Collaborative Governance in Batangas, Philippines: A Manifestation of the Implementation of SALINTUBIG (Sagana at Ligtas Na Tubig Para Sa Lahat) Program

Abstract

For the past decades, collaborative governance has evolved as a substantial concept and method of yielding outcomes to the research and literature of various scholars. It is also a practical and innovative way of governance wherein different stakeholders share a common goal in pursuing a collective action. At the very core, this study focuses in ‘collaborative governance’ as a manifestation of the implementation of SALINTUBIG (Sagana at Ligtas na Tubig Para Sa Lahat) program in the province of Batangas, specifically in the municipalities of Balayan, Lemery, and Tuy. The SALINTUBIG program is a pro-poor initiative of the central government of the Philippines providing water supply systems with priority given to waterless areas and enhancing their local capacities in the planning, implementation, operation, and management of water services. The program is jointly implemented by national institutions such as the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC), Department of Health (DOH), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA), in collaboration with the local government units (LGUs) and the citizens. The study has utilized Thomson and Perry’s Antecedents-Process-Outcome Framework (2006) which presents the collaborative process in five dimensions: governance, administration, organizational autonomy, mutuality, and norms of trust and reciprocity. The framework has highlighted the stakeholders of the SALINTUBIG program that operates in the collaborative process. Based on the findings and analysis concluded through the key-informant interviews, surveys, and legal documents from the stakeholders, the collaboration of the national agencies and LGUs of Batangas has been effective in terms of the following: provision, rehabilitation, and enhancement of water supply system; accountability and transparency on the operation; joint decision-making process of the involved institutions; and commitment to the SALINTUBIG program.