REFLECTION PAPER ON NPM

PA 201- PROF. DR. EDNA CO

ON THE ROAD TO NEW PUBLIC MANAGEMENT

Helen Keller once said “I long to accomplish a great and noble tasks, but it is my

chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble.

The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also

by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker”.

For hundreds of years bureaucracy remained the same, laid back, routinary

and unchallenging as though it is trap in a time warp. Probably one of the

reasons why NPM is not so successful in our country is because to some extent

there is struggle to implement change. The years of complacent and relaxing

work mode would suddenly be displaced by the introduction of the

managerialism approach which is alien to those who have been in the public

sector.

The basic principle introduced by NPM is to encourage competition instead of

monopoly. In government service very seldom do we see an agency compete for

excellence. The daily rigors of routine work are too embedded in the system

that from the highest official of the agency down to the janitorial staff, work is

viewed merely as a source to earn money. While to some people work is

considered a career yet, the career aspect is limited to its colloquial term which

means occupation rather that a commitment to render service.

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REFLECTION PAPER ON NPM
PA 201- PROF. DR. EDNA CO

I would attribute the lack of competitiveness among our government employees

or the public sector to the absence of motivation to excel. Among the common

daily scenarios we would see in government offices is that work don’t start at 8

am because employees are still busy chatting or selling their stuff. Coffee break

is as frequent as going to the lavatory and by 4:30 pm employees race with

each other to form a line near the Bundy clock machine and wait for 5 pm hit

the clock. While this may sound comical yet this happens every day not only

in one agency. Thus, the Mamamayan Muna di Mamaya Na, a program

introduced by the Civil Service Commission which was intended to cure red

tape in government service has to a certain extent been successful in the

introducing awareness among government employees to put the needs of the

customer rather than the bureaucracy.

Devolve or Revolve

Prior to the enactment of the Local Government Code, local government units

rely on the national government for subsistence. Thus, when devolution of

power to the local government units was implemented in 1991 those local

government units who have been dependent to the national government for

their budgetary needs were suddenly paralyzed. The intendment of the Local

Government Code was to cut the umbilical cord between the local government

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REFLECTION PAPER ON NPM
PA 201- PROF. DR. EDNA CO

unit and its mother unit. By severing the tie, the objective was to promote

people empowerment and teach the local government unit to become self

reliant and concentrate on earning money rather than spending. For highly

industrialized cities the brunt of the sudden detachment from the national

government for financial support is not as hard as compared to those local

government units in remote provinces which do not have adequate source of

income to sustain their needs. Hence, I would say the devolution of power to

the local government for the purpose of promoting people empowerment is

relative in the sense that the strategical location of the unit is predominantly

vital to its survival.

Is privatization the solution?

Privatization is said to be a strong attribute of NPM. In the Philippines several

GOCCs have been privatized specially during the Aquino administration and

thereafter the Ramos administration as part of his government’s globalization

program referred to as “Reengineering the Bureaucracy”. While it allowed

business initiatives to take over functions of the government this however

resulted to mass lay off of government employees, joining the ranks of the

already mounting number of unemployed and underemployed. Admittedly, the

privatization of non functional GOCCs allows the government an opportunity to

regain its lost investment yet the mass lay off also violates the security of

tenure of public sector workers who have devoted their productive years in

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REFLECTION PAPER ON NPM
PA 201- PROF. DR. EDNA CO

public service. The offer or chance to be rehired by the new owners is

tantamount to dismissal as it entirely depends on the decision of the

capitalists. Worse, they will be subjected to different policies. For instance, to

keep wages/salaries at the minimum and to avoid union organizing, the

capitalists employed contractualization, casualization, labor-only contracting,

piece-meal and seasonal workers. Thus, rehiring in the privatized agencies

would mean contractualization with minimum pay and the violation of union

rights. I believe that in so far as implementing privatization as a way of

implementing NPM, this should be done with caution. Although its objective

may be noble if what is at stake is the welfare of the working class particularly

the public sector then all effort exerted by the government to implement change

and whatever benefit they will derive as a consequence thereof is worthless.

Caught in the quagmire of corruption.

One of the reasons that make it difficult to apply NPM in the Philippine is due

to the perennial problem of corruption. It penetrates even the most innocuous

department in an agency thus, the whole organization crumbles down. The

problem on corruption today is no longer limited to the upper or professional

level but has affected even those in the low ranks. Various factors such as

poverty, culture and experience and predisposition of employees should be

taken account. In our country, corruption is neither new nor surprising. In fact

the highest official of the land along with her family and supporter one time or

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REFLECTION PAPER ON NPM
PA 201- PROF. DR. EDNA CO

another were involved in anomalous activities. Since the integrity of the whole

government is compromised, foreign investors are discouraged to embark in

any business in the Philippines. Just to mention a few, the alleged

involvement of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in the 2004 “ Hello Garci”

controversy, the alleged participation of the First Gentleman and COMELEC

Chairman in the NBN-ZTE scam, the alleged fertilizer scandal orchestrated by

Joc-Joc Bolante a known ally of the President which led to speculation that the

728 Million pesos was utilized to fund her 2007 presidency are just a few

irregularities that transpired during the Arroyo administration.

Corruption must have evolved with humanity or worse corruption must be the

aftermath of man’s evolution. Probably as man developed his cognitive abilities,

the undesirable side of him was likewise awakened. Could it be that the

relationship between man and corruption dates as far back as creation? Maybe

yes. If we define corruption it simply means dishonesty or committing fraud.

When God created Adam and Eve, it was his first commandment not to eat the

forbidden fruit. But because it is man’s innate character to go against what is

proscribed…he took the forbidden fruit and consumed it. If the biblical story of

Adam and Eve exemplifies defiance to the rule, then I would say corruption by

any form can be trace as far back as the time of creation itself.

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