LA LIGA POLICY INSTITUTE (La Liga) is a policy research and advocacy group engaged in various development interventions promoting effective governance towards sustainable development.  Working in partnership with national government agencies, local government units (LGUs), citizens’ groups, community organizations and donor agencies, La Liga helps bring together the expertise and resources of different actors on specific projects addressing rural development and agriculture, environment and climate change, budget and taxation and urban community development

Formed in 2000 by citizen leaders and social reformers with extensive experience in government, social movements and private sector work, La Liga draws inspiration from the reform-oriented “La Liga Filipina”  led by Jose Rizal during the Spanish occupation. Through its initiatives, La Liga provides support to those working inside and outside of government and engages them in a collaborative effort towards meaningful social reforms.

INSTITUTIONAL OBJECTIVES

• To promote effective governance for sustainable development.
• To facilitate partnership-building among state and non-state actors on development initiatives and social reforms. 
• To maximize the capabilities of various stakeholders towards improved governance. 
• To disseminate policy researches and relevant information using the Quad-Media of print, radio, television and internet-based communications. 

AREAS OF ENGAGEMENT

A. Effective Governance - Believing that effective governance entails active engagement of both government actors and the broader citizenry, La Liga helps strengthen and improve institutional mechanisms as well as build partnerships among stakeholders for transparent, accountable and responsive programs and processes.

B. Rural Development - La Liga works for the development of rural communities as a crucial component of national progress by capitalizing on land assets and promoting organic agriculture, agrarian reform and idle land taxes.

C. Environment and Climate Change - Working for sustainable development and recognizing the vulnerability of the Philippines to harsh impacts of climate change, La Liga supports projects on biodiversity preservation, solid waste management, disaster management and other mitigation and adaptation measures. It also advocates for greater financing for the environment and climate change. 

D. Fiscal Policies - Knowing the importance of responsive and just fiscal policies in effective governance, La Liga lobbies for improved budget allocations for key sectors such as the environment, agriculture, health and education. It participates in congressional and local budget processes of partner LGUs. The Institute also undertakes monitoring of disbursements and actual expenditures of budget allotments for key sectors. On the revenue side, La Liga is currently advocating for the setting up of a Special Agriculture Fund which will mandate LGUs to earmark funds from land taxes for agriculture development.

E. Urban Community Development - The Institute facilitates assistance to urban poor communities with housing and socio-economic concerns.

AREAS OF WORK

A. Partnership-building - La Liga brings together government agencies, LGUs, citizens’ groups and community organizations through formal and informal partnership arrangements on development initiatives.

B. Policy Research - Through its network of consultants and fellows, the Institute undertakes policy studies and action researches to generate information, holistic analysis and reform platforms.

C. Quad-Media Information Education and Communication Campaigns - La Liga disseminates and translates researches and information into popular forms using the accessible media of print, radio, television and the internet for greater public understanding and wider influence on decision-makers.

D. Alternative Dispute Resolution - Acting as mediator in conflicts involving communities, the private sector and government, La Liga facilitates agreements acceptable to various parties while putting premium on the needs of the disadvantaged.

E. Lobby - La Liga participates in public hearings and consultations, organizes forums and engages in dialogues with policy-makers and implementers to institute social reforms.

F. Capability Building - The Institute harnesses the expertise, knowledge and skills of its partners through knowledge-sharing sessions, skills trainings, action planning workshops and practical applications.

ONGOING INITIATIVES

A. MDG Pathways: Cementing Pathways to Financing the Millennium Development Goals

The project aims to boost capacities of selected local government units towards financing programs and services for MDG targets on poverty and hunger, maternal and reproductive health, universal primary education and environment sustainability.

Implemented in the project sites of Alaminos, Bani and Burgos in Pangasinan and La Libertad, Dauin and Sibulan in Negros Oriental. the project involves research, knowledge-sharing sessions and planning workshops, partnership dialogues, budget monitoring, documentation and dissemination.

In partnership with Social Watch Philippines and the concerned LGUs, La Liga works for increased financing, both public and private, for programs and services around the four (4) MDG targets. Inputs from the project as a result of the researches, planning sessions and budget monitoring will be worked into the municipalities’ local development and annual investment plans.

