THE RECENT dialogue between the provinces of Iloilo and Antique, as reported by this paper yesterday, was an environmental planning session and more — it was a glimpse of what true inter-provincial governance could look like. By committing to jointly manage resources that transcend political boundaries, the two provinces are setting a precedent worth emulating across the archipelago.
Natural resources — from watersheds and mountain ranges to fisheries and coastal zones — do not conform to provincial borders. Yet, for too long, governance has been fragmented, with each province or municipality focusing on its own narrow jurisdiction. This has led to duplication of efforts, inconsistent policies, and at times, outright neglect of ecosystems that demand unified stewardship. The Iloilo–Antique partnership signals a departure from this siloed approach.
Consider the Panay Mountain Ranges, a biodiversity corridor and a crucial water source. Its preservation cannot be left to one province alone. Watershed degradation in one area inevitably affects the flow of water, soil fertility, and even the risk of flooding downstream. Likewise, fisheries shared by San Joaquin in Iloilo and Anini-y in Antique demand a common management framework; fish do not recognize municipal boundaries, and overexploitation in one town threatens livelihoods in the other.
What Iloilo and Antique are attempting to craft is a model for cooperation: embedding joint priorities into their Provincial Development and Physical Framework Plans (PDPFPs) and recognizing that sustainable growth is inseparable from environmental stewardship. Their approach could inspire other provinces grappling with overlapping challenges — be it deforestation in Mindanao’s uplands, flooding in Central Luzon, or poverty and resource depletion in Eastern Visayas.
More importantly, this collaboration acknowledges that governance must evolve to match the scale of the problems we face. Climate change, food insecurity, and biodiversity loss are not issues one province can resolve alone. They demand coordination, shared accountability, and a willingness to transcend local politics for the greater good.
Iloilo and Antique’s move deserves support from both national agencies and civil society. It offers a “blueprint” for the rest of the country: cooperation that is not imposed from above but built from the ground up, rooted in shared realities and common interests. If nurtured and sustained, this model could well be the key to addressing some of the most pressing inter-provincial challenges facing our country today.
