderate

Low

Institutionalize
and Connect
Communities

2009

2012

2013

2014

Region 2

Very High

Building
Awareness
Prepare the
Organization

High

Explore,
Experiment and
Build
Sustain and
Expand

Moderate

Low

2009

2012

2013

2014

Region 3

Very High

Building
Awareness
Prepare the
Organization

High

Explore,
Experiment and
Build
Sustain and
Expand

Moderate

Low

2009

2012

2013

2014

Region 4A

Very High

Building
Awareness
Prepare the
Organization

High

Explore,
Experiment and
Build
Sustain and
Expand

Moderate

Low

2009

2012

2013

2014

Region 4B

Very High

Building
Awareness
Prepare the
Organization

High

Explore,
Experiment and
Build
Sustain and
Expand

Moderate

Low

2009

2012

2013

2014

Region 5

Very High

Building
Awareness
Prepare the
Organization

High

Explore,
Experiment and
Build
Sustain and
Expand

Moderate

Low

2009

2012

2013

2014

Region 6

Very High

Building
Awareness
Prepare the
Organization

High

Explore,
Experiment and
Build
Sustain and
Expand

Moderate

Low

2009

2012

2013

2014

Region 7

Very High

Building
Awareness
Prepare the
Organization

High

Explore,
Experiment and
Build
Sustain and
Expand

Moderate

Low

2009

2012

2013

2014

Region 8

Very High

Building
Awareness
Prepare the
Organization

High

Explore,
Experiment and
Build
Sustain and
Expand

Moderate

Low

2009

2012

2013

2014

Region 9

Very High

Building
Awareness
Prepare the
Organization

High

Explore,
Experiment and
Build
Sustain and
Expand

Moderate

Low

2009

2012

2013

2014

Region 10

Very High

Building
Awareness
Prepare the
Organization

High

Explore,
Experiment and
Build
Sustain and
Expand

Moderate

Low

2009

2012

2013

2014

Region 11

Very High

Building
Awareness

High

Prepare the
Organization

Moderate

Explore,
Experiment and
Build
Sustain and
Expand

Low

Institutionalize
and Connect
Communities

2009

2012

2013

2014

Region 12

Very High

Building
Awareness
Prepare the
Organization

High

Explore,
Experiment and
Build
Sustain and
Expand

Moderate

Low

2009

2012

2013

2014

CARAGA

Very High

Building
Awareness
Prepare the
Organization

High

Explore,
Experiment and
Build
Sustain and
Expand

Moderate

Low

2009

2012

2013

2014

NCR

Very High

Building
Awareness
Prepare the
Organization

High

Explore,
Experiment and
Build
Sustain and
Expand

Moderate

Low

2009

2012

2013

2014

CAR

Very High

Building
Awareness
Prepare the
Organization

High

Explore,
Experiment and
Build
Sustain and
Expand

Moderate

Low

2009

2012

2013

ARMM

Very High

Building
Awareness
Prepare the
Organization

High

Explore,
Experiment and
Build
Sustain and
Expand

Moderate

Low

2009

2012

2013

2.1.

Annex B: Executive Summary of Strengthening the LGRC as Harmonizing Mechanism Project

(August 2009- 2013)

