By Maria Belen Bonoan

The 1991 Local Government Code, which initiated the decentralization process in the Philippines by empowering local governments to more effectively respond to their community needs, has always been referred to as radical and revolutionary. It now serves as an example for other countries on how local governments have accepted, adjusted, and adapted to this development panacea.

However, after nearly two decades of local autonomy, it has become imperative to know and describe the progress, initiatives, and innovations of local governments 19 years after the Local Government Code was passed.

The 11th Rapid Field Appraisal (RFA) – the first since 2001 – was conducted from February to May 2010 in 15 regions of the country, covering a total of 177 local governments.
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By Steven Rood

Last week, two separate quantitative studies on the May 10 elections underscored the striking gains demonstrated by automating the elections; however, evidence remains of serious deficiencies in the electoral process. Some entertain more fundamental doubts, but survey readings of the opinions of ordinary voters, systematic study of the experience of poll workers, and an official parallel “random manual audit” all show gains.

June SWS surveys declared the first automated elections in the Philippines a success, despite some glitches with the new scanning machines, above.

Social Weather Stations, the leading non-governmental polling organization in the Philippines, on July 28 released the results of June surveys sponsored by The Asia Foundation on experience of both citizens and (separately) poll workers, known as BEIs (for Board of Election Inspectors).
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By V. Bruce J. Tolentino

Despite tremendous economic growth achieved over the past two decades, hunger continues to beset much of Asia. Estimates show that there are 850 million hungry people globally. Of this total, at least 550 million are in Asia, indicating that some 16 percent of all Asians are in a state of hunger. This is a stubborn challenge for Asian governance.

The efficiency and productivity of the food and agriculture sector has immense bearing on the welfare of entire populations. Above, workers shift grain bags at a mill factory in Cambodia. Photo by Karl Grobl.

Food security for all can only be attained if the problem of hunger is recognized as a shared challenge – one that can only be overcome by better sharing of resources and communication, as well as coordination among nations through regional and global integration and the fostering of open trade and exchange, particularly of agriculture and food.
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By Steven Rood

On June 30, Noynoy Aquino will take his oath of office for a six-year term as president of the Philippines. He faces many challenges, not least the resolution of some of the longest-running insurgencies in the world.

He succeeds President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who served almost nine and a half years after President Joseph Estrada was ousted in 2001. President Estrada launched an “all out war” against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in 2000. By contrast, when Mrs. Arroyo took office, she declared a policy of “all out peace,” and over the years, peace talks with the MILF have reached several agreements and a cessation of hostilities has generally held, despite notable exceptions in February 2003 and August 2008. The latter breakdown was associated with the abortive Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD), declared unconstitutional by the Philippine Supreme Court. Several hundred thousand people were internally displaced from the resulting return to violence, and only began to return to their homes in July 2009 when both sides agreed to cease hostilities.
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By Hyro Domado

In the Philippines on June 3, special elections were held in seven towns in the southern Lanao del Sur province, and in some other areas predominately in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). The regularly scheduled national elections, held on May 10, had been declared as “failed” in these towns. As noted during the 2007 general elections, clan conflict over political power regularly overwhelms the electoral system in the ARMM; indeed, the vast majority of voters who experience “failed elections” are in the ARMM.

Representatives from the locally-based organization, Mindanao Dynamic Culture of Peace, were accredited as election monitors through the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting and helped monitor the June 3 special elections in Bayang.

Bayang was among the seven towns forced to hold special elections, even though the peace convention held there last February had seemed successful: it had culminated in local candidates signing a covenant promising to support a peaceful and honest electoral process.
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Conflict and fragile governance present enormous challenges for development and security in Asia. In places where violence is widespread and government ceases to function, the pace of development falls dramatically and conditions can deteriorate to extreme levels. Conflicts often include disaffected minorities or marginalized populations at odds with the central government and political establishment. Other elements that can heighten conflicts include limitations on local identity and culture, a lack of accounting for past abuses, and poor access to justice and security.

The Asia Foundation has a long history of working in fragile or conflict-prone areas, including in Afghanistan, Mindanao (Philippines), Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Aceh (Indonesia), Southern Thailand, and Timor-Leste. Our long-term presence and extensive networks allow us to interact with key actors and support programs in highly challenging and sensitive environments.  Watch the slideshow.

By Tani Basman

When I was asked to observe the special elections in Maluso town on Basilan island in Southern Philippines, the first thing that came to my mind is that it would be an eye-opening, informative experience. First, the place, part of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), is known to be a bailiwick of the Islamist separatist group Abu Sayyaf – five days ago the group beheaded three, some military officials say two, Filipino villagers in the mountains of Basilan in what analysts and police officials said was a desperate attempt by Abu Sayyaf to show the incoming Aquino administration that they are alive and still pose a threat. Second, Basilan is one of the poorest provinces in the Philippines, and as an election monitor, I was also interested in studying how elections – successful or not – can affect people in a place like Basilan.
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By V. Bruce J. Tolentino

As tantalizing hints of recovery from the global financial crisis pop up in international economic statistics, a curious dichotomy of narratives about the status of various Asian economies has emerged in the international media:

China Dominant

First, there is the big story, related with relish and surprise, of unexpected and robust economic recovery in most countries across Asia, with a dominant, triumphant China leading the way. Meanwhile, more-developed Asian economies – such as Japan, which is commonly portrayed as somewhat stuck in a low-growth, lack-luster rut – are seen as mere supporting players.
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By Steven Rood

On Tuesday, May 18, the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) proclaimed the last three (of 12) nationwide winning candidates for Senate. Doing so just eight days after polls closed for the May 10 election is in astonishing contrast to previous elections, which have taken closer to eight weeks to proclaim the last winning candidate.

Lines form at a local precinct for the first automated elections in the Philippines.

As I noted in last week’s In Asia post, the speed of results that emerged in the nation’s first automated election stunned the Philippines. A large number of races were decided extremely quickly, and the vast majority of the 17,000 electoral positions at stake have now been decided. Many candidates conceded defeat as the results became clear, including Senator Manny Villar who lost in the presidential race to Senator Noynoy Aquino, although the losing candidate running for mayor of Manila claimed to have been the victim of “hocus-PCOS” (a reference to the Precinct Count Optical Scan machines used during the election).
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By Steven Rood

The fact that an In Asia blog piece was scheduled to appear just two days after polls closed for the May 10 general elections in the Philippines was enough to cause anxiety for this writer. In the past, it was literally weeks before results of manual counting of handwritten ballots would produce results. This time, though, two days is enough to analyze results and winners – to everybody’s surprise.

Campaign banners fill the streets on election day.

Election day headlines reflected reports about problems in the automation, adding “glitches” to the alliterative litany of Philippine election problems:  guns, goons, and gold. However, in the end, less than 500 of the more than 76,000 Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines failed – to be quickly replaced from the stock of substitutes. Electronic transmission of results at the end of the day could also be slow in some places – at Tetuan Elementary School in Zamboanga City, it took 90 minutes for the first precinct to transmit its results (though subsequent transmissions went more quickly). But suddenly, by 3 a.m., national networks were announcing that several local races had already been declared.
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