Demand Driven Reforms in the Philippines

LEI have been managing the Land Administration and Management Project (LAMP) for AusAID in the Philippines since 2001. The project has focused on institutional reform, policy development, improving tenure security through land registration, and introducing valuation reform.

In line with our commitment to aid effectiveness LEI has trialled a number of new initiatives under LAMP to enhance local ownership, promote demand driven assistance, and reward progressive agencies. One of the most successful initiatives has been the introduction of an Australian government funded AUD$2.6 million Innovation Support Fund (ISF). Local governments can apply for grant funding under the Innovation Support Fund to improve their land administration and management services. The funding is demand driven and based on competitive selection. It rewards progressive local governments by providing them with the financial and technical assistance they need to progress reforms. There are currently 10 local governments being supported under the Innovation Support Fund under LAMP.

LEI have been responsible for designing the function of the Innovation Support Fund, developing the processes, procedures and forms, selecting successful applicants, and managing funding allocations. This has required significant promotion among local governments on the purpose of the Innovation Support Fund, the types of projects that may be supported, the documentation required, and providing assistance with preparing applications. We are also providing technical assistance to help local governments establish new systems (mostly in GIS and valuation) and train staff in technical and managerial areas. Our approach is designed to enhance sustainability, we use Filipino staff trained by LEI under the one-stop-shop in Leyte as much as possible as trainers and mentors for new local government staff.

The whole Innovation Support Fund is built on partnerships. These include partnerships between; LEI, AusAID and governments from central to local levels. Local governments applying for grants must partner with central agencies, such as Department of Natural Resources and the Registry of Deeds, before their application for funding will be considered. LEI assign a Program Officer to every local government selected for funding. The Program Officer acts as a bridge between the local government, technical advisers, LEI and partner agencies, to support and mentor local government officers.

An independent review of the ISF was conducted in February 2009, some key findings included:

• The demand driven nature of Innovation Support Fund grants has created substantial local ownership.
• Ownership is established via the requirement of the applicant LGU to co-finance the project. In all cases the LGU has contributed at least 20% of the funding, and in some cases they have matched the grant dollar for dollar.
• Local governments are the best advocates of the program and have started forming their own support networks contributing to the sustainability of reforms.
• Cluster Centres have formed diffusing information between project supported local governments and neighbouring local governments and leading to indirect benefits in local governments which have not directly received grant funding.
• Local government skills have improved not only in technical areas (GIS, IT, surveying, valuation) but also in non-technical areas such as strategic planning, project design, financial management, monitoring and evaluation.

The Review Team report also stated that: “The Review Team considers that it is likely that the benefits of most ISF initiatives will be sustained. This is partly the result of the strong ownership of projects by the LGUs but also the value of the ensuing benefits to future LGU administrations.”

LAMP Team Leader Mr Ian Lloyd, has worked with other donor agencies looking to incorporate the ISF initiative within their own programs to ensure that lesson learned and best practice is transferred across programs.