The lack of capacity to train officials at the local government level has been identified by senior Philippine public
officials as one of the key constraints for more effective capacity development in the country. As the public and
private sectors employ more sophisticated technologies and systems, public service training has become
increasingly important in every country. The Local Government Academy has deemed it necessary to evolve
from retail to wholesale approaches to capacity development and training for a wide range of the 1.3 million
public sector officials. This conclusion has evolved as a result of numerous studies and thorough expert
analyses.
Since the passage of the Local Government Code in 1991, the Philippines have been in the midst of a strong
decentralization movement to give the provincial and local authorities increasing breadth and depth of
responsibilities. Faced with high levels of urbanization, widespread poverty and economic degradation, local
governments are faced with the overwhelming challenges of urban planning, service provision and
infrastructure development. Lack of capacity at the local government level has been identified as one of the key
constraints to more effective urban development.
Capacity building programs for local governments have been characterized by fragmentation, duplication and
lack of coordination between service providers, funding sources and target beneficiaries. For these reasons,
harmonization and coordination of such programs have emerged as a top priority for the government and
development partners working in this sector. There is a clear need to develop a common framework to better
coordinate and harmonize local government capacity building programs and to strengthen the institutional
arrangements to implement these programs.
Given the proliferation of training providers in the market, there is a strong argument for LGA to strengthen its
role as knowledge broker/connector and to move from retail to a wholesale approach to capacity building in
partnership with centers of excellence and peer and practitioner networks at the local, regional and global level.
LGA can play a valuable role in facilitating capacity development through its core mandate of providing learning
opportunities for partners, but it now needs to scale-up its impact more through a wholesale, rather than the
traditional retail approach.
Considering such realities and taking on the challenge to address the need, the Local Government Academy
(LGA) transitions its role from being a training provider to knowledge broker and manager in support to its
mandate as key agency for capacity building on local governance. This initiative, which complements mutually
beneficial institutional and human resource development programs with support from various development
partners, promotes integration, rationalization and value-adding of capacity development activities. In a study
supported by the World Bank Institute, it was found out that the LGA currently offers training to approximately 7
percent of the 1.3 million government officials of the Philippines. It is thus recommended that LGA should
broker and organize training for at least 75 percent of those 1.3 million officials, which includes many newly
elected public officials.
This new role serves as challenge for the LGA and an opportunity to serve many more officials, and therefore a
much wider range of the citizens of the Philippines. The recent study further detailed that 1.314 million officials
consist of two distinct groups with very different training needs. Approximately 8,000 are elected public office
holders, elected every three years, who need to apply sophisticated legislative processes and procedures, such

as applications of modern voting technologies, data analysis, and current exposition modalities to share
information with their legislative colleagues. The other 1.306 million are long-term government employees, who
need state-of-the-art management and organizational training on a continual basis. To accomplish its mission to
become a knowledge broker, it is essential for the LGA to be an effective manager of its scarce financial and
human resources. This however was sidestepped by LGA through the creation of a CapDev network composed
of academic, training and consulting organization that caters to the CapDev needs of the local governments
nationwide.
Currently, there are around 100 training service providers and partners for the LGA and some of them have
been accredited via a peer-based Accreditation System. As the knowledge manager, the LGA leads the
provision of the needed intellectual leadership with their partner institutions for whom the LGA serves as
knowledge broker.
Aiming to enhance the delivery and improve the quality of capacity development interventions (in terms of
programs and services) to the intended clients and beneficiaries of the local government units (LGU), LGA
emphasizes on the vital importance to incorporate the value of excellence in contributing significant and
meaningful improvements in the current state of local governments.
Given the dynamic market for capacity development, the Local Government Academy of the Department of the
Interior and Local Government as the key government agency for local capacity development was tasked to
assume a strategic role in facilitating capacity development through its core mandate of providing learning
opportunities for LGUs.
The Local Governance Resource Center or LGRC which was established in select DILG Regional Offices in
2005 with support from the Canadian International Development Agency was identified to serve as a dynamic
and interactive capacity development platform.
The LGRC has presented a unique opportunity for LGA to harmonize capacity development as it provides an
innovative framework to integrate knowledge management, multi-stakeholdership and synergy in service
delivery. The LGRC goes beyond the business as usual training-seminar and lakbay-aral modalities. It creates
value and revolutionizes the way capacity development interventions are being delivered. It is proactive and
serves as a unique platform for convergence of various local governance stakeholders.
As a dynamic, interactive and virtual program it contributes to building the Department of the Interior and Local
Government (DILG) as a knowledge centric organization (KCO) and builds learning communities that pursue
local governance excellence through knowledge sharing and innovation. It is envisioned as a mechanism to
harmonize effective local governance in the Philippines, to perform and operate beyond the functions of a
physical facility, library or simply a repository of knowledge products.
LGRC is founded on three key principles of knowledge management, multi-stakeholdership and convergence in
local governance: knowledge management serves as the over-arching framework of the LGRC. It is a
process that involves the acquisition, storage, retrieval, creation, sharing, use application and evaluation of an
organizations explicit and tacit knowledge in a systematic manner to achieve organizational goals. KM is the a
core processes towards local governance; multi-stakeholdership participation in LGRC is based on the principle
that there is no monopoly of knowledge and that knowledge should be shared and used to promote efficiency,
effectiveness, learning and innovation in local governance; convergence in local governance refers to the

