EDITORIAL
From participative to collaborative governance:
A challenge for Tagbilaran City to lead the way
The weeklong emotional drama on the proposed Tagbilaran Bay reclamation project
has ended. It is the best decision for Mayor Jane Yap to end the speculation that the project
is a done deal and that holding public consultations is only for compliance with the
requirements of the law.
Balancing economic development with environmental protection has always been a
source of tension between development policymakers and environmentalists. The traditional
argument is that there are finite limits to Earth’s physical carrying capacity; hence, economic
growth should be deliberately restricted. On the other hand, development policymakers justify
that the main goal of industrialization is to promote economic well-being. This tension results
in finger-pointing, hurting words, and name-calling.
In 1992, the U.N. Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) ushered in a
reconciliation by brokering a conceptual agreement on the need to integrate policies for
development and the environment. They acknowledge that failing to consider environmental
damage’s costs will prove inefficient and often ineffectual in terms of sustaining development
and economic well-being. Environmentalists are coming to understand that answers to many
problems, especially in developing countries, lie in faster – not slower – development along
with sound environmental policies. For developing countries, however, the UNCED remains
rhetoric as there is a large gap between theory and practice.
In the midst of the fierce debate on the reclamation project, the issue of Tagbilaran
City having a small land area has been brought to the fore. The solution offered is to create
new land from the sea. This idea started the artillery fire on fighting positions.
But Tagbilaran City doesn’t exist as a lone island on the planet. Under the principle of
interconnectedness, whatever it does, even if confined within its territorial waters, affects the
neighboring municipalities, which may bear the cost of its development. The harm can never
be confined within its boundaries.
Although initially viewed with suspicion, Mayor Yap’s policy of participative governance
has saved what could have been a cause of transboundary harm to the city’s good neighbors.
True, the land area of Tagbilaran is small. However, this physical limitation is a
constraint to development only if we think that other LGUs are not integral to the city’s
development. There is still a big area for development within the province. We just have to
broaden our perspective.
Tagbilaran City can share its best practices with other municipalities. By collaborating
with other LGUs to innovate a development plan that is in rhyme and rhythm with nature, the
entire province of Bohol will savor progress while keeping a healthy environment as a legacy
to future generations.