09/06/2026
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Councilor Van Oliver Dicang has proposed an ordinance seeking to institutionalize a community-driven development (CDD) framework across all projects, programs, and activities to strengthen citizen participation in planning, budgeting, implementation, and monitoring.
The proposed CDD will be a mandatory governance framework for the City Government of Baguio which integrates participatory processes into all stages of local development from needs identification and planning to budgeting, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. It recognizes communities, barangays, civil society organizations, and sectoral groups as active partners in decision-making, rather than passive recipients of government services.
It covers all city departments, offices, and instrumentalities, as well as all barangays and all projects, programs, and activities (PPAs) funded wholly or partly by the city including joint initiatives with national government agencies, private entities, and civil society partners.
To operationalize the framework, the measure mandates the conduct of community assemblies, sectoral consultations, and participatory planning workshops to ensure that diverse groups, especially women, youth, senior citizens, persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples, and urban poor communities, are meaningfully represented in identifying and prioritizing development needs. It also integrates barangay-level priority setting into the cityβs formal planning system, aligning local inputs with the City Development Plan (CDP), Local Development Investment Program (LDIP), and Annual Investment Program (AIP).
The ordinance likewise establishes a grassroots participatory budgeting or bottom-up budgeting mechanism where a portion of the cityβs annual budget will be allocated for projects directly proposed and prioritized by communities. This is complemented by a Citizen Monitoring and Feedback System that will allow residents to track project implementation, submit feedback and complaints, and access project information through both digital platforms and on-the-ground validation processes.
The City Planning Development and Sustainability Office (CPDSO), together with the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO), is designated as the lead implementing body responsible for coordinating the CDD framework, issuing guidelines, building capacities of communities and barangays, and ensuring compliance across all city offices.
The proposed ordinance was approved on first reading by the Baguio City Council on May 25, 2026 and subsequently referred to the Committee on Urban Planning, Lands, and Housing for review. -Jordan G. Habbiling
