The GIZ Programs on Environment and Rural Development (EnRD) and Decentralization (DP) seek to enable partners in pursuing sustainable and decentralized natural resource governance anchored on a strong participatory planning approach. Interventions consist mainly of advisory services and capacity development measures in the areas of local development planning, budget and expenditure management, co
nflict and gender sensitivity plus climate proofing. The Program partners consist of sixteen local government units in Leyte Island and one inter-LGU alliance of 7 LGUs in Negros Occidental. The partnership is focused on capacity development on Participatory Land Use and Development Planning (PLUDP) as a tool to attain two objectives. First, it is aimed to match community needs and aspirations with basic support services delivery packages of Local Government Units, National Government Agencies and the private sector. Second, the tool plays an important role to integrate barangay planning into a three-level planning approach comprising of the barangay, the municipal and the provincial level. This approach is based on the Rationalized Planning System (RPS) promoted by Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG). The RPS is currently implemented following the passage of the Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) No. 1, Series of 2007 signed by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Finance (DoF), and Department of Budget and Management (DBM) with the Housing Land-Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) as extended member. The Provincial Governments of Leyte and Southern Leyte have undertaken considerable efforts to update the relevant information compliant to the planning systems and standards of the Philippine Planning Authorities’ guidelines particularly those of the Comprehensive Land Use Planning (CLUP) and Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP). These gaps have been affirmed in an internal study conducted by a GIZ Intern in 2010. It was found that relevant information was not easily available as secondary data and that data collection requires considerable efforts, as many data have to be collected as primary data. Against this background there is a need to have a consolidated and integrated primary and secondary data building process in place to allow LGU's to implement mandated plans. There is also a need to further streamline the minimum requirements for planning data together with partners (Municipal/City, Provincial, Regional) and HLURB/DILG.
