The recently announced Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-asa — or “Back to the Province, New Hope” in Filipino — program of the government has been met with a great deal of skepticism, and it is understandable why. The idea of decongesting Metro Manila’s overcrowded slums and distributing some economic activity to other parts of the country has been around since at least the Marcos administration, but has never been successful, and there is nothing about the sketchy details of the Duterte administration’s plan that inspires confidence this attempt would be any different.

The reason it is an inevitable disappointment is that it lacks depth, and the reason that it does is that initiatives at the national level are only practical within a three- or four-year timeframe due to the peculiar nature of this country’s political framework. But at the local government level — from the provincial level and downward — there is a greater chance of policy continuity.

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