Building empowered communities: UB joins DILG-CAR CivicAdemy partners’ meeting
“Health is the foundation of a thriving community, and access to care is a shared responsibility.”
The University of Baguio took part in the Partners’ Meeting of the Cordillera CivicAdemy, convened by the Department of Interior and Local Government-Cordillera Administrative Region (DILG-CAR) together with the CivicAdemy Core Group, held on July 24, 2026 at the Operations Center of the DILG-CAR Regional Office in Baguio City.
The meeting served as a venue to assess the progress of the Cordillera CivicAdemy’s implementation, review key accomplishments and challenges, and identify areas for improvement as the program’s inaugural batch for Component 1 is underway.
Present in the meeting from DILG-CAR were Atty. Anthony C. Nuyda, CESO III, Regional DIrector; Mr. Kliene P. Chunanon, Local Government Capability Development Division Chief; Mr. Richard Villacorte, Program Manager of the Support to Local Governance Program (SLGP); and Mr. Rupert B. Maribbay Jr., CESO IV, Assistant Regional Director. Representatives from the academe were also present, including delegates from the University of Baguio, Saint Louis University, University of the Cordilleras, and Benguet State University. Partner civil society organizations (CSOs) in attendance were the Pansigedan Advocacy Cooperative, Council for the Restoration of Filipino Values, Baguio City Association of Private Schools, Zero Waste Baguio, and the Baguio People’s Council.
The resource persons’ messages converged on a shared vision for the CivicAdemy as a stakeholder-driven movement for participatory governance. Atty. Nuyda emphasized that the program builds engaged and empowered communities and strengthens participatory governance through the active involvement of civil society organizations. Mr. Chunanon, who presented the status report of the CivicAdemy, echoed this sentiment by noting that the government cannot work on its own and needs the collaboration of CSOs and other sectoral forces. He likewise underscored that the CivicAdemy is a program owned by its stakeholders rather than by the government alone. Building on this, Mr. Villacorte shared insights on the program’s long-term direction, pointing to a decade-long vision that includes developing CSO counterparts for empowerment initiatives, promoting open government through greater collaboration, sustaining the momentum of community empowerment efforts, encouraging a lighter government hand in stakeholder-driven initiatives, and strengthening academe-CSO partnerships moving forward.
The meeting concluded with remarks from Assistant Regional Director Maribbay, who affirmed the continued success of the Cordillera CivicAdemy.
This initiative is a concrete step toward the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 4 (Quality Education) through its capability-building components that promote lifelong learning for CSO learners, SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) through its focus on participatory local governance, SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions) through the strengthening of transparent and accountable institutions, and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals) through the collaborative engagement of government, academe, and civil society organizations.
As one of the academic partners of the Cordillera CivicAdemy, the University of Baguio, through its Research Innovation Extension and Community Outreach (RIECO) Office, continues to share its institutional expertise to the program’s community-based governance and empowerment initiatives. This engagement reflects the University’s broader commitment to extension work that bridges the academe and grassroots communities, consistent with its mandate to produce graduates and generate knowledge that respond to the needs of local governance and civil society. Moving forward, UB looks forward to deepening its collaboration with the government, fellow academic institutions, and partner CSOs.
Photo: DILG Cordillera (24, July 2026). Cordillera CivicAdemy set on expanding… [image attached] Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=cordillera%20civicademy%20set
