Regionalism, Redistribution and Resilience: 30 Years of Decentralization in the Philippines

Venue

The dialogues in the series will be held in hybrid mode, i.e. in-person on the ANU Campus, and virtually on zoom.

IN-PERSON: Hedley Bull Lecture Theatre 2, Australian National University, Acton, ACT, 2601.

ONLINE: Zoom. Please select the relevant ticket, in-person or online, according to your preferred attendance mode.

Regionalism, Redistribution and Resilience: 30 Years of Decentralization in the Philippines

This year, 2025, marks the 33rd year since the Philippine Local Government Code of 1991 was implemented.  This landmark law gave local governments increased revenue-raising authority and expenditure responsibilities with the intention of increased public sector responsiveness and efficiency, as well as enhanced transparency and accountability at the sub-national level. Though much progress has been made in local governance and in the delivery of devolved goods and services, there is still room for improvement.

Continuing challenges such as varied fiscal capacities across local governments, on occasion observed to be concentrated in several regions of the Philippines frequently impacted by extreme weather events, have led to uneven public service delivery. These challenges are common across countries that adhere to the principle of subsidiarity whether in devolved, decentralized or federal forms of government. 

Join Justine Diokno-Sicat, Ph.D, as she shares her decades of research on Philippine decentralization, discusses current issues and shares the important role that multilateral development banks have played in this.

Speaker 

Dr. Justine Diokno-Sicat is a member of the Board of Directors of the Asian Development Bank representing the Philippines, Kazakhstan, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Pakistan and Timor-Leste. In her capacity as Executive Director she is the Chair of the Development Effectiveness Committee. Before joining ADB, she was a Research Fellow at the Philippine government policy think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies. She has a Ph.D. in Business Administration, Ph.D. in Economics candidacy, an M.S. Management and M.A. and B.S. Economics all from the University of the Philippines. Her academic and professional experience has focused on public sector economics and political economy. As a former professor at UP Diliman, she taught courses on public sector and development economics and fiscal and monetary policy. She is also an international consultant in areas of public expenditures and financial management at national and local government levels.

The ANU Philippines Institute Research Seminar Series is a recurring seminar series that showcases the work of scholars working on political, social and cultural issues in the Philippines and the wider region, with the goal of encouraging greater exchange, collaboration and networking amongst the research community.

If you require accessibility accommodations or a visitor Personal Emergency Evacuation plan please contact the event organiser.