Jason Vitorillo, Lecturer in Arts Management at LaSalle College of the Arts, Singapore introduced a discourse on cultural governance and the complexities of power relations in the Philippine for Cultural Policy Observatory Ireland in Belfast in February 2018.

1. The Bayanihan Spirit:
Cultural Governance in the Philippines
Jason Vitorillo
Lecturer, BA(Hons) Arts Management
LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore

2. Is there a room for the Bayanihan ideology in cultural governance of
indigenous communities in the Philippines?
Cultural Policy in the Philippines
Cultural Democracy and Governance
Participatory Governance
Bayanihan
Critical discourse on the complexities of power relations and decentralization of cultural
governance.

3. Why is this study relevant?
Relevance for the practice field:
How do we analyze the process(es) of cultural governance, and assess the results and outcomes of
the governance of culture?
Can traditional modes of governance be turned into more democratic forms of decision-making?
Relevance for theory development: A research-based knowledge on cultural governance (models
and approaches) to intangible culture of indigenous communities.
Putting cultural governance in a broader political context – shifting from the government to
governance

4. Understanding cultural governance
Governance of culture (Copic & Srakar, 2016)
The new approaches to the formulation and implementation of sectorial cultural policy that are
inspired by the interaction of the state, civil society and the market.
The improvements in the steering and supervision of cultural organizations that lead to
efficiently, expertly, independently, and transparently-operating cultural organizations.

5. Understanding cultural governance
State
Market
Civil
Society

6. Understanding cultural governance
Tendency to ‘Moral Exhortation’
To function as a ‘watchdog’
To monitor communication flows and guards against the dissemination of false information
Defending institutional positions rather than opening up the decision-making arena

7. Understanding cultural governance
If planning is viewed as an interaction of the state, civil society and the market involving many
people, who should be the focus to bring about change?
Can we look at the broader spectrum of actors involved in – or excluded from – decision-making
efforts?
Can civil society organizations (NGOs) promote more participatory decision-making procedures, and
establish practices that are more inclusive, more balanced in terms of power relations, and more
directly linked to key decision-making centers?

8. NGOs in the Philippines
The basis for civil society in the Philippines is provided by the Filipino concepts of pakikipagkapwa
(holistic interaction with others) and kapwa, which means ”shared inner self.”
In practice, in the Philippines, voluntary assistance or charity connotes an equal status between the
provider of assistance and the recipient, which is embodied in the terms damayan (assistance of
peers in periods of crisis) and pagtutulungan (mutual self-help).
During the Marcos dictatorship, many NGOs had built up strong relationships with poor and/or
marginalized communities.
Post-Marcos governments partnered with NGOs in service delivery and public policy.

9. NGOs in the Philippines
During Arroyo’s administration (2001), the country’s Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan
(2004-2010), includes NGO participation as one strategy for implementing programs.
Organization of Philippine civil society today
NGOs and other civil groups have increased their effectiveness through networking and coalition
building, campaigning for policy reform, adopting good practice standards, and advancing
“sustainable development” as a uniting vision for all organizations.
People’s Organizations (POs) = community-based organizations (grassroots organizations) that are
generally composed of disadvantaged individuals who work to advance their members’ material or
social well-being.
NGOs are the intermediaries between the State and POs.

10. Bayanihan
A Filipino custom derived from the word bayan
which means a town or nation.
Also refers to the spirit of communal unity, work
and cooperation to achieve a particular goal.
A system of mutual help and concern which has
the backbone of family and village life throughout
the Philippine archipelago.

11. Why take a closer look at the Bayanihan ideology and the role of civil
society in cultural governance?
There are several characteristics of Filipino civil society that are unique:
Political activism takes on a larger role for Filipino organizations than elsewhere.
Welfare activities emanating from the non-government sector are clearly distinguished
from religious or state-initiated welfare activities (a strong secular foundation).
NGOs in the Philippines have benefited from government administrations that, since the
mid-1980s, have been generally supportive of civil society. This has resulted in one of the
most well-developed and institutionalized civil society sectors in the developing world.

12. Why take a closer look at the Bayanihan ideology and the role of civil
society in cultural governance?
Philippine NGOs have successfully advocated for a greater role in the delivery of social services,
stressing their strong relationships in local communities.
Local Governance Code (LGC) of 1991 establishes further the role for “people power” at the local
level.
The LGC is a formalization of the barangay or village system of local governance, which existed in
the Philippines before the arrival of the Spaniards.
It mandates the transfer of power, resources (40% of internal revenue to local bodies), and
responsibilities from national to local governments through a process of devolution.

13. “Turning the ‘Centralization vs. Decentralization argument’ into the notion of ‘Desetatisation’”
A multi-dimensional response which preserves the fundamentals of cultural heritage as ‘public
goods’, without condemning superintendents and curators to be victims of the extreme rigours of
public law in activities run as public entities.
Shifts in governance within regions – public, private and non-profit actors.
Degrees of cultural cooperation that can exist in regional spaces.
Combinations of horizontal, vertical and lateral collaborations, rather than a market-based or
hierarchy-based relations.

14. Thank you!
jason.vitorillo@lasalle.edu.sg