Learnings from the BUB: What Factors Determine the Level of Institutional Trust in the LGUs?

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Utilizing the data from the Bottom-up Budgeting (BUB) study of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies and the Department of the Interior and Local Government, this paper identifies the factors that influence the determination of the level of institutional trust of household sample respondents in their respective local government units (LGUs). The study also inquires if the levels of institutional trust can be individually determined for each phase of the BUB process or can be treated as an aggregate of all its phases. The study also tackles institutional trust using institutional performance approach and the social and cultural approach. Results showed that social capital variable does provide support for the social and cultural approach in explaining the respondents’ levels of trust while customer satisfaction on the various public services involving agricultural support tends to affect the levels of trust in the LGUs.