About 107 years ago, the basic foundation for municipal governments in the country was laid with the promulgation of the Maura Law on May 19,  1893.  Named after the then Spanish Minister of Colonies, the law reorganized town governments in the Philippines with the aim of making them more effective and autonomous.  It created the municipal council headed by a captain (mayor), with expanded powers for such tasks as revenue-raising, budget preparation, public works supervision, and others.

Even as the Maura Law granted very limited powers (given the context of colonial rule), it was nevertheless significant.  It created the basic municipal organization that was later adopted, revised, and further strengthened by the American and Filipino governments that succeeded Spanish rule.

Throughout the past century, however, practice has never quite matched the ideal of “autonomous and effective” local governments.  Elite control of local politics, strong centralized trends, weak local resource base, corruption and incompetence fostered local governments that were not fully responsive to local needs.

Today, moves to “empower” local governments have been pushed to a higher stage with decentralization and the new Local Government Code.  At no other time have local governments been presented with as large a challenge and opportunity for truly meaningful, participatory, and effective local governance..