crucial need to harmonize various initiatives in local governance within DILG and beyond. LGRC aims to
promote a culture of learning and knowledge sharing in pursuit of sustainable development through excellence
in local governance; harness the role of DILG as knowledge broker and facilitator of capacity development in
local governance; and facilitate integration of knowledge management in DILG processes and systems towards
building the Department as knowledge centric organization.
In order for LGA to be effective in Knowledge Management (KM), the following have been identified as critical
elements that should be present in the CapDev market:
Baseline competencies for each LGU positions where they can benchmark this current set of skills,
schedule the KM acquisition and assess internal competencies. Without these metrics, transitioning to
the new role may be difficult and will require creative methodologies.
List of institutions and alternatives for acquiring the required set of competencies.
An overall KM partner which will guide and assist in the acquisition and development of the key KM.
This is where LGA can potentially shine and start on its new role.
The above requirements are being addressed and answered to some extent by the SCALOG and the CapDev
Agenda. A LGU competency standard is now being developed to provide some guidance as to what CapDev is
needed and at what level to achieve.
The LGRC has four (4) program and services: (1) multi-media knowledge and information management
program includes both physical and e-library. This serves as the repository on local governance knowledge
products and information with multi-media service and ICT support; (2) Capacity Development serves as the
venue to deliver and facilitate the delivery of quality, strategic and responsive capacity development; (3)
Linkage Services facilitate partnerships and networking of LGUs with other local government stakeholders; and
(4) Public Education and Citizenship Development program promotes good local governance practices and
innovations among the general public.
To realize the LGRC vision, LGA had undertaken crucial steps in consolidating and sharing the wealth of
knowledge and information on local governance. With the implementation of the Strengthening Local
Governance Resource Centers (LGRCs) as Harmonizing Mechanism for Effective Local Governance in
the Philippines Project (from August 2009 until August 2013) which was supported by the European
Commission, the LGRCs were further strengthened and positioned in a more strategic role. The Project had
been jointly undertaken by the LGA and DILG Regional Offices. The partnerships dwelt on creating LGRC
visibility, policy advocacy and baseline knowledge on how to effectively deliver the needed capacity building
programs and services for the LGRCs.
Focused on achieving its goal to further enhance capacity of LGUs through the LGRRCs in the regional offices
of the DILG, the LGRC project supported collaboration, convergence and multi-stakeholder participation in local
governance to encompass all other areas for support fostering Knowledge Management, Institutional
Development, Team Development, Capacity Development Programs and Services, ICT Development,
Networking and Participation, and Monitoring and Evaluation. Guided by the refined logical framework based on
key result/outcome area targets, the Project has enabled the LGRCs in scaling up towards excellent local
governance operations through ensuring synergy, convergence and multi-stakeholder participation with the

mainstreaming and integration of Knowledge Management in the operations of the DILG and its various clients
and stakeholder-beneficiaries.
To date, the project has been continuously equipping the 18 LGRCs (1 National LGRC and 17 LGRRCs) of
which more than majority if the LGRCs are now fully operational servicing all the LGUs and their multistakeholders in the 80 provinces, more than 1700 municipalities, 220 cities and approximately 42,000
barangays. The LGRC programs and strategies became instrumental in gradually transforming the mindsets
and behavior of local government officials and various stakeholders adhering to the promotion of transparency
and accountability in governance. Taking a firm stand in adapting to the changing landscape of local
governance, the Academy and the DILG have identified support mechanisms needed by the LGRCs to
undertake innovations and improvements on human resource development planning and management; website
development; documentation of LGU best practices; knowledge on local economic development, disaster risk
reduction and climate change adaptation; information systems development; LGU profiling; monitoring and
evaluation; and acquisition of knowledge products.
In scaling up the LGRCs to become more interactive, fast and upbeat, the project has been instrumental in
supporting the partners and stakeholders through upgrading and equipping the LGRRCs with appropriate tools
and technologies, both to complement and supplement their management and operations of the centers.