WALK INTO ANY barangay hall on a typical weekday and you are likely to see the same scene unfold: a mother asking for medical assistance, a tricycle driver seeking help after an accident, a resident hoping for support in a time of need. And more often than not, the answer is familiar: Pasensyana, wala pang pondo.
The Local Government Code of 1991 was meant to change that. It promised real autonomy. It aimed to bring government closer to the people. Powers were devolved, responsibilities transferred, and local governments were expected to respond faster and better.
More than three decades later, the question is no longer whether decentralization works in theory. The real question is whether it works in the way ordinary citizens actually experience it.
Because on the ground, autonomy does not always feel real.
Local officials are expected to deliver almost everything—healthcare, social services, disaster response, infrastructure, and basic public services. Yet many local governments still depend heavily on national agencies for funding, technical support, and even implementation. Over time, the gap between responsibility and actual capacity has quietly widened.
Anyone who has spent time in city halls or barangay offices has seen this firsthand.
This became even more apparent after the Supreme Court ruling in Mandanas v. Ochoa. The decision expanded the share of national taxes allocated to local governments. It was widely welcomed, and rightly so, because it corrected a long-standing limitation on local fiscal autonomy.
Local officials are expected to deliver almost everything… Yet many local governments still depend heavily on national agencies for funding, technical support, and even implementation. Over time, the gap between responsibility and actual capacity has quietly widened.’
NOT THAT SIMPLE
But what followed was not as simple as many expected.
Yes, funds increased. But expectations rose just as quickly.
Some local government units suddenly had more resources, but not necessarily the systems to manage them well. Others had plans on paper but lacked the personnel to carry them out. In some areas, the additional funds did not translate into better services—only larger and more complicated bureaucracies.
It exposed a hard truth: money alone does not fix governance.
This can be seen in everyday situations: a municipality with a bigger health budget but no doctor willing to stay; a flood-prone community with disaster funds but no long-term mitigation plan; a barangay official trying to address multiple concerns with a small staff and limited training.
In those situations, autonomy can feel less like empowerment and more like pressure.
LIMITATIONS ARE CLEAR
Even at the barangay level, the limitations are clear. Barangays are the first line of response in times of need, yet they often operate under constraints that make consistent service delivery difficult. They are expected to function like small governments without being fully equipped as one.
This is not a failure of decentralization itself. It is a sign that the framework has not kept pace with present realities.
The Local Government Code was crafted in 1991, in a very different Philippines. There was no digital governance to speak of. Megacities did not face the same pressures they do today. Climate-driven disasters had not yet demanded the level of speed and coordination now required.
We are trying to solve today’s problems using a structure designed for another time.
GIVE POWER A CHANCE
Revisiting the Code does not mean taking power away from local governments. If anything, it means giving that power a fair chance to work.
Functions must be clearer—who does what, and who answers when things fall short. Capacity-building cannot remain an afterthought; it must be built into the system itself. Funding should not be measured only by allocation, but by outcomes that people can actually feel.
And then there is accountability, which we often talk about but still struggle to enforce consistently.
Local officials know this reality well.
At its core, decentralization should make government easier to access, not harder to navigate.
The Local Government Code was always meant to evolve. Holding on to it in its original form, despite everything that has changed, risks turning a once-progressive law into something that no longer delivers.
The people lining up at barangay halls are not thinking about legal doctrines or fiscal formulas. They are asking a simpler question: when they need help, will it be there?
If the answer remains uncertain, then perhaps it is time to stop asking whether the law should be revisited—and start asking how long we are willing to wait before doing so.
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