Name: Bay, Rica Alexandra Marie S.

Course and Section: AB Political Science PSC31

Subject: Political Economy PSCE314

Professor: Mr. Jumel G. Estrañero

University: De La Salle University Dasmariñas

Dependence versus Self-Reliance?: Non-Governmental Organizations' contiguous

beacon of hope in the Philippines

I. Introduction

The new Coronavirus disease started to spread globally in December 2019 in Wuhan,
China. Governments' ability to control the crisis and return things to normal is limited due to the
spread and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, so they need the help of the public and a variety
of civil society organizations and institutions to help them formulate an effective, collective
response. Despite having biological roots, COVID-19 is primarily a social issue because of the
societal effects it has. COVID-19 has social reasons because it is influenced by food culture,
lifestyle, and social interaction. These elements aid in the spread of the illness by transferring it
from the sufferers to other members of society. Additionally, because COVID-19 has spread like
an epidemic and caused widespread worry, it has some societal repercussions. Non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) are a variety of organizations that are either completely or partially
independent of the government. Over time, NGOs have increased their influence in the health
sector.

In modern society, decentralization has a wide range of effects. Decentralization, it is

commonly asserted, brings decision-making closer to the people. It promotes a participative
government culture and adapts to regional demands. In the past few decades, there has been an
upsurge in the number of nations that have attempted to decentralize their government functions.
Donors (including the World Bank, the European Union, and the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development, among others) have also put pressure on nations receiving
international aid to decentralize to increase the responsiveness, efficacy, and efficiency of public
service delivery. Decentralization is often influenced by global trends and the idea that
community engagement and motivation are needed for growth rather than top-down planning. To
become less bureaucratic, governments are also decentralizing with the goal of enhancing local
government administration and performance. There is also an understanding that because
centrally run programs do not always account for local requirements and characteristics in the
planning process, they do not always ensure efficient delivery at the local level.

To reduce unnecessary bureaucracy, efficiently deliver services, and eradicate critical

problems and local desires, the current thought is that residents must be involved in
decisionmaking and implementation. In many nations, citizens have banded together and are
increasingly more active and assertive, particularly when it comes to social, economic,
environmental, and political issues. When an issue directly affects them, they collaborate through
nongovernmental organizations to influence the decision-making process. Participation of the
populace democratizes the political system by making decision-making more transparent. Citizens
will be able to hold elected officials more accountable for their choices in formulating policy if
they are given a voice in the process.

Since a few decades ago, non-governmental organizations have grown at an

unprecedented rate as citizens with similar interests' band together and participate voluntarily in
official decisionmaking. This phenomenon's fundamental tenet is that citizens seek to
communicate their concerns to the government through nongovernmental organizations, which
then fight for the fulfillment of their needs and aspirations in the supervision of policies and in the
dissemination of information to promote participation. The government can now communicate
with the public through nongovernmental organizations, and the government can also use them to
help those who are most in need.

The ability of residents to take charge of their lives and improve their neighborhoods
could be strengthened by the decentralization of power to local governments and the expanding
capability and stability of neighborhood-level non-governmental groups. The planning and
administration of programs tend to become responsive and the delivery effective in response to
the aspirations of the citizens through participatory decision-making processes involving the local
government and the nongovernmental organizations that represent them. This simultaneously
motivates the citizens to participate and ultimately empowers them.

The Philippines' current laws and regulations offer several opportunities for
nongovernmental organizations to participate in local administration. The Local Government Act
is the main statute that established NGO participation in local government structures.

Il. BODY

According to the study of Lewis et al., (2020), there is an occurrence of development in

Non-Governmental Organization. It grows over time into a larger scale as well as increased their
profiles nationally and internationally. As this occurrence stated, it signifies that the performance
of Non-Governmental Organization is in its effective way of working and merging with the public
and with the government organization. If a certain community has the same idea on improving
and developing the public or the people, it grows further and attracts people with the same
intention or ideas which will be the cause of interaction between the people and nongovernmental
organizations.

As stated by Rebeca Suay (2022), Non-Organization is derived from salaried staff,

volunteers, and voluntary workers.

