Cebu City: politics of engagement?
Can the poor influence the agenda of urban governance institutions? In Cebu, the Philippines, poor urban groups engage with the City Hall through NGO and people's organisation (PO) networks. Informal settlers, sidewalk vendors and trisikad (bicycle with a side car) drivers now realise that advocacy and negotiation are more productive than evasion, retreat and resistance.
With NGO facilitation, homeowner, vendor, and trisikad associations have increased their awareness of rights and responsibilities, of laws, policies and regulations. Capacity building is also helping strengthen their organisational capability. Marginalised groups pursue their demands to ensure the security of the workplace through:
* lobbying the mayor and councillors
* negotiating (personally and through committees created by the city government)
* participation in planning (public hearings, membership of technical working groups)
* vote trading (covenant signing in exchange for votes)
At the NGO and PO network level, sectoral issues are seen through the perspective of the overall city planning agenda. Speaking with one voice, the coalition, Kaabag sa Sugbu, has gained political mileage through:
* voters' education on alternative politics
* mass mobilization and pressure politics during elections
* linkages with academia and other middle sectors
* networking with the media
* participation in the drafting of the Cebu Master Plan (2000-2020)
* monitoring and reporting on good governance
Although patron-client relationships still play a role in Cebu as elsewhere in the Philippines, a clear trend is emerging towards a politics of engagement on key issues affecting the urban poor and is slowly but steadily gaining momentum.
Source(s):
Full document: Insights #38 'City Politics. A voice for the poor?' http://www.id21.org/insights/insights38/index.html
Full document: 'Towards inclusive governance in Cebu, Urban Governance, Partnership and
Poverty WP#25, International Development Department, School of Public Policy,
University of Birmingham by F.U. Etemadi, 2001 http://www.bham.ac.uk/IDD/activities/urban/case_studies/WP%2025%20Cebu.pdf
Date: 1 Novebmer 2001
Further Information:
Felisa U. Etemadi
University of the Philippines
3 Don Jose Avila Street
Capitol Site
Cebu City 6000
Philippines
Email: etemadi@cnms.net
University of the Philippines http://www.up.edu.ph/
Other related links:
'Urban links: a model city for the future?' http://www.id21.org/urban/s3ahs1g1.html
'Governing our Cities: Will People Power work?' from Panos http://www.panos.org.uk/environment/governing_our_cities.htm
See IIED's work in Urban areas http://www.iied.org/human/index.html
The Urban Governance Initiative TUGI deal with urban issues http://www.tugi.apdip.net/default.htm
Eldis offers a further portal to institutions working in urban development http://nt1.ids.ac.uk/eldis/urban/urban.htm
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