An Evaluation of the Coordinating Systems of the Rural Development Policies (RDP) in the Philippines

At present, there is an increase in the number of actors in rural development policies due to the current trend of merging the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors. In the Philippine setting, the number of actors in the rural development policies are relatively numerous in comparison to other nations. The departments involved in rural development policies are highly specialized. Furthermore, there are more administrative tiers in the Philippines than that of other countries. In addition, the NGO's in the Philippines are more developed and greatly affect RDP's. Thus, the Philippine actors in RDP's are dispersed and therefore it is necessary to create a coordination or collaboration system in RDP. Although, there are provisions for a coordination system, there is no concrete or existing central government level coordination system for the RDP's in the Philippines. The National Economic and Development Authority or NEDA oversees national policies. Since these policies are general, there is a need for the creation of a coordinating system for RDP's. On the other hand, the local government's coordinating system is relatively advanced and has detailed provisions. However, These provisions are advanced therefore, there is big gap between theory and practice. Furthermore, the actors in the coordinating system need more training to develop their skills and capabilities. In the local government level, the focus is on the people's and NGO's participation rather than capacity building of the actors. In addition, the local government lacks sufficient funds for RDP's. Although there is a good coordinating system, it is wasted because of lack of funds. Because of this, the central government and some multi-national companies provide funding for some projects. However, the central government's and multinational companies' perspectives are not in line with that of the local government. Thus, there is a need to reduce the level of dispersion of actors concerned with RDP and increase the degree of coordination or collaboration among actors. Since democracy has been established, it is now time to focus on increasing the level of efficiency as well as developing and improving the capacities of the actors involved in RDP's. Some points to be considered in order to have better coordinating system in RDP are as follows: First, the merging of the agricultural department with other involved departments such as the development sector, the food safety sector and some environmental sectors which are directly related to RDP like that of England, Germany, Japan and Korea. Second, in the central government level, a coordinating committee which is involved in RDP's should be established. Third, there should be better coordination between the central government and local government programs and projects. Fourth, review and evaluate whether the number of administrative tiers affect efficiency and coordination. Finally, the existing local government coordinating system should be strengthened through providing more investment funds including continuously evaluation the programs and projects which are related to RDP's.