To further advance the Department’s decentralization and local governance reform agenda, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Region XI, through the Decentralization and Local Governance Reform Advocacy Program – Project Management Office (DLGRAP-PMO), successfully convened the 2025 Regional Decentralization Conference (RDC) on October 24, 2025 at The Ritz Hotel at Garden Oases, Bo. Obrero, Davao City.
Building on the gains of the inaugural conferences held nationwide in 2024, this year’s RDC served as a platform for sustained dialogue and collaboration among local scholars, governance practitioners, and key stakeholders from local government units, regional line agencies, the academe, and civil society organizations. The activity aimed to gather diverse perspectives on the state of decentralization, identify pressing governance challenges, and generate evidence-based recommendations to inform policy reforms and program development.
A key highlight of the conference was the presentation of the commissioned research study jointly undertaken by DILG XI and the University of Southeastern Philippines – College of Development Management (USeP-CDM) entitled “Development of a Fiscal Governance Model among Local Government Units (LGUs) in Davao Region.” The study aims to provide a contextualized framework for strengthening fiscal governance and enhancing the financial management capacities of LGUs in the region.
The regional discussions likewise consolidated insights and policy recommendations that will be transmitted to the DILG Central Office and relevant bureaus to further refine the Department’s decentralization initiatives and ensure that national policies remain responsive, inclusive, and grounded in local realities.