The Dynamic Interface Between Bustos Alliance of Christian Churches and the Municipality of Bustos, Bulacan in the Good Governance and Transparency Advocacy

This paper explores the dynamic interface between Bustos Alliance of Christian Churches and the public servants of the municipality of Bustos as advocates of good governance and transparency. As a practitioner of community development, the mayor of Bustos, Bulacan has introduced participatory governance since he was elected in 2010. The partakers of this form of governance are representatives of various sectors such as the members of Bustos Alliance of Christian Churches who have been empowered to safeguard the budget and monitor the expenditures of the municipality. They actively participate in the planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating the municipal development program. This alliance collaborates with the municipal government and in return, the latter allocates fund to their activities that address holistic development of the people of Bustos.

The researcher uses Pierre Bourdieu’s ‘practice theory’ and the theory on participatory governance as its framework in this research. It also utilizes in-depth interview of the key informants, participant –observation and triangulation. Key informants include the mayor, the municipal councilors, the secretary to the mayor, the municipal department heads and the officers and members of Bustos Alliance of Christian Churches. Participant-observation is done during the actual municipal planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Triangulation is done to validate the data gathered. Findings are analyzed using specifically the theory on participatory  governance of Dr. Oscar P. Ferrer of the University of the Philippines followed by the conclusion and recommendation derived from the result of the study.