On September 30, 2026, Dr. Maria Ela L. Atienza of the UP Department of Political Science and former Philippine Political Science Association president from 2007 to 2009, delivered the lecture “Researching Local Politics, Democracy and Governance in the Philippines: Trends, Challenges and Opportunities” during the Philippine Political Science Association (PPSA) Presidents’ Lecture Series on Philippine Democracy held at UP Tacloban.
Organized by the PPSA, the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Philippines (KAS) and UP Tacloban, the forum brought together political science students, faculty members, researchers, as well as public officials to discuss the role of local politics in the country’s democracy and governance.
According to Prof. Atienza, local governments are not simply implementors of national policies, but important spaces where democracy is practiced, contested, and experienced.
They also serve as a rich source of empirical research and theoretical insights, particularly when scholarship takes into account indigenous knowledge, grassroots movements and the experiences of communities that are often overlooked in mainstream political discussions.
More than 200 political science students, faculty members and researchers from across Leyte participated in the event.
You may read Takblub Digital News’ coverage of the event here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/rethinking-local-politics-democracy-through-lens-communities-grwvc/