Inside the organization there are permanent people who are expected to have salaries
which also include some volunteers and workers. In this concept, it clearly illustrates that the
organization contains people who have the willingness to serve and help the public in regard to its
situation. The following members coordinate with each other to be able to sustain the
development of the society having the same agenda and intention. Suay (2022), also stated that
the reasons for justification of Non-Governmental Organizations are poverty, humanitarian crises,
and threats to the environment. In the Philippines, there are millions of Filipinos who live poorly,
specifically amidst the pandemic. As the increase in prices of basic commodities occurred,
poverty increases which means that there are millions of Filipinos suffering in the said cases. In
line with the humanitarian crisis, it includes the occurrence of violence. Particularly in regard to
activism, rights, and freedom that Filipino wanted to fight for. Living in a country that exercises
democracy,

Non-Governmental
Organization

Salaried Volunteered
Staff Workers
Volunteers

activism, rights, and freedom are normally exercised yet being given limitedly because of the said
crisis. Lastly, threats to the environment that is basically how the environment is affected by the
actions of some citizens such as illegal logging, improper throwing of garbage, and other things
that affect the environment. Having the following reasons, it shows that Non-Governmental
Organization has a huge role and contribution in the public as it is an open system that produces
many opportunities to help and save the country. It became the root source of help to improve the
society or the country because of having the same intention for the country’s development. As of
today’s situation, especially during the threat and danger of Covid-19 pandemic,
NonGovernmental Organizations have a fast pandemic response which gains a lot of attention
because of having the willingness to help the country. Furthermore, Non-Governmental
Organizations are not only providing commodities to help the public, as stated by Lewis et al.,
(2020), it also builds different infrastructures, schools, charities, and hospitals that have a huge
contribution in the economy and development of the country in line with decentralization. Talking
about its funds, there are two kinds of funds as mentioned by Lewis (2020) where NGOs could
attain. First is the public funds which could conduct a particular activity for a cause which is the
goal for its project or the cause will be allotted to the project. Second, the private fund which
NGOs could raise events to raise money. Both sources of funds can be regular donations for as
long as there are projects given to be able to provide a clear and precise the donors.

According to the Child Hope Philippines (2021), it serves additional help to promote
and support the well-being of people. The means to help attracts people to donate, support, and
stand with the same goal towards success in achieving the development of the society. The
importance of Non-Governmental Organization is that it shows pure intention to help the public
either about advocacies or building different infrastructures that are beneficial for people who
need employment and shelters. Other than that, NGOs are more efficient in terms of providing or
donating basic commodities for people who are less privileged, more specifically people who are
affected by typhoons, floods, and other disasters that affect the lives of the people. It also helps
the country's economy to grow as NGOs could coordinate sectors internationally and nationally
which are helpful in running the economic system of the country. Each transaction or donation
internationally is equivalent to a certain tax that will be contributed to the country. Furthermore, it
helps the citizen to have a clear advocacy on having unity because of attracting positive ideas to
improve the society, demolishing inappropriate occurrences in the country such as violence,
poverty, and environmental crisis.

In this study, it provides how citizens could actually become significant in line with
decision-making which are connected to how non-governmental organizations work. As it
consists commonly of volunteers with the same intentions to make, it is more likely to come up as
an idea of providing solutions that will affect and benefit the country. However, there are aspects
of becoming dependent on Non-Governmental Organization as a hope who could help and having
the state of mind of self-reliant which certainly tackles about having one's own power. The study
particularly pertains how hope for the capability of Non-Governmental Organization could help
the society become dependent for the citizens which could affect being self-reliant because of
relying on the NGOs help and capacity as it has the aims to do so. It precisely shows that being
able to participate in decision making as part of a democratic country is such an aim to achieve
because it provides clear ideas and intentions for the future of the society. As volunteerism is
involved, there is a unity to visualize. Knowing the fact that participating in a Non-Governmental
Organization was like emerging people with the same interest that has the same movement to
achieve a great future and advocacy for everyone in the society. In addition, the government
allows the NGOs to participate in the society and it also allows each other to contribute and help
each other for the sake of the country’s development.
Ill. ANALYSIS

The rapid spread and severe nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments require the
participation of society as well as the cooperation of a diverse range of civil society organizations
and institutions to form an effective, collective response. This is because the governments' ability
to control the crisis and return the situation to normal is limited. The term "non-governmental
organizations refers to a diverse group of organizations that are either wholly or partially
independent of the government and prioritize the advancement of humanitarian or cooperative
causes over the pursuit of financial gain. Over the course of time, non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) have amassed considerable authority in the sphere of health.

Several researchers have observed that a better and more effective response to crises in a
country can result from planned and harmonized operations carried out by non-governmental
organizations (NGOs). To respond more swiftly to emergencies, non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) have a deeper link with the populations they serve, benefit from more flexible processes,
and require less paperwork than official institutions. When national governments are unable to
meet the requirements of their populations on their own, non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
play a crucial role in ensuring that such needs are met. This was demonstrated by the experiences
of various nations in response to COVID-19. Even though restrictive policies toward society
greatly curtailed the function of NGOs, these organizations continued to play an active part in
emergency services, fundraising, volunteering, mutual help, in-kind contributions, and policy
lobbying in a number of different countries. Studies have also indicated that nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs) and community-based organizations (CBOs) have been an important factor
in determining the success of local restraint methods.

The COVID-19 pandemic has not yet been brought under control, there is an
unprecedented need for all parties involved to perform their part in bringing this pandemic under
control. In addition, given that the situation is anticipated to have several short-term and long-
term consequences on a significant number of people who are extremely susceptible, the
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) need to be reinforced to provide a prompt reaction to the
COVID-19 problems. On the other hand, it is not quite obvious how non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) should be maximized, mobilized, and exploited in response to COVID-19
and the procedures that are already in place. Additionally, non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) will not be exempt from the administrative restrictions that will be imposed because of
the pandemic. These restrictions will make it difficult for NGOs to continue their work and will
reduce their ability to assist families in need. As a result, more research must be conducted in
order to assess the response of NGOs during COVID-19 in a variety of circumstances and
determine the difficulties they face.

Non-governmental organizations play such an important part in supporting the

government in crisis management, it is imperative that they be given more authority in order to
improve responses. After the COVID-19 crisis and the experiences that revealed the beneficial
engagement of the NGOs in coping with this crisis, it became clear that this requirement was
much more important than it had been before. However, it has been recommended that this
capability be used more efficiently by codifying and clarifying the authority and obligations of
NGOs in emergency situations. This would allow for a more efficient use of the capacity. It is
also recommended to increase the capacity of these institutions and intervene in order to establish
a constructive and long-term relationship with the government. This is because there are crucial
challenges for their participation, such as the NGO's access to the target groups, a lack of
communication network, and constructive interaction between government institutions and the
NGOs. Considering these challenges, it is recommended to increase the capacity of these
institutions.

IV. RECOMMENDATION

The unforeseen nature of the crisis and lack of preparedness to mitigate it, the society's
rapidly increasing need and vulnerability, the disruption of routine in-person services, dangers to
the health and wellbeing of NGOs staff, the cessation of support from charities, the unfavorable
environment of the nation's technology infrastructure, and ineffective resource management were
some of the difficulties faced by NGOs in providing essential services during COV. Conceptually
connected to the nature of the crisis were the challenges of not knowing the disease, not knowing
how long the crisis would last, and not planning.

The officials involved in a wide range of activities in response to the pandemic, including
the identification of those in need, the provision of livelihood options, income generation, and job
creation, health and disease prevention services, trust-building for vaccination, screening, and
care for families with affected or missing members, the assistance of psychological services,
awarenessraising and training services, dynamic interaction and close collaboration with other
institutions, hospitalization, and more. In addition, the NGOs were compelled to alter the way
they provide their regular services because of the circumstances. One of the NGO's strategies to
give vulnerable populations priority and address their most basic needs was to identify those who
needed help.

