Political Science and Public Administration

Two decades back, the vision set by Southeast Asia’s leaders was clear: place the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at the center of regional architecture by creating a community integrated on the aspects of economy, politics and security, and socio-cultural affairs. The vision became more ambitious and urgent when leaders agreed to accelerate the process of integration from 2020 to 2015. The regional organization however has yet to see fully the fruits of its labor. The challenges in Southeast Asia remain the same, but are also evolving—glaring socio-economic inequalities, poor urban centers, and serious development gaps in terms of health, education, and housing. It is also a site of major flash points, examples include territorial disputes and internal armed struggles. Finally, there is an increasing push to revisit the organization’s consensus decisionmaking as it hampers significant advances to regional governance. Such a backdrop calls for numerous courses of action, and the paper points to one of Southeast Asia’s strongest points—local governments as partners for sustainable ASEAN Community. Two important insights in this paper support this argument: one that ASEAN is home to states that are organically localized and community-based, as evidenced in pre-colonial history but also as reflected in majority of the decentralized structures of government in the region. Second, existing mechanisms of city-to-city
cooperation are low-hanging fruits that should be harnessed to accelerate deeper regional integration. These activities bring to the fore broader public awareness and participation as LGUs enjoy proximity and is the frontline agency for service delivery. A sense of public ownership is essential to have a firmer grip on regional community-building, and LGUs are viable stakeholders for effective regional development and growth.