Factors that Promote or Deter Popular

Participation in Development
Avila, Angelo N.
Castillo, Brennan Garth G.
Tanap, Byron Jackson M.
Objectives
1. What has been the country’s experience in
promoting popular participation in the
government’s development programs?
2. Given the country’s experience, what factors
may be identified as facilitating or obstructing
popular participation in development?
3. Given this assessment, what recommendation
may be forwarded to stress those that facilitate
and minimize those that impede popular
participation?
Popular Participation Defined by
Philippine Researchers
Byron Jackson M. Tanap
Popular Participation Defined by Philippine
Researchers
UN defines
1. Mass sharing of the benefit of development

2. Mass contribution to Development

3. Mass involvement in the decision-making

process for development
Popular Participation Defined by Philippine
Researchers
Academicians and Practitioners
1. Defining the situation requiring a decision

2. Choosing the preferred alternatives

3. Determining how best to implement the decision

is made

4. Evaluating the consequences of the action taken

Popular Participation Defined by Philippine
Researchers
Hollnsteiner sees community participation in
4 stages
1. Conceptualizing the problems or defining the
issues

2. Deciding what is to be done

3. Implementing the plans and programs

4. Evaluating the Results

Carino’s definition in two dimensions
1. People’s involvement in the program cycle

2. Community’s level of dependence on external

sources for the provision of financial and
personnel resources
Three-Point Continuum
Passiveness is indicated when the residents are
1. Involved only as recipients of the service

2. Completely dependent on external funding for

program resources

3. Deprived when personnel for participation

Three-Point Continuum
Activeness occurs when
1. Residents are involved in the planning,
implementation and evaluation of the program

2. The program is completely self-supporting in

terms of funding

3. Program personnel are completely fielded from

the local community
Three-Point Continuum
Midpoint refers to a situation where
1. Residents are involved either in
implementation only or in planning and
implementation
2. When the program is dependent on some
combination of internal and external funding
3. When the manpower resources are fielded
jointly by an outside agency and the local
community
Gelia T. Castillo reference to “People”
in Peoples Participation
The Four rural groups
▫ Upland farmers
▫ Paddy Rice Farmers
▫ Landless agricultural workers
▫ Artisanal Fishermen

Total Number of Households

Lassen reference to “Participation”
in Peoples Participation
The Four Categories
▫ Participation in the implementation of a Project
▫ Participation in the decision-making on what the
project should be
▫ Participation in evaluation
▫ Participation in control over how the project is
directed in the long run
Popular Participation
Who
How
When
What
The Philippines: A Brief
Backgrounder
Byron Jackson M. Tanap
The Philippines: A Brief Backgrounder
• The Barangays

• Spanish Colonialism arrested the natural

development of these communities

• A centralized bureaucracy was established

enabled the colonizers to rule for 300 years
The Philippines: A Brief Backgrounder
• Philippine Revolution of 1896

• Americans took over, then the Japanese. Until

the stable and independence was devlared in
1946

• However, we were still a Unitary state

The Philippines: A Brief Backgrounder
• Imposition of Martial law on 21 September
1972

• May 1982, nationwide elections were called to

select officials of the barangays
Policies and Mechanisms for
Popular Participation
Angelo N. Avila
Barangay
• Participatory Democracy
• Created by Presidential Decree No . 86 and 86A
• Lowest political units consisting of
▫ Filipino citizens 15 years of age or over
▫ Residents in the area for a minimum of 6 months
and registered with the barangay secretary
Barangay Council
• Made up of a Barangay Chairman and 6
Councilors
• Functions:
▫ To enact barangay ordinances and resolutions
consistent with law or municipal ordinances
▫ To provide for the construction and maintenance
of local public works projects using the barangays
funds
▫ Through its conciliation body, to bring together
parties in the same neighborhood for amicable
settlement of all disputes
The Barangay
• Transformed into
“ Administrative channels of government as
part of the delivery of services to the people”

• Bayanihan
The NEDA and the Development Council
• First presidential decree passed by Martial Law
• Attempt to bring about administrative
decentralization and the integration of planning
and implementation for development, the
Integrated Reorganization Plan created the
“National Economic and Development Authority”,
the central economic and social development
planning agency in the Philippines
NEDA
• Its creation meant the merger of
all economic agencies and ad
hoc bodies with overlapping and
duplicating roles in planning

• Tasked with formulating in

consultation with the private
sector

• Assists planning at the regional

levels
Philippine Rural Development Program
• Established in 1956

• Managed by the Rural Development Division of

the Bureau of Community Development

• Aims to Promote the transformation and

development of rural communities into self-
reliant, viable and stable institutions
Philippine Rural Development Program
• Undertook the traditional community
development activity of encouraging maximum
participation in community projects in rural
areas
Objectives of Rural Development Program
1. To promote and encourage citizen interest,
understanding and active participation and
increased capacity and active role in local and
national affairs
2. To stimulate the undertaking of community
projects/activities to promote socioeconomic
advancement
3. To Encourage the organization, revitalization
and/or strengthening of institutions necessary
to achieve the desired changes
Objectives of Rural Development Program
4. To develop local leadership for them to acquire
the confidence and ability to lead decisively in the
improvement of their communities

