Local Special Bodies: Are They Useful?

Local Special Bodies: Are They Useful?

Prior to my entry into world of the LGU or local government unit, I had never heard anything about local special bodies (LSBs). It was only in 2016 when I learned that “local special bodies are boards or councils in the city, municipal and provincial LGUs whose purpose is to aid in policy-making, plan formulation, and monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of project, plans, and activities (PPAs) in those LGUs.”

The purpose of LSBs, I discovered, is to “enhance participatory governance and ensure the effective implementation of local policies and programs,” while “facilitating the involvement of various sectors, including civil society organizations (CSOs), in local decision-making processes.”

There are six LSBs particularly mentioned under R.A. 7160 also known as the Local Government Code of 1991 and its Implementing Rules and Regulations (Administrative Order No. 270). They are the Local School Board, Local Health Board, Local Development Council, Local Peace and Order Council, People’s Law Enforcement Board (PLEB), Local Prequalification, Bids and Awards Committees.

Today, the term is also commonly used to refer to other such councils, boards, committees, etc. in the LGU whose legal basis can be found in other laws and issuances. These include the Local Anti-Drug Abuse Council, Local Council for the Protection of Children, Local Committee on Anti-Trafficking and VAWC (Violence Against Women and Children), Local Nutrition Council/Committee, Local Solid Waste Management Board, Local Agricultural and Fishery Council, Local Council for Women, Municipal Council for Culture and the Arts, Municipal Advisory Council (for DSWD 4Ps Implementation), Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, Water and Sanitation Committee, Project Monitoring Committee, and a few more.

By letting in different stakeholders, including civil society, in the policy-making and planning, project monitoring and evaluation, and decision-making process in general, LSBs espouse transparency and accountability in local governance.

A typical LSB meeting is attended by all departments and allied agencies (public sector) and CSO/NGO/PO officers or representatives (private sector), presided over by the Mayor and/or administrator, and often guided and supervised by the Local Government Operations Officer (regarded as ‘the eye’ of President on the LGU level).

In my role as a LGU’s PIO-Designate, I have sat for a good number of hours in so many of these councils, constantly looking for “pasabog,” meaning anything newsworthy that sounds like the mayor’s or the LGU’s significant accomplishment. Some meetings could be a drag, going on and on for hours due to special concerns, so I can say I have spent a good deal of my professional life listening to the lively exchanges in these council meetings, which are normally scheduled quarterly. I also get to meet and interact in person with all unit/department/agency heads and officials.

My favorite council would have to be the one about culture and arts because it perfectly fits my personal interests, but I have found that I am also deeply concerned about our community’s future – the children – and most especially poverty alleviation. However, since I am emotionally invested in these two things, I get easily upset with such delicate concerns as OFWs in trouble in the Middle East or China, out-of-school youth, child labor, premarital sex, teenage pregnancy, pornography, rape and sex ‘abuse,’ uncontrolled use of digital gadgets, malnutrition, and the like.

Apart from my innate sense of right and wrong being violated, I guess these topics reawaken my own childhood traumas, triggering me in ways I didn’t expect even though I suppose I have long been healed of them. Talking about how residents might rise up from their socioeconomic situation also easily tires me out, I guess because of the layers of automatic mental scripts going on inside me: Why are they so poor? Why do we have such kababayans who have to deal with such level of subhuman misery? How best to help them? Do we have the capacity to do so?

Then again, maybe it’s normal for someone to get fed up, even for other people who had a perfect childhood in case that’s possible?

More than observing the constantly shifting exchange of ideas based on the day’s agenda, I also contribute inputs if asked or if I feel compelled to do so. And I tend to ask questions if I sense that there is a need to. Because of my nature, I easily get tensed whenever emotions run high like when certain parties are asked about some concern and they give an unsatisfactory answer, and they end up being embarrassed in front of everyone.

LSB meetings are not for the faint of heart, just like being a public servant in local government is no laughing matter. Thus, if you are thinking about getting elected as LGU official or getting hired as head of some local government unit or department or national agency, be sure to know what you are getting into.

So, from my experience so far, are LSBs effective at exercising their mandate? Based on anecdotal evidence, I would say yes, to the extent that the voices of everyone present are duly heard and the contributed ideas actually implemented. Yes, the reality on the ground is that representatives from the private sector do get involved and voice out their own opinions and concerns. And because of these exchanges, concrete collaborative actions between the public and private sectors do happen, such as clean-up drives, tree-planting activities, ukay-ukay drives, post-calamity donations, search and rescue efforts, book donations, bloodletting drives, medical missions, feeding activities, crowd control during big events, etc. Our municipal museum displays in Bayambang, to cite a very specific example, have been made possible through the donations and conceptual outputs of mostly private individuals (our retired professors). A lot of other activities have CSO members volunteering their services.

In the end, the question is not just whether “the special bodies are effective,” but how they can be further strengthened. Let's face it: The reality on the ground is that LGUs have very limited resources and capacity vis-a-vis the gargantuan concerns of all sectors, while those of the private sector are vast and, I figure, largely untapped. Through clearer goals, more active sectoral participation, and genuine concern for the public good, these special bodies can become powerful instruments in advancing a more humane, just, and progressive town and country.