In its move to empower change in the most basic political unit of the society, Biliran Province State University, through the School of Arts and Sciences (SAS) and the School of Graduate Studies (SGS), in collaboration with the Local Government Unit (LGU) of Naval and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG)-Biliran, formally unveiled the Barangay Development Plan: Quality Assessment Tool (DBP-QUAT).

The BDP-QUAT is a structured evaluation framework designed to assess the quality, comprehensiveness, and sustainability of Barangay Development Plans (BPDs) created by barangay councils. This tool ensures that plans align with local needs, adhere to government standards, and incorporate best practices for sustainable community development.

Meanwhile, BPDs are comprehensive planning instruments for local governance that guide barangays in identifying priority areas for service delivery, resource allocation, and achieving development goals.

Tripartite community project

The university officially entered into a partnership agreement with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG)-Biliran and the Local Government Unit (LGU) of Naval on November 20 last year.

The tripartite Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) outlined the implementation of the “Enhanced Barangay Development Plan Project: Building a Resilient, Safe, Self-Reliant, and Development Dominated Community.”

The groundbreaking project seeks to enhance the ability of local barangays to create comprehensive and sustainable development plans, and develop an assessment tool to measure the effectiveness and quality of BDPs.

In an interview, University President Dr. Victor C. Cañezo, Jr. mentioned that forging linkages with other institutions to deliver quality extension programs is one of the university’s mandates. “We want to empower our barangay officials, because that’s our mission: to extend services for the empowerment and development of our people.

With the partnership, BiPSU faculty members from the SGS and SAS provided technical assistance to barangay officials, helping them craft three-year development plans that incorporated recommendations derived from the assessment tool.

A research-based project

The BDP-QUAT is a joint research-based extension project of BiPSU, LGU-Naval, and DILG-Biliran. The tool aimed to evaluate the BDPs of Naval's 26 barangays, identifying gaps and challenges in their formulation and implementation.

Initially, the team conducted environmental scanning and interviews with 96 personnel across the 26 barangays in Naval to identify existing practices and challenges in BDP formulation.

According to Dr. Annel Ruth Celis, project leader and chairperson of BA Economics and Master in Public Management (MPM), the research highlighted compliance with the standard 10-step BDP formulation process but also revealed issues such as incomplete documentation and weak evidence of compliance. 

“Challenges included limited manpower, unreliable databases, inadequate resources for data-driven planning, and the use of English in planning documents, which hindered effective participation,” she added.

Using the insights from this analysis, a draft version of the assessment tool was created, which included specific indicators for evaluating the quality, comprehensiveness, and sustainability of BDPs.

However, in an interview, Dr. John Cavin Sabonsolin, chair of the SAS Department of Communication, explained that the tool will still undergo reliability and validity testing next semester before it can be officially used to assess BDPs in the province, and potentially in the region and across the country.

The tool will also be pilot-tested in 15 barangays, where it will be evaluated for its practical application and feasibility.

DILG Cluster Head Carolina Ampong also mentioned that the tool will be presented to the Local Government Academy (LGA) for the institutionalization and rollout of the tool to other LGUs.

Groundbreaking project: first in the country

The assessment tool was formally presented by the SAS and SGS faculty members to LGU-Naval and DILG-Biliran on November 25 at the LGU Hall.

The presentation was attended by Naval Mayor Gretchen Stephanie Espina, DILG Cluster Head Ampong, Municipal Local Government Operations Officer (MLGOO) of Naval Dexter Narrido, SGS Dean Dr. Matias Bentor, Dr. Celis, Dr. Sabonsolin, and SGS and SAS faculty members and student-researchers.

Naval Mayor Espina believed that BiPSU’s BDP-QUAT is the first ever developed assessment tool to assess the quality of LBPs.

This was confirmed by DILG-Biliran Cluster Head Carolina Ampong. “In my long years in public service, I have not heard of a quality assessment tool to measure the BDPs,” she said.

The cluster head explained that, currently, the DILG has implemented various assessment tools in different areas, including the Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG), Lupong Tagapamayapa Incentive Awards (LTIA), Peace and Order Council (POC), and Anti-Drug Abuse Council (ADAC). However, there is no existing specific assessment tool for BDPs.

Meanwhile, Naval MLGOO Narrido mentioned that implementing the groundbreaking tool will be a revolutionary move in enhancing local governance and the services at the barangay level. “Once we implement this, we will be changing mindsets and empower LGUs,” he said.

Mayor Espina: ‘Government projects should be research-based’

Mayor Espina expressed her gratitude to the university for choosing the LGU-Naval to be the beneficiary of the extension program. 

She emphasized the importance of anchoring government projects and policies on research studies as it will ensure data-driven decision-making, enhance the relevance and effectiveness of initiatives, and address community needs more comprehensively.

“It is frustrating to have beautiful and ideal research studies na hindi naman nai-implement [that are not being implemented],” the Naval mayor said. “Why not we do: you do the research, and here in LGU, we implement it.”

Mayor Espina pledged to make sure that QUAT will be implemented in LGU-Naval once it gets a go signal for implementation. 

“It’s not an overnight implementation, it takes a lot of political will,” Mayor Espina said. “But here in LGU, we will do this because we need it here.”

[This aligns with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions]