Local Governments, Civil Society, Democratization, and Development 135 its eventual split into two groups. He notes the gains from the ini a ve but also stresses a few weaknesses, including the fact that clientelist thinking and behavior con nue to hold sway and the delay in moving up ini a ves to the municipal or city level. 8 h p://openbub.gov.ph/wb_gaa_chart 9 The bibingka model was first introduced by Saturnino “Jun” Borras, drawn from his experience of working with agrarian communi es where collabora on between agrarian reform beneficiaries, civil society groups, and agencies of the state proved to be beneficial to the communi es. Former President Fidel V. Ramos subsequently expropriated this concept to put a mass-oriented flavor to his administra on's ini a ve when he convened a summit against poverty that subsequently produced the Social Reform Agenda. 10 With the choices indicated in the table, the ques ons for the three surveys were preceded by the following statements: a. October 15-27, 2005 Survey “if the allega ons that an incumbent president cheated in the elec ons are proven will you…”; b. February 21-March 8, 2008 survey, “Currently, there are some sectors of society asking for the resigna on of government officials linked to the ZTE Broadband deal and there are some who are holding protest ac ons like prayer rallies or demonstra ons, will you…”; c. April 23-25, 2010 survey, “if the results of the forthcoming elec ons will not be clean and credible, will you…” All surveys were done by Pulse Asia Inc. 11 As a characteris c of federalism and alongside other ins tu onal designs such as parliamentarism and a system of checks and balances. Schmi er, Philippe. “Twenty five years: fi een findings.” Journal of Democracy. 21.1.17-28. 12 For the years 1992 to 2006 from h p://www.newsbreak.com.ph/democracyandgovernance /lgu-internal% 20revenue%20allotment%20(1992-2006).html while the subsequent years were culled from the General Appropria ons Act from the Department of Budget and Management website. 13 Other awards include the Local Government Leadership Award conferred by a group that was spearheaded by former Senator Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel. There is also an award given by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry for Business-Friendly LGUs. 14 The categories followed the Galing Pook Award categoriza on of projects that were awarded from 1994 to 2010, with slight modifica ons of the author. We acknowledge the help of the Galing Pook Award in providing us the full list of awardees on which this table was based. Any omission or error in classifying the awardees is the author's responsibility alone 15 As noted in the TAF Rapid Appraisal Report Synopsis. 16 It is ordinary for statutes in the Philippines to be infused with flaws inasmuch as the process of legisla on involves bargaining and log-rolling among legislators and groups which they represent and aim to sa sfy. In the case of the LGC, Guevara notes that the expenditure part of the statute was largely the work of the Senate while the income side was the handiwork of the House. Diokno (Decentraliza on in the Philippines a er 10 years: what have we learned? What have I learned? 2003. Retrieved from h p://www.econ.upd.edu.ph/ dp/index.php/dp/ar cle/viewFile/32/27 h p://www.econ.upd.edu.ph/dp/index.php/ dp/ar cle/view/32/27) talks about the grandstanding among the leaders of Congress, raising the IRA share from the originally proposed 20% of na onal revenues to as high as 45% and the chambers subsequently agreeing with the Execu ve then to bring it down to a phased sharing. 17 Milwida M. Guevara, “The fiscal decentraliza on process in the Philippines: Lessons from experience”. 2004. Retrieved from h p://www.econ.hit-u.ac.jp/~kokyo/APPPsympo04/ Philippine-Guevara.pdf 18 A Newsbreak report (“GMA Crea ng too many LGUs”) revealed that former President Arroyo created, with Congressional approval, a total of 3 provinces, 22 ci es, 17 municipali es, and 52 barangays from January 2001 to December 2006. Under the short term of former President Estrada, the number of provinces did not increase, the number of