Institutional Capacity and Collaborative Governance in Solid Waste Policy Enforcement: Evidence from Selected Barangays in Marawi and Iligan, Philippines

Abstract

Solid waste policy is difficult to enforce when legal duties are not matched by reliable services, organizational resources, and coordination between city and barangay actors. This study examined how local implementers in selected barangays of Marawi and Iligan described the institutional and collaborative conditions that support or constrain enforcement of Republic Act No. 9003. A comparative qualitative case-study design was used. Fourteen semi-structured key-informant interviews—seven in each city—were coded deductively and inductively and compared as contextual cases rather than citywide estimates. Five themes emerged: enforcement became more credible when embedded in visible service routines; shortages of personnel, vehicles, equipment, and operating funds created a mandate–resource mismatch; coordination depended on clear allocation of city and barangay roles; monitoring was useful only when reports and field checks led to corrective action; and language-accessible communication and barangay leadership connected formal policy to practical participation. Marawi informants more often described social difficulty in applying rules, resource shortages, unclear responsibilities, and language barriers. Iligan informants described more routinized enforcement and monitoring while also identifying needs for expansion and modernization. The findings indicate that effective local waste enforcement requires an integrated governance chain linking service reliability, role clarity, accessible communication, monitoring, and documented corrective action. The study is context-bound and does not rank the two cities or generalize beyond the selected barangays.