Rationalizing Institutional Arrangements for the Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction of Conflicted Areas in Mindanao, Philippines

Abstract:     
Postwar rehabilitation towards peace and development includes survival support components. To deliver in this context requires both dispersed local (community, civil society and/or local governmental) and national (logistical, strategic and coordinating) domestic capacity (Green and Ahmed, 1999:202). The packages for social development (food, education, shelter and housing, health and other social services) needed should be at least in a broad sense be fairly well identified, agreed upon, planned, orchestrated and implemented by all agencies involved. However, the traditional economic “spillover” orientation still prevail in the centralized government plans and budgetary allocation, thereby giving social development a second priority in the overall initiatives for the sustainable development of Mindanao, Philippines. This paper argues that better coordination is needed to avoid redundancy, overlaps, complexities and contradictions of functions among a large number of government organizations involved in the delivery of identical emergency relief and rehabilitation programs and services to the same conflicted areas in Mindanao. Hence, harmonizing the work of all government agencies involved in Mindanao relief and rehabilitation efforts requires a rationalized government’s service delivery system and one central Mindanao-wide coordinating body and more budgetary allocation for social development in order to improve interagency collaboration, monitoring and evaluation and outcome.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 22

Keywords: war, armed conflict, rehabilitation, LGUs, community, civil society, coordination, institution, social development, government, service delivery, relief, development, war victims, emergency

working papers series