PROPOSING A NEW CABINET CLUSTER FOR CONVERGENCE IN BASIC SERVICES

PROPOSING A NEW CABINET CLUSTER FOR CONVERGENCE IN BASIC SERVICES

In past years, I proposed the formation of a Technical Working Group (TWG) to tackle the convergence of basic services in the Philippines. Now, I propose something more strategic and powerful: a new Cabinet Cluster for Basic Services Convergence — a permanent, high-level body tasked with integrating, coordinating, and monitoring the delivery of twelve essential services at the barangay level.

Let’s start with context. For many years, the phrase “basic needs” floated around government circles without clarity. We started with the “eleven basic needs,” including food, clothing, shelter, and so on. But times change, and so do people’s needs. Today, I propose that we shift from thinking in terms of needs to thinking in terms of services. Services, after all, are what government is meant to deliver.

My updated list includes education, employment, energy, entrepreneurship, food, justice, health, mobility, recreation, safety, shelter, and water. These twelve are alphabetically listed and reflect today’s realities. I dropped “clothing” because ukay-ukays have essentially democratized that need. “Power” is now more comprehensively “energy,” and “livelihood” is split into “employment” and “entrepreneurship.” “Ecological balance” is now part of “safety.”

But we must ask: Who oversees the delivery of these services? The problem is that, for many of them, the lead agency isn’t always clear. Some responsibilities overlap or fall through bureaucratic cracks. For example:

·       Education is shared between DepEd and CHED. Add TESDA under DOLE, and suddenly three agencies are involved.

·       Water services are under the NWRB (chaired by DENR), but LWUA is under DPWH, MWSS is a GOCC under no department, and irrigation is under the DA via NIA.

·       Safety services are split between DILG (PNP, BJMP, BFP), DND (through NDRRMC), and PCCC, which handles climate change. The DENR, oddly enough, is often left out despite its role in environmental safety.

With such fragmentation, the delivery of basic services becomes inefficient and inconsistent. Hence, the need for convergence is more urgent than ever — not just for coordination’s sake, but for impact.

The Solution: A Cabinet Cluster for Basic Services Convergence

Currently, the Philippine government has Cabinet Clusters for concerns such as the Security, Justice and Peace Cluster; the Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Cluster; and the Human Development and Poverty Reduction Cluster. What I propose is a new cluster focused specifically on the holistic convergence of basic services across national agencies and down to the barangay level.

This new Cabinet Cluster would:

1.   Assign clear leads for each of the twelve basic services while ensuring the participation of all stakeholders.

2.   Consolidate overlapping mandates, creating streamlined protocols among agencies.

3.   Oversee barangay-level data collection on household access to basic services, emphasizing accessibility over affordability as the initial measure.

4.   Use data to measure progress, track bottlenecks, and inform policy.

5.   Institutionalize private sector participation via business chambers, civic groups, and corporate foundations.

6.   Synchronize digital reporting systems across agencies for real-time convergence of data, content, and service delivery plans.

In short, this new cluster should not just talk convergence — it must build convergence from the barangay up, with national oversight and local ownership.

The Barangay as the Unit of Convergence

Let us also agree that the barangay must be the basic physical unit of service delivery. That’s where lives are lived, and that’s where development must be felt. If we cannot measure improvement at the barangay level, then our national plans will always fall short of reality.

To do that, we need benchmark data — starting with whether each household has access to each of the twelve basic services. And I stress: the focus must be on accessibility, not income or affordability. We must ask: is the service even within reach, regardless of the family’s financial capacity?

Once the “access map” is clear, we can ask follow-up questions about affordability and quality. Only then can we design programs that are truly pro-poor and pro-development — not just based on ideology but grounded.

Breaking Silos in Government

The convergence effort will also demand a shift in bureaucratic culture. Departments must stop operating in silos. Data must be shared. Plans must be harmonized. Reporting systems must be interoperable. Without that, the promise of convergence will remain just another buzzword.

The private sector, too, must be more than donors or “implementing partners.” Their real value lies in bringing innovation, speed, and sustainability into the equation. That’s why I recommend the institutional inclusion of civic groups and business foundations within the cluster’s policy framework.

Conclusion: One Goal, One Platform

This new Cabinet Cluster should serve as the platform for “one government” delivering to the farthest barangay. That is how convergence becomes real. And that is how we can measure the true success of our nation-building efforts — not by GDP growth alone, but by household access to the services that matter most.

Let us move beyond plans and pilots. It is time for a government-wide convergence, backed by a Cabinet Cluster that has both the political mandate and the operational muscle to make it happen.

Ramon Ike V. Seneres, www.facebook.com/ike.seneres
iseneres@yahoo.com, 09088877282, senseneres.blogspot.com

09-03-2025