Empowering a Visionary Nation
From Vision to Action: The IPO of Fostering Active Citizenship in the Philippines
The state of the country’s democracy has been challenged over the years. Despite the presence of institutions and adherence to international standards, the Philippines has become increasingly vulnerable to threats against active citizenship. As of 2022, the Freedom of the World reported the Philippines as having a Global Freedom Score of only 55 over 100, with only 25 over 40 points for Political Rights and only 30 over 60 for civil liberties. All of these have been exacerbated by the Duterte Administration’s policies and programs that made it extremely challenging to express opinions, especially if it is against the government. One specific example would be the red-tagging initiatives masked as policies that counter-terrorism. As a result, the Filipino’s contributions to their country and society have been compromised
To enhance active citizenship in the country, the Active Citizenship Framework has been established as a guiding instrument for policymakers, politicians, and other key actors within the government. This framework is rooted in the public administration theory of the New Public Service, which is deemed favorable for public administration initiatives emphasizing citizen participation, collaboration, and responsiveness. The primary input revolves around the integration of community goals and vision which is then translated into several levels of participatory mechanisms to achieve active citizenship. This framework would not only serve as a powerful tool for policy-making, but also a crucial piece in completing and realizing the Philippine Development Plan should some initiatives anchor it to this concept. Furthermore, this framework would help the country transcend active citizenship beyond its borders and integrate the Filipino people into a greater, global community.
Input: Integration of Community Goals and Vision
The input of this framework was mainly established around a single, impactful question that most Filipinos ponder on. That is, “What change would you like to see in society?”. A question whose answers greatly vary yet are hard to actualize. However, several aspects of the Filipino community mirror this. According to Sicat (2017), Filipinos start crafting their thoughts of their ideal society around what would improve their quality of life. This includes a stable income, a comfortable life, or even the opportunity to pursue education. In fact, Social Weather Station’s findings support this, presenting that as much as 72% of young Filipinos see financial freedom as a means of making life more satisfying and secure. These aspirations and desires ultimately reflect the current state of a nation according to Nam (2013). the people’s collective vision. This vision not only helps determine areas that need improvement but also what the people hope to have.
Since the country’s poor active citizenship is also due to a lack of trust, the shared vision of the Filipino community can incline people to once again, support the government. In fact, an article by The Nation (2016) shows how Thailand used the people’s hope as the basis for its national reform strategy toward a greater country. In this instance, we can see how such visions lead to governance which according to Estanislao (2018), is the nation’s role in building their collective future. Similar to how regular people use visions to visualize a future should a goal be met, nations could do the same through the guidance of dreams that soon translate into visions. As Nam (2013) further elaborated, visions are effective in mobilizing people because they create a concrete unification in a society that has very diverse and different viewpoints. In the context of the Philippines, the AmBisyon Natin 2040 reflects the unified goal of Filipinos, gathered from a survey conducted by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA). These goals are then reflected and summarized in a short yet impactful manner, that is, Filipinos aspire for a matatag, maginhawa at panatag na buhay.
Other than dreams, values also enable visions as stated by Aguinaldo (2018). Filipino values historically cultivated a society that places primacy on culture and society. This is why several values such as the sense of family, pakikipagkapwa, as well as faith in God, to name a few, collectively dictate how Filipinos envision their futures. Estanislao (2018) further added how poor values are a concurrent obstacle to achieving active citizenship participation in Filipino society.
Process: Levels of Participation
To transform this vision as an active citizenship participatory enabling mechanism, a process of communication and decision-making is made possible through leadership, accountability, a sense of responsibility, and mutual trust. All of which relies on the manner in which information is exchanged as well as the quality of the interactions taking place.
One of the main subprocesses in this framework is the stages to which participation and exchange of information take place. According to the Code of Good Practice for Civil Participation in the Decision-Making Process of the Council of Europe (2009, 17), this multistep process starts with Information which is where the communication is still one-way. This requires gathering information, after which consultation is enabled. Consultation is the gateway to participation as the government provides a channel for people to express their ideas and opinions. After consultation, dialogue takes place wherein there is actual communication between the people and the government. In this stage, the communication becomes two-way. The dialogue results in cooperation and collaboration, leading to a partnership. Proper cooperation and collaboration that enables a co-decision-making process is achieved through skills and capacity building.
Another thing to note is that the stage corresponds to the level of exchange of information. In the information stage, while people are informed, they lack the ability to participate. In the stage of consultation, people can participate but it is in a very limited manner. The true interactive and participatory mechanism happens at the dialogue stage but power imbalance is still evident. This is why the preferred level of participation is a partnership because this levels the field with the supposed power imbalance through the equal treatment of views, opinions, and concerns. Some may take it a step further to reach the highest stage of participation which is skills and capacity building.
This multistep process should have the element of quality interaction made possible through leadership, accountability of leadership, a sense of responsibility on both ends and mutual trust between the people and the government. Leadership denotes the ability to mobilize people and other resources in effectively realizing goals. Accountability then comes in to ensure that all parties involved are accountable for their actions and decisions. This is then empowered through a deep sense of responsibility where one’s impact on others is taken into account. The responsibilities and obligations are shaped by the sustained obligation to transform the common vision into reality. Lastly, mutual trust between the people and the government allows all of the other three elements to take place because there is a sense of security and direction that both parties intend to champion the attainment of the shared vision.
Output: Active Citizenship
When these elements are in place, the goal of the framework, which is to enable participation or in the case of the paper, active citizenship, is realized. This is when there is an actual avenue for people to freely participate in political, economic, social, and other aspects of Filipino society. In a way, active citizenship will enable people to fulfill their civic rights and responsibilities. On the other hand, the resulting active citizenship in the country would give birth to stronger policies and programs as well as a more grounded public administration. The government will hear what the people want and implement the needed solution. Generating more platforms for participation allows a new mechanism of accountability and responsibility built upon mutual trust.
