The Center for Research and Communication (CRC) will be hosting a Forum on Local Governance and Development on October 22, 2025 at the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) as part of Local Governance Month.

Following the core function of CRC as an institution that brings together research and advocacy to benefit the common good, the Forum on Local Governance will be a platform that promotes reasoned and evidence-based dialogue about the challenges and opportunities facing local communities across the Philippines, encourages the exchange of ideas about solutions to local government challenges, advocate good governance approaches at the local level, and positions CRC and the University of Asia and the Pacific as premier institutions in the quest to improve local governance in the country.

The topic of this Inaugural Forum will be an update on the implementation of the 2019 Mandanas-Garcia Supreme Court ruling, and the implications it has had, and will have, on how local governments navigate development challenges given the new configuration of resources and mandates stemming from the ruling.

Speakers will include renowned economist and CRC’s Co-Founder Dr. Bernardo M. Villegas and Batangas Vice Governor Hermilando Mandanas who initiated the court challenge which culminated in the 2018 Supreme Court ruling more popularly known now as the Mandanas-Garcia ruling.
Joining him are leading local governance scholar Dr. Alex Brillantes, Director Ana Liza Bonagua of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), and Secretary Ernesto V. Perez of the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA).

The forum will also be the venue to officially launch the CRC Institute for Local Development.