5. To promote integrated comprehensive planning in

local levels to achieve maximum mobilization of
efforts and resources for development

6. To encourage and maximize coordination of

technical agencies, local government, private and
civic organizations engaged in rural development
Primary Health Care Program
• Formerly known as the Ministry
of Health, now known as the
Department of Health

• Through active participation of

the community which
determines the priorities for
action which will ensure the
maintenance and improvement
of its health
The Need for
• Active community participation in planning,
carrying out and redirecting health and health-
related programs and projects
• Good working relationship among government
and private agencies, among health workers and
among health-related workers
• Use of indigenous technology to meet local health
and health-related needs of the community
• Development of Support mechanisms
Basic Elements of a Community-based
Program
• The community knows, feels and accepts responsibility for
community health, not just individual person’s health

• The community taps and develops its own resources to meet

health needs. This includes personnel and material
resources, professional and traditional and the hitherto non-
aware persons. This includes also private and government
endeavours, institutions and organizations, whether local,
provincial and national

• Primary focus is put by the community on community

problems, community resources and action according to
community priorities
Factors that Promote/Impede
Popular Participation
Brennan Garth G. Castillo
Four Component Phases
• Individual Level

• The Community

• Government/Other Sectors

• The Greater Society

 Individuals

Participation Communities
Development

Government/
Other Sectors

Society/
Other Nations
Individual Level
Promoting
Conditions
1. Realizes that what he thinks and
feels is important and that he can
think and talk intelligently
2. Is confident that he has the
capability to mold himself and his
environment
3. Is conscious and aware of societal
factors that impinge on him as an
individual
4. Has actual experience in
participating in group problem
analysis or problem-solving
situations
Impeding
Conditions
1. Feels that what he thinks is not
important; can hardly articulate his
thoughts
2. Feels incapable of acting on his
own or transforming the
environment
3. Is not aware of the socio-political-
economic conditions that
influences his life
4. Has no notion of nor experience in
any collective involvement which
entails discussion and analysis of
issues with other individuals
 Community Level
Characteristics Promoting Impending
Conditions Conditions
Community -Homogeneous -Heterogeneous
Structure Communities Community
-Not affected by their -Differences among
differences various sectors
Communication Messages are Dispersed houses
Networks/ Physical conveyed easily are much
Dispersion
complicated to
communicate
Experience in Active association No common
Community is easier to organize experiences will be
Organizing difficult to organize
 Community Level
Characteristics Promoting Impending
Conditions Conditions
Economic Status of With proper resources Poor communities lack
Community can survive properly participation

Community Leadership Elected Leaders Appointed are not

Selection supported

Involvement of If formal leaders Conflict of interest

Informal Leaders are supported by between formal and
informal, it would informal leaders
be much easier
 Community Level
Characteristics Promoting Impending
Conditions Conditions
Leadership style Active Leaders promote Discouraging leaders
participation discourage
participation

Emotional Cost to Community It can affect the

community Organization is performance
emotionally taxing and
time consuming
Manner of Fielding Sufficient time to Community organizing
Community perform their is done quickly to
achieve predetermined
Organizers duties targets
 Government Level
Characteristics Promoting Impending
Conditions Conditions
Bureaucratic What they know may Due to their expertise,
Character not be relevant to the they know better
needs and conditions

Measures of The Peoples needs are Measurement of

Performances met by services/goods performance emphasizes
delivered standards rather than the
level of client satisfaction
Plan Approach Flexible plans which The government has a
allow to modify plan for all, regardless
procedures and rules of the differences of the
according to the communities
demands of the
community
 Government Level
Characteristics Promoting Impending
Conditions Conditions
Nature of Program Programs that priority Programs that do not
the needs get more meet the needs, have
sustained participation less support

Choice of Community Depressed The Government chooses

communities are high places which are most
priority likely to succeed

Participation They are given enough Delivery services are

time to prepare more important than
particpation
 Government Level
Characteristics Promoting Impending
Conditions Conditions
Bureaucratic Each and every Regardless of the same
Specialization member cooperate with work, there is still a
each other division
Societal Level
• Colonial Experience – The Historical Legacy

• Poverty – Survival

• Ineffectiveness of participation as a means of

getting service –
Societal Level
• Other Factors:
1. Paternalistic nature of employer-employee
relationship
2. Prevailing socioeconomic structure where the
disparity reflected in industrial relations shows the
power equation between the workers and
owner/manger is heavily titled in favor of the latter
3. Managerial styles of entrepreneurs in the country
which take a dim view of the concept of worker
participation
Societal Level
• Other Factors:
4. The authority-oriented, passive and generally
unquestioning trait of the Filipino worker
5. The free enterprise character of the economy and
in particular, the grip of dominant multinational
corporations which operate in the country
6. The disunited labor organizations of the country
which have varying political and ideological
orientations
Conclusion
• The Presence of Foreign models has been
strongly influential
▫ Appreciation and capacity for and sensitivity to
the need for participation
▫ Indigenous Mechanism was not preserved
• Success in one nation may not work with
another
Conclusion
• Distinguishing Characteristics

• Filipino Participatory approaches will benefit

most from
▫ Conditions
▫ Character
▫ History
▫ Realities
That are all Filipino
Fin