One challenge NGO encounter is the interactions with government, The development of
the best partnerships between NGOs and their peers or the government has been obscured and
hampered by some interaction issues. The Covid pandemic has not changed these problems.
Unawareness of the functions, strategies, and capabilities of other NGOs contributes to another
aspect of the NGOs' difficulties. Negative attitudes mostly involve mistrust of both the
government and NGOs. This mistrust is rooted in politics, and as a result, the government is
reluctant to embrace nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) as a social movement independent
of ideological branding. Interaction with other institutions was difficult due to the political sides'
adversarial attitudes toward one another, their ignorance of one another's roles, plans, and
capacities, the NGOs' unreasonable expectations of the government, their lack of recognition of
their right to free action, deficiencies in the creation and implementation of laws, the disarray in
the current administrative procedures, and the lack of support from the governing administrations.

This category is focused to finding answers to the difficulties that the NGOs encountered
during the participation process and serves as the cornerstone for ongoing crisis management
efforts. Implementing these strategies is mostly the responsibility of the government and its body.
Solutions included the provision of up-to-date data, planning, and direction; recognition of rights;
the status and function of institutions; technical and training; physical, human, and financial
support; encouragement of a culture of social involvement; and facilitation of decision-making.
The objective of current information is to give NGOs access to the most recent scientific
knowledge. The creation of a database by scientific institutes is one of the suggested solutions in
this area.

Above all recommendation, the main objective of this paper is to acknowledge the NGO
thus the commitment of governments to win the public's support, gain its trust, and give these
entities legal standing is at the center of the recognition of the rights, status, and function of
NGOs.

V. CONCLUSION AND WAY AHEAD

This dissertation was initially motivated by the belief that local government and NGOs
rarely collaborate or perform in a way that can be clearly seen. This is due to two factors. First,
citizens have no way of knowing when initiatives, projects, or activities that call for NGO-local
government collaboration are being planned and implemented. Second, there is no hard evidence
of the results of the collaboration between local governments and NGOs.

The necessity of empowering NGOs for better responsiveness stems from their crucial
role in aiding the government in crisis management. The COVID-19 problem and the experiences
that showed how well the NGOs were able to contribute to its management made this demand
even more pressing. However, it is recommended that this capability be utilized more successfully
by codifying and outlining the rights and duties of NGOs under dire circumstances. Additionally,
it is advised to strengthen these institutions' capacities and take action to establish a positive and
lasting relationship with the government in light of the significant obstacles to their participation,
such as NGO access to the target groups, a lack of communication networks, and constructive
interaction between government institutions and NGOs.

VI. REFERENCES

• Lewis, D., Kanji, N., & Themudo, N.S. (2020). Non-Governmental Organizations and
Development (2nd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429434518
 • C. (2022, April 3). How do Non-Governmental Organizations function? | Cloverhut.
Cloverhut. Retrieved January 5, 2023, from https://cloverhut.com/blog/how-do-
nongovernmental-organisations-function
• (2021, January 11). Non-government Organization in the Philippines: Constant Beacon
of
Hope. ChildHope Philippines. Retrieved January 5, 2023,
from https://childhope.org.ph/non-government-organization-in-the-philippines/
• Work, R (2002). “Overview of Decentralization Worldwide: A Stepping Stone to
Improved Governance and Human Development.” United Nations Development
Programme.
http://biblioteca.unmsm.edu.pe/redlieds/Recursos/archivos/gestionestado/overviewdecent
ralization-worldwide-paper.pdf. Accessed 28 November 2011

Message to you Professor

I want to thank you for transforming a subject that I was afraid I would dislike into, a class that I
really enjoyed attending. My semester was honestly one of the nicest I've ever had thanks to you. 
We appreciate you making such a large class seem intimate and enjoyable. Thank you for always
making way to reach out on us and spread the word of God. Truly God works in mysterious ways.
You have brought me, us closer to God and that what’s make each passing day a positive one.
You’re such an inspiration sir, despite the heavy work loads and attending law school, you still
make sure to attend our class. I pray that God would always guide and protect you, long live
wisdom, and good health.

Thank you again Sir, I appreciate your wonderful lectures, insightful comments, and unwavering
support.