Active Citizenship in the Philippine Development Plan
One way of applying this framework is through the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023–2028 which aims for economic development and social transformation. This involves mechanisms that enable equal opportunities, skill and capacity building, as well as participation in the greater community. This plan, which serves as the main blueprint for the government’s development plans, can be enhanced through applying the active citizenship framework.
This framework would allow true empowerment of the Filipino people in pursuit of their aspirations, further aligning the efforts of the government with the values embedded in Philippine society to create the collective vision. Integrating the framework to the PDP would enhance its ability to emphasize active citizen participation, especially in the development and enhancement of culture and workforce. This would be done through creative industries that can pave the way for a more modernized service delivery, stronger partnerships, more unique Filipino branding, and faster economic growth, all while preserving the innate beauty of the country’s heritage and values.
Moreover, the basis of the framework would give the government a much-needed pattern on how to foster genuine citizen participation through improving consultation, partnership, capacity building, information sharing, accountability, and leadership measures. In turn, the government would give the platform for people to participate in, given that they have the resources to do so. Furthermore, the partnership built through the use of the framework would enhance the government’s transparency, accountability, and responsibility because people will demand for their rights to better access to government information, implementation of freedom of information laws, and a robust transparency system. People will be treated, not as ignorant stakeholders, but as primary recipients of government services, making them valuable in establishing what governance in the Philippines should look like.
As outlined in the Philippine Development Plan (PDP), the government can boost participation through improving bureaucratic efficiency which in turn boosts efficiency and effectiveness in public service delivery. This can be done by enhancing the competencies and capabilities of the public servants, ensuring accessibility to quality basic public services, and streamlining government procedures. By cultivating consultative and partnership mechanisms that involve people in decision-making processes, the government can foster active citizen participation in the country. Citizens can have the power and authority to influence governance in ensuring that there is feedback and recommendations from the implementation of policies and programs. Through this framework, the Filipinos contribute to the betterment of the country.
Active Citizenship in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
However, the role of citizenship does not end within the borders of a country. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a call to expand civic responsibility and participation to a global level. Just like the Philippine Development Plan (PDP), the SDGs serve as a blueprint for local, regional and global governance. As a framework, it aims to address several problems such as poverty, inequality, limited access to basic services, inadequate resources, biodiversity conservation, sustainable industrial growth as well as climate action to name a few (Reyes et. al., 2019, 2–10). Most, if not all of these problems are present in the Philippines. However, there is a lack of collaborative effort between the people and the government to work towards achieving these goals.
This is where the active citizenship framework comes into play. By implementing the framework, the people can use the collective vision as a powerful motivator or driver towards the realization of the SDGs. The dreams, as well as aspirations held by the Filipinos, can be paired with the SDGs to encourage citizen participation in the national and global scene. Once a sense of direction is established by leadership, people will be more empowered to take on leadership roles themselves, effectively fostering a sense of accountability as people become more aware of their social responsibilities. This environment leads to mutual trust between the stakeholders and the government, cultivating an environment of participatory decision-making and quality interaction. This all the more becomes important in contemporary Philippine society when issues such as gender inequality, as well as low-quality education remain big hurdles towards achieving goals such as the 5th SDG that addresses gender inequality and the 4th SDG about quality education.
Active Citizenship Towards Quality Democracy
To conclude, the presented active citizenship framework can be instrumental in improving the quality of democracy and participation in Philippine society. Through the incorporation of the framework into the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023–2028, the government will be more guided towards more efficient and effective means of achieving the goals of the plan. This also applies to the realization of the Philippines’ contribution towards achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, considering the magnitude needed to put the framework into action, resources need to be mobilized to ensure that its implementation is successful. As such, to truly actualize the input, process, and output of the framework, Filipinos should actively participate and collaborate in government initiatives to gain the power and authority to decide about the future of Philippine freedom and democracy.
References
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Ambisyon Nation 2040. (2016, June 8). Majority of Filipinos not dreaming of riches — NEDA survey. National Economic and Development Authority. https://2040.neda.gov.ph/2016/06/08/majority-of-filipinos-not-dreaming-of-riches-neda-survey/
Council of Europe. (2009). Developing Citizen Participation Initiatives. Toolkit on Citizen Participation. https://rm.coe.int/16806cf43c
Estanislao, J.P. (2018). Building Our Dream Philippines Through Good Governance and Responsible Citizenship. Institute for Solidarity in Asia. https://isacenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/2018-Building-Our-Dream-Philippines.pdf
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Philippine Daily Inquirer. (2022, December 3). Dreams of Filipino Youth. Inquirer.net. https://opinion.inquirer.net/159261/dreams-of-filipino-youth
Philippine Development Plan (2023). National Economic and Development Authority. https://pdp.neda.gov.ph/philippine-development-plan-2023-2028/
Reyes, C. M., Albert, J. R. G., Tabuga, A. D., Arboneda, A. A., Vizmanos, J. F. V., & Cabaero, C. C. (2019, September 27). Challenges And Opportunities in Meeting the Sustainable
Development Goals in the Philippines. Manus, 2–10. https://psa.gov.ph/sites/default/files/Session%204.3.2%20-%20Manus_SDG%20Challenges%20and%20Opportunities_27Sept2019.pdf
Sicat, G.P. (2017, November 11). The Filipino Dream. Per Se. https://econ.upd.edu.ph/perse/?p=6694
The Nation. (2016, February 18). A national dream is important, so is the path to its realisation. https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/30279661
