Institutional Challenges to Collaborative Governance on Disaster Risk Reduction The Case of Marikina River and Watershed

One of the key challenges in Philippine development is the desire among local government units to engage in collaborative arrangements on the management of common resources in the context of disaster risk and reduction. To add, certain constraints indicated in Philippine policies and laws like the Local Government Code of 1991 contribute in bridging the relationship between the local government entities. In LGC, the local autonomy specified the significance of spatial boundary, financial resource management delimitation and political subdivision in the desire to cooperate in administration of overlapping resources. Understanding the fact that disasters recognize no boundaries, the environmental sustainability of common pool resources is now at stake. The study puts into consideration the case of Marikina Watershed and Marikina River. It highlights the experiences of some local government units in managing the environmental degradation and absence of effective governance of the river and watershed. The paper utilized qualitative approach and descriptive research design. The study found out that the management of common resources like the Marikina river and watershed in the context of mitigating disasters required the collaboration of nearby local government units and stakeholders.

Keywords – collaborative governance, common pool resources, disaster risk reduction and management, Marikina watershed and river