WBA conducts 3rd training, focuses on refining operations manual and proposal concepts

Mayor Hans Bud of Maluso, one of the WBA champions, inspires the participants
on the 4th day of the Training Series 3.

Zamboanga City (January 7, 2019) - Selected WBA legislative and executive officers convenes today up to January 12, 2019, for a week-long refinement workshop. According to Noor Saada, MILAB Project Manager, the focus is on refining the draft operations manual and proposal concepts.

Executive director Adolfo "Totoy" Badiola Jr of the Metro Naga Development Council (MNDC) shares the beginning, evolution, gains and lessons learned. and current initiatives of their council. MNDC is celebrating her silver (25th) anniversary this year.

Executive director Johan "Dada" dela Rosa of the Naga City Peoples Council (NCPC) shares the story of people's participation in local governance through the NCPC, a network of people's organizations and non-government organizations from among the urban poor, transport, education, youth, persons with disabilities, women, labor, cooperatives, business, NGOs, peasant; civic, professionals and enthusiast sectors.

Executive director Marilou Penafiel of the Central Negros Council for Coastal Resource Development (CENECCORD) captures the 14-year journey of the council by emphasizing the trigger issues that gave birth to the council, the different partners and initiatives they have undertaken, how they weather through elections and change of leadership and where they are now.

Shaykh Salman Sakili of the Ulama Council of Zamboanga Peninsula (UCZP) takes concepts from the Islamic heritage on the values of working together and protecting the environment.

Participants revisited and refined the inputs for the operations manual and proposal concepts.

Mayor Hani Bud of Maluso, one of the alliance champions, visits the participants on the 4th day of the training and inspires them by emphasizing how the collective regional, provincial and local leadership in the area resulted to current gains such as security improvement to infrastructure development to bagging the seal of good local governance.

Western Basilan Alliance is the first interlocal cooperation in Basilan and is being capacitated by the AECID-funded MILAB Project, implemented by the Institute for Autonomy and Governance (IAG) with the Zamboanga-Basilan Integrated Development Alliance (ZABIDA) as CSO partner.

CSO participation is critical pillar in local alliance building

Study Tour participants at the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) of Bago City,
having conversation with CENRO staff on current programs and challenges.
Bago City mayor is the current head of CENECCORD. 

October 25, 2018, Isabela City, Basilan – Ms Meriam “Deddette” Suacito, Executive Director of Nagdilaab Foundation, Inc., expresses optimism over civil society participation in the Western Basilan Alliance (WBA) in a meeting with key government officials today at the Office of the Provincial Governor, in this city.

Ms Suacito is one of the three participants representing the local civil society invited to participate in the study tour conducted for WBA officials. The other two were Fr Angel Calvo and Ms Espie Humida, President and Executive Director of the Zamboanga Basilan Integrated Development Alliance (ZABIDA), respectively.

The two-week study tour was funded by AECID, the Spanish aid agency, and provided first-hand exposure for champions of the Western Basilan alliance (WBA) to areas where there are functional interlocal cooperation models. There a number of models throughout the country and closer home. However, the need for good models is an imperative for success – to learn from long experiences that have demonstrated resilience, continuity and competence through the years.

In conversation with Dr Herwig Mayer, GIZ consultant on the matter and a pioneer in inter-LGU alliance building in the country, two areas were identified as good models for the champions of the Western Basilan Alliance (WBA) – Metro Naga Development Council or simply MNDC organized in 1993 and Central Negros Council for Coastal Resources Development (CENECCORD) organized in 2005.

In her statement before the WBA tactical group meeting, Ms Suacito highlighted what she observed as the vibrant participation of the civil society organizations in both MNDC and CENECCORD; as well as similarities and differences between these alliances and WBA.

Western Basilan Alliance is the first interlocal cooperation in Basilan and is being capacitated by the AECID-funded MILAB Project, implemented by the Institute for Autonomy and Governance (IAG) with the Zamboanga-Basilan Integrated Development Alliance (ZABIDA) as CSO partner.

WBA Champions Prepare for Study Tour in Metro Naga and Negros Occidental

Zamboanga City (September 06, 2018) – Champions of the Western Basilan Alliance (WBA), from the local government units and NGO partners, prepare for a two-week study tour to Metro Naga and Negros Occidental scheduled from September 18 to 26, 2018. 

Mr Noor Saada, Project Manager of the AECID-fund Modelling Inter-LGU Alliance in Basilan (MILAB) Project as implemented by the Institute for Autonomy and Governance (IAG), said, this study tour is of part of the capacity building intervention to provide first-hand exposure for champions of the Western Basilan alliance (WBA) to areas where there are functional interlocal cooperation models. While there a number of models throughout the country and closer to home; the need for good models is an imperative for success – to learn from long experiences that have demonstrated resilience, continuity and competence through the years.

The first leg of the study tour will be the Metro Naga Development Council or simply MNDC organized in 1993, making it among the pioneer alliances in the country and arguably the oldest still functional. MNDC is celebrating its silver anniversary this year, that is 25 years of ups and downs, learning through the rope and across 8-9 terms of change in local administration. The MNDC's  cooperative portfolio (Metro Naga Equipment Pool, Metro Naga Senior Citizens Program, Metro Naga Emergency Rescue Service, Metro Naga Livelihood Program, Metro Naga Project Assistance Fund, Metro Naga Water Supply Enhancement Project, etc.) attest to how inter-LGU alliance is making a difference in improving public services and promoting good governance in the locality. 

The second leg of the study tour will be the Central Negros Council for Coastal Resources Development (CENECCORD) organized in 2005. CENECCORD is a decade and three years old of interlocal cooperation among seven (7) local government units (LGUs) in the central region of Negros Occidental and decidedly focused on “restoration and conservation of coastal resources but also for the maintenance and preservation of sound ecological balance, clean environment, equitable use of resources and most importantly, giving preferential treatment to marginal fisherfolk.” It is important to note that this arrangement was also driven by the provincial and municipal agriculture offices. 

The participants will be learning from these models, reflecting on them and acting on these models as they concretize allied, shared or joint interventions under the WBA. After the study tour, the WBA is expected to finalize their Memorandum of Agreement (MoA), prioritize its thematic focus and LGU champions to provide the imperative in mobilizing LGU staff and resources through the WBA technical working groups, and to build the competence of their staff in formulating feasibility studies or project proposal at the alliance level.