Bridging Leadership and Transformation in Dumingag, Zamboanga Del Sur, Philippines

Research by: Manuel De Vera, Donn David Ramos, Junica Soriano, & Tristan Piosang

ABSTRACT

Mayor Nacianceno “Jun” Pacalioga’s journey towards the transformation of the municipality of Dumingag, Zamboanga del Sur in Mindanao, Philippines has been rooted in his daily interaction with its residents by way of morning walks around the town. He has always been involved in organizing people in his youth and as a public servant, improving the plight of the people of the 4^th class landlocked and agriculture-dependent municipality has always been his primary concern. There are currently an estimated 50,000 people from forty-four (44) barangays (communities/villages) in the Municipality of Dumingag. In 2007, most farming households of the municipality earned US$60 monthly. By 2016, after Pacalioga’s 9-year stint as local chief executive or as mayor, the percentage of households with income below the poverty threshold have significantly decreased to 38%. Local health indicators have also become exemplary with only 0.77% of children between 0-5 years old recorded as malnourished, with maternal mortality death rate. When it comes to food, only 0.25% of households experience food shortage.

This case highlights the Bridging Leadership Framework as a paradigm to help address social divides and inequities in complex environments such as Dumingag. In realizing bridging leadership as a community of practice, Pacalioga employed participatory processes to develop the Genuine People’s Agenda, and the integrated Transformative Education to build the capacity of different stakeholders in the municipality. These processes mobilized different stakeholders to move towards the common goal of improving the plight of the Duminganogs. Now Dumingag is enjoying the broad-based benefits of the program; including recognition by numerous local and international organizations and civic groups on the efforts of Pacalioga and the people of Dumingag in transforming their once poverty-stricken town in Zamboanga del Sur, Mindanao, Philippines.

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the participants are expected to be able to: understand and explain what is bridging leadership (BL); understand stakeholder, stakeholder engagement and stakeholder management; conduct a stakeholder analysis based on the details of the case; evaluate the BL processes based on the details of the case; and communicate how BL was used in Dumingag.

Keywords: inclusion, leadership, stakeholder engagement, stakeholder management

To cite this case: De Vera, M., Ramos, D. D., Soriano, J., & Piosang, T. (2022). Bridging leadership and transformation in Dumingag, Zamboanga Del Sur, Philippines. Emerald Emerging Markets Case Studies, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1108/EEMCS-03-2020-0065

To access this case: https://doi.org/10.1108/EEMCS-03-2020-0065

About the journal

Emerald Emerging Markets Case Studies publishes discussion-based teaching case studies that offer students the opportunity to explore real-world challenges in the classroom environment, allowing them to test their decision-making skills before taking their knowledge into the workplace. It specializes in case research from and about emerging markets and developing economies, regions which are traditionally underrepresented in teaching case collections, but which offer unique and important insights.

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