Learning from the Experiences of My Peers
Developed by the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) – Mayors Development Center (MDC)


BACKGROUND

By July 1, 2010, some 636 newly elected municipal mayors from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao shall have assumed their posts as local chief executives of their towns. Like any newcomer entering a new organization and assuming new jobs, there is need to orient them on their LGUs and their newly acquired roles as development managers of their towns. There is also the immediate need to address their common concerns such as fulfilling their campaign promises, winning the trust and cooperation of opposing local leaders especially the legislative council, managing a bureaucracy that was already there, identifying the priority issues and its corresponding programs for interventions, and gaining the respect and support of the people.

Unlike in earlier years, these first-termer mayors will now have the opportunity to undergo an orientation program to be conducted by their peers – mayors who have been there before, and who have demonstrated exemplary and recognized practices in local governance. The orientation forms part of a series of term-based, capacity development programs, including a transition setting activity to ensure a smooth transition of authority between the old and new local chief executives, and a one-on-one, on-site coaching activity (Track 1) both to be facilitated by DILG/LGA; a peer-to-peer sharing activity as a way for neophyte mayors to learn from the experiences of their peers, entitled Orientation for Newly-Elected Mayors (ONE-M)(Track 2) to be undertaken by the Mayor’s Development Center of the LMP; and, an Alliance Building Activity (Track 3) to be spearheaded by the League of Provinces of the Philippines through the Governors. These programs, forming part of an attempt to develop a ‘harmonized and holistic capacity development delivery mechanism for the LGUs,’ is collectively known as the NEO program.


The ORIENTATION FOR NEWLY ELECTED MAYORS (ONE M)

Developed by the Mayor’s Development Center (MDC) of the League of Municipalities of the  Philippines (LMP), the Orientation for Newly-Elected Mayors (ONE-M) is a three-day activity designed to enable the local chief executive to effectively perform their role as development managers and change agents, and enable their municipalities to significantly contribute to nation building. It is the LMP/MDC’s response to the demands of its mayors for quality programs that would prepare them for the enormous duties and responsibilities that they have to perform. While there are existing orientation programs for newly – elected officials, much focus is always given on the legalities of running a municipality based on the Local Government Code of 1991, as well as the myriad policies and procedures from the national government agencies. It is indeed important to inform the mayors on their mandates and functions as well as their limitations as chief executives. However, it is also important to highlight the role of mayors as development managers of their own towns.

The orientation program will focus on the concepts and principles pertaining to public organization, development, decentralization, good governance, strategic management, and creating public values. A workshop on internal and external scanning was incorporated into the design to enable the first – term mayors to analyze the components vital to the development of their municipalities. This includes the bureaucracy as well as the existing socio–economic and political situation within the local government unit. Using a strategic management framework, the ONE-M is LMP’s response to the demands of municipal mayors for quality programs to equip them in the performance of their duties and responsibilities.


OBJECTIVES OF THE ORIENTATION FOR NEWLY-ELECTED MAYORS

The main goal of ONE-M is to enable the local chief executives to effectively perform their role as development managers and change agents, and enable their municipalities to significantly contribute to nation building. Among its objectives are the following:

• Serve as a venue to introduce to the newly-elected municipal mayors the concepts and principles of good governance, decentralization, development management, strategic planning, and creating public value;
• Introduce to the mayors the necessary values and attitudes for effective management     such as transparency, accountability, participatory, and adherence to the rule of law;
• Encourage and support municipal mayors to become development managers in
the context of good governance; and,
• Develop among the participants the desire to acquire the further knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to the performance of their duties and functions as well as undertake innovative approaches towards efficient service delivery.


SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY

The ONE-M is comprised of three major component activities:

• Conduct of a comprehensive research on municipalities, including their demographic features, financial profiles, and common issues.
• Conduct of coaching sessions for award – winning municipal mayors who will serve as resource persons and sharers for the orientation; and,
• Conduct/Roll – out of the Orientation Program

The ONE-M orientation program design includes the following sessions:

Session 1:  Strategic Management Framework for Creating Public Value
Session 2:  Scanning the External Environment
Session 3:  Scanning the Internal Environment
Session 4:  Sharing of Exemplary Practices by the Champion Mayors
Workshop: External and Internal Scanning
Session 5:  Presentation of Workshop Outputs
Session 6:  Synthesis
Session 7:  Dialogue with National Government Agencies

The ONE-M program will tap the services of professionals from within the MDC and the academe, and award-winning/champion mayors for an interactive, peer-to-peer sharing, customized based on the background of the mayors and the profile of their municipalities. A crucial part of the program is the dialogue between the newly – elected municipal mayors and representatives from key national government agencies. This will provide a venue for the local chief executives to clarify some concerns as well as discuss possible areas of cooperation with the national government agencies. On the other hand, the national government agencies presented their respective mandates and functions as well as their current medium – term programs and projects.

For 2010, some 13 to 14 batches of ONE-M are envisioned, with each batch comprising 35-40 participants. Strategic orientation venues, with easy access to airports and sea ports in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, will be identified. The following are the schedule of the ONE-M batches:

BATCH 1 (CAR, Regions I, II & III)	Clark	August 5-7, 2010
BATCH 2 (Regions VI, VII & VIII)	Cebu City	August 16-18
BATCH 3 (Regions VI, VII & VIII)	Cebu City	August 19-21
BATCH 4 (Regions IV-A, IV-B & V)	Metro Manila	August 30-Sept. 1
BATCH 5 (Regions IV-A, IV-B & V)	Metro Manila	September 2-4
BATCH 6 (Regions I, II, III & CAR)	Clark	September 13-15
BATCH 7 (Regions I, II, II & CAR)	Clark	September 16-18
BATCH 8 (Regions IX, XII, ARMM & CARAGA)	Cagayan de Oro	September 27-29
BATCH 9 (Regions IX, XII, ARMM & CARAGA)	Cagayan de Oro	September 30-Oct 2
BATCH 10(Regions I, II, III & CAR)	Metro Manila	October 11-13
BATCH 11(Regions IV-A, IV-B & V)	Metro Manila	October 14-16
BATCH 12(Regions X & XI)	Davao City	October 25-27
BATCH 13(Regions IX, XII, ARMM & CARAGA)	Davao City	October 28-30

ORIENTATION AND COACHING ACTIVITY (OCA) FOR ONE-M

Before the actual ONE-M roll-out, LMP-MDC will undertake a three-day coaching activity for some 25 champion mayors and would-be Resource Persons/Sharers. The activity will also serve to level expectations and approaches towards the sharing sessions including the dialogue between them and the participants, and avoid overlapping scopes for the sharing sessions. More importantly, there has to be complementation among the mayors to maximize learning. This means that mayors that have common specialization such as solid waste management will most likely be scheduled on separate batches. Thus, in one batch, five champion mayors will be sharing different but complementing exemplary practices, among them: rural micro enterprises/local economic development; solid waste management; nutrition; Phil Community eCenter; primary health care/health services delivery. Sharing of the mayors will, in effect, focus on the various advocacies of the LMP that the mayors are implementing in their localities. It is hoped that the OCA for ONE-M will serve to enhance/enrich the ONE-M module design, rationalize overlapping scopes and focus of the sharing of ‘best practices,’ form team composition per batch, finalize assignment/deployment schedules and draw-out the best among our champion mayors.