The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) conducted the Local Governance Summit 2024 on August 22-23, 2024 at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City. With the theme, “LGUs sa Bagong Pilipinas: Smart. Resilient. Driven.”, the summit was organized in partnership with the United National Resident Coordinator’s Office (UN RCO), World Bank, Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, United Nations Development Program (UNDP), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), United Nation’s Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Human Settlements Programme, Un-Habitat, and other national government agencies.
In the months leading to the two-day summit, the DILG National Capital Region (DILG-NCR) headed by Regional Director Maria Lourdes L. Agustin, CESO III, along with representatives and personnel from the DILG Central Office, DILG Region III, DILG CALABARZON, and DILG MIMAROPA took initiative in the preparations.
As the lead in the creatives and trade show exhibit committees, the different personnel from the DILG-NCR were able to showcase their talents, resourcefulness, and inventiveness in creating concepts and ideas that led to the formation of the designs and arrangements used in the summit. The DILG-NCR was also responsible for the whole presentation of the trade exhibit which was curated to boost and showcase the participation and offerings of the development partners and national government agencies. Other DILG-NCR personnel who served as volunteers were tapped in committees for registration, communication, and security. Also at the helm of ensuring the attendance of participants were the DILG-NCR Field Officers headed by the City Directors and Municipal Local Government Operations Officer.
Convening the LG Summit was DILG Secretary Atty. Benjamin “Benhur” C. Abalos Jr. together with ULAP National President Governor Dakila Carlos E. Cua, International Labour Coordinator (ILO) Country Director Mr. Khalid Hassan, and German Ambassador to the Philippines Dr. Andreas Michael Pfaffernoschke, all of which thanked the participants composed of local elected officials, local functionaries and representatives from development partners, and other government agencies.
“In this summit, we are driven to mirror the President’s goal in pushing forward the Bagong Pilipinas thrust that we aim to achieve. That is why we are so fortunate to have partners not just in the local level but in the international level as well. We hope that all of us study policies and learn from the best practices shared in this summit,” DILG Secretary Abalos mentioned.
Discussions in the summit included the overview on Philippine and global trends on innovation and SMART developments, the launch of the Philippine Smart Local Government Network (PSLGN), national policies and advocacies for local government units and focus group sessions that detailed sectoral transformations and developments that can aid in the promotion of good governance.
The second day of the summit focused on the President’s Program where His Excellency President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. of the Republic of the Philippines delivered the keynote message in front of the local chief executives and local functionaries that are scheduled to participate in the simultaneous local governance league sessions touching on topics on digital transformation of governance, smart infrastructure and design, green climate, disaster resilience and environmental governance, health and safe communities, and transparency, accountability, and people’s participation.
“This Local Governance Summit 2024 is an opportunity for each of us to reflect on the huge responsibility that we all hold in our hands, and that is the ability to transform our respective communities and the lives of those in the communities under the banner of Bagong Pilipinas. As leaders, let us remain worthy of the trust and confidence of our fellow Filipinos,” President Marcos said.
The Local Governance Summit 2024 aims to reflect the Department’s commitment in empowering local governments to become effective partners in national development. In gathering local chief executives, local functionaries, policymakers and other stakeholders, the summit pushes forward knowledge exchange and capacity development that will aid in enhanced public service delivery and the promotion of good governance.