Philippines

From 2008 to 2010 the CSI was implemented in the Philippines by Caucus of Development NGO Networks (CODE-NGO).

An Assessment of Phillipine Civil Society

The Philippines civil society is seen as one of the most vibrant and active in Asia with its deep and expansive root in society as shown by the high level of participation. The 1987 Constitution, which was enforced after the 1986 citizen led non-violent and peaceful revolt, recognises the value of people’s participation. This high level of participation can be seen to ultimately lead to strong perceptions of the impact of CSO work in the areas of poverty reduction and environmental protection.

Despite these positives, CSOs report that their work is hampered by low levels of trust in Filipino society, including lack of trust in CSOs. There is a gap in CSOs having publicly available codes of conduct or ethics to guide their operations. This is also coupled with a perception of pervasive corruption and is related to weak board governance within the NGO sector.

Some of the recommendations cited to improve civil society in the country were: to strengthen governance mechanisms within CSOs, develop consensus on labour and environmental standards for CSOs and to improve the financial and human resource capacity of CSOs.

CSI Country Reports in the Philippines