| Abstract | This study mainly explored public sphere deliberations in the reform of a local public enterprise – the Naga City People’s Mall (NCPM) in the Philippines. A number of opportunities and gaps as indicated in the literature gave impetus to this study. For one, there are numerous ongoing research undertakings by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the European Commision, as well as efforts by governments towards public enterprise (PE’s) reform, which signify the key role PE’s play in public sector development. Second, the Philippines’ Local Government Code of 1991 and the 1995 Naga Empowerment Code brought about significant changes in the structure and management of PE’s within the local government units (LGUs). Third, on a much broader scope, there is scant research explaining the determinants of how public enterprises continue to thrive in a market environment, wherein public sphere deliberations and the stakeholders within the sphere may play a role. Together, these make up the rationale of this study, which addresses both the practical and research aspects of problem. This study used the qualitative case study approach, and is supplemented by quantitative data in order to capture the depth and complexity requisite for the object under investigation.'Data were collected from different sources and triangulated. Interviews were conducted with a total of 29 stallholders and vendors, government officials, businessmen, market association officers and Chamber of Commerce. The study also conducted two independent surveys involving 325 stallholders/vendors and 87 customers and reviewed related information from government reports and newspaper articles. Interview recordings were transcribed, translated, validated, and later on coded and categorized using QDA miner v4.1.16. This coding was used to guide the analysis and discussion of the case. The survey on customer satisfaction were encoded and processed with SPSS v23 using descriptive statistics (frequencies and cross tabulations) and an independent t-test. The case of NCPM shows that public sphere deliberations, complex as they came into force, are a compelling platform, instrumental to the success of the NCPM reform. Additionally, the deliberations added value to the stallholders/vendors, customers, and the LGU itself in the form of raised incomes, better customer experience, and a healthy and open democracy through meaningful participation, bringing changes to the institutional, organizational and individual landscape of stakeholders in the management and future of NCPM. This study differs from previous research and contributes in two important ways. One, it helps fill the gap in understanding the implications of the role of public sphere deliberations as applied to the reform process of a public enterprise at the local level, thereby substantiating Jürgen Habermas’ public sphere theory and deliberative democracy. Two, this particular insight is significant in the light of governance failures, including political inefficiencies, extraneous policies, and deficient implementation of programs that still adopt a unilateral decision-making by a select group of political elites for local economic development. |