The “cluster” approach is the main strategy of the project capitalizing on La Liga’s current partnership with the One Pangasinan Alliance of LGUs (OPAL). The three (3) towns in each of the provinces are grouped in a cluster to collectively analyze socio-economic challenges and undertake joint problem-solving actions that ensure efficiency and effectiveness.

B. Alternative Budget Advocacy on the Environment
 
La Liga is the lead NGO for the Environment Cluster of the Alternative Budget Initiative (ABI) which engages the national government in the budget process.  It lobbies for the passage of an  annual General Appropriations Act that harmonizes with the advocacy framework called the “Green Bottomlines” which promotes a “climate-snsitive” budget.

La Liga campaigns for increased social spending for natural resource management, sustainable agriculture, solid waste management, coastal resource development, effective forest management and for climate change mitigation and adaptation measures.

C. Socialized Housing for Informal Settlers in Navotas City

In partnership with the city government of Navotas and Habitat Philippines, La Liga is helping in the development and construction of low cost residential units as part of the Tanza Socialized Housing and Development Project - an eight-hectare housing program intended for the city’ s informal settlers and city hall employees.

Through an Alternative Dispute Resolution, La Liga facilitated an agreement that involves the construction of at least 80 housing units and the awarding of land titles to a group of informal settlers. La Liga is currently looking for financing on a Solid Waste Management and Income-Generating Project for the community.

D. Campaign for Credible Elections

La Liga is engaged in information dissemination through forums and the media to bring together concerned organizations for a credible May 2010 elections. It surfaces issues surrounding the preparedness and efficiency of the automated poll system, possibilities of electoral fraud and other scenarios. This follows through the Institute’s previous campaigns on clean and honest elections which began in 2004.

E. LGU District Alliance

La Liga promotes LGU clusters as a strategy for achieving local growth and development. It is assisting two (2) clusters of LGUS: The One Pangasinan Alliance of LGUS or OPAL involving six (6) towns in Western Pangasinan; and, three (3) coastal towns in the province of Negros Oriental.  It is envisioned that these LGU alliances adopt town clusters as the unit of convergence for local planning and development.

PREVIOUS ENGAGEMENT

A. Organic FIELDS Support Program Phase 1 - The reform initiative sought to make a strategic policy shift towards the promotion and adoption of organic agriculture in the Philippines.

A partnership project with the Department of Agriculture (DA), the initiative engaged in farmers’ trainings, research, and multimedia promotion of organic agriculture. La Liga led the Quad-Media IEC Campaign which involved the production and airing of radio and television programs, website maintenance, dissemination of various campaign materials, and a print media-based advocacy featuring national and local government officials, farmers, scientists, academicians and advocates of organic agriculture.

B. Agrarian Reform - Together with former Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Secretaries Horacio R. Morales, Jr. and Hernani A. Braganza Jr., La Liga espoused cooperation among farmers, the church, and LGUs for the promotion of a meaningful post-CARP program.  La Liga took the lead in the assessment of the agrarian reform program. It also published policy researches on idle land tax and the situation of agrarian reform beneficiaries in banana commercial farms offering options to address CARP-related and post-CARP issues and problems.

C. Research in Aid of Legislation - Through its two published policy researches in partnership with the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP), “In The Hands of Farm Workers, Can Banana Commercial Farms Survive” and “ Enhancing Taxation on Idle Agricultural Lands” , La Liga sought to contribute in the crafting of state policies  on taxation, fiscal reform and rural development.

D. Peace in Mindanao - A founding member of Duyog Mindanao, a coalition of Mindanao and Manila-based NGOs, peace advocates and church organizations campaigning for the resumption of the peace negotiations and meaningful political settlement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MLIF), La Liga linked up with Mindanao citizens, leaders, officials, academicians and bilateral agencies to effect a strategic conflict resolution in Mindanao.

E. Alternative Dispute Resolution - La Liga promotes Alternative Dispute Resolution as a strategy in achieving amicable settlements among parties. It seeks to empower concerned parties in the process of managing their disputes towards mutually gainful and just resolutions determined by their active participation and discretion, in line with the prescriptions of Republic Act 9283 or the Alternative Dispute Act of 2004.  La Liga has concluded 3 of its ADR engagements in Ligao Farms, Inc., Hacienda Luisita, and Pepsi Cola Corporation.

STAFF