The Curious Cases of Philippine Civil Society and Decentralization 8 One of the noteworthy initiatives of CSOs at the barangay level was working with these community organizations to provide local leaders with training in electoral campaign management and subsequently, for those who won in the 1997 barangay elections, in participatory barangay governance. The groups that spearheaded the initiative, NGOs affiliated with POPDEMS, subsequently formed the Barangay Bayan Governance Consortium in 1999 and launched many more trainings using the Barangay Administration and Training Manual (BATMAN). Nathan Quimpo (Contested Democracy and the Left in the Philippines After Marcos, Yale Monograph 58, 2007) recounts and assesses the experience of BCBG and its eventual split into two groups. He notes the gains from the initiative but also stresses a few weaknesses, including the fact that clientelist thinking and behavior continue to hold sway and the delay in moving up initiatives to the municipal or city level. 9 The bibingka model was first introduced by Saturnino “Jun” Borras, drawn from his experience of working with agrarian communities where collaboration between agrarian reform beneficiaries, civil society groups, and agencies of the state proved to be beneficial to the communities. Former President Fidel V. Ramos subsequently expropriated this concept to put a mass-oriented flavor to his administration's initiative when he convened a summit against poverty that subsequently produced the Social Reform Agenda. 10 With the choices indicated in the table, the questions for the three surveys were preceded by the following statements: a. October 15-27, 2005 Survey “if the allegations that an incumbent president cheated in the elections are proven will you…”; b. February 21-March 8, 2008 survey, “Currently, there are some sectors of society asking for the resignation of government officials linked to the ZTE Broadband deal and there are some who are holding protest actions like prayer rallies or demonstrations, will you…”; c. April 23-25, 2010 survey, “if the results of the forthcoming elections will not be clean and credible, will you…” All surveys were done by Pulse Asia Inc. 11 As a characteristic of federalism and alongside other institutional designs such as parliamentarism and a system of checks and balances. Schmitter, Philippe. “Twenty five years: fifteen findings.” Journal of Democracy. 21.1.17-28. 12 For the years 1992 to 2006 from http://www.newsbreak.com.ph/democracyandgovernance/lgu-interna l% 20revenue%20allotment%20(1992-2006).html while the subsequent years were culled from the General Appropriations 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. 179