DAP Trains Officials From 10 LGUs to Build AI Prototypes for Local Services
Local governments are the next front for artificial intelligence in Philippine public service. The Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP), through its Center for Governance, has wrapped up the second batch of its four-day Course on Artificial Intelligence for Local Government Units, known as AI 301, the academy said in an update posted on October 6. The course ended on September 18 at the L.S. Virata Hall in the DAP Building in Pasig City.
Building on the first cohort, the second run trained 20 officials, department heads and technical staff from 10 LGUs. The emphasis was on fixing real bottlenecks rather than buying technology for its own sake. Participants used workflow analysis tools to map long, multi-step departmental processes and an AI Intervention Decision Matrix to sort them, concluding that many general administrative steps need streamlined business process reengineering, while specific high-friction tasks are the ones that benefit from targeted AI and automation.
Teams then built working proofs of concept. Ray Daniel G. Peralta, a project manager at the DAP Center for Strategic Futures, coached them on applied prompt engineering, human-centred design and human-in-the-loop frameworks on no-code and vibe-coding platforms. The prototypes targeted everyday municipal services: automated document retrieval, real property tax clearance, zoning compliance and the processing of governor’s permits. Daniel G. Rosero, a project manager at DAP’s Local Government Development Office, put them through repeated user testing and feedback so they would fit actual LGU needs.
What it means in practice
For residents, the payoff would be shorter waits for documents that local offices issue every day. The final presentations were assessed on operational alignment, design, functionality, user-testing results and adoption potential by a panel that included project managers Joana Marie Erasga and John Michael Elritz Gallo alongside Rosero. In closing, Local Government Development Office director Jannis T. Montañez said ethical AI deployment helps local governments make better decisions and improve public service delivery.
The course fits a broader push to bring AI into government. Nationally, the DICT’s eGovAI and its Kuya AI assistant now sit inside the eGovPH app, and Stratbase has urged mandatory AI use for good governance under the E-Government Act. Skills are the recurring theme, as Balisacan’s call for AI reskilling made clear.
What to watch: how many of the prototypes go live in the participating LGUs, which local governments join the next batch, and whether DAP publishes results once the tools are in service.