CLUSTER A : DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION

1. Briefly discuss current status of Ph development, socially, economically, and

politically. Based on desc. Can you say that dev admin operates in the country
today?

On social development of the Philippines

Currently the government social program includes the purchase and subdivision of big
estates for resale on installment plans, the settlement of landless families in new areas,
building of rural roads, schools, and medical clinics, and the distribution of relief
supplies to the needy. Other programs directly geared to social change fall under the
Ministry of Human Settlements and Community Development. Among these are
nutrition programs for infants, the Bagong Lipunan Improvement of Sites and Services
(BLISS) program for depressed areas, and the Livelihood Improvement Program
(Kilusang Kabuhayan at Kaunlaran— KKK) designed to channel economic growth into
projects— notably in agriculture, fishing, and cottage and light industries— capable of
enhancing self-sufficiency at the village level. We also are continuing the 4P’s program
of aiding qualified families that require financial assistance in the raising and education
of their children.

The Social Security System (SSS) covers both temporary and permanent employees,
including domestic workers. Membership for employers is compulsory. Benefits include
compensation for confinement due to injury or illness, pensions for temporary
incapacity, indemnities to families in case of death, old age pensions, and benefits to
widows and orphans. Charges to cover the system are paid jointly by employers and
employees and according to 23 wage classes. A medical care plan for employees
provides hospital, surgical, medicinal, and medical-expense benefits to members and
their dependents, as well as paid maternity leave.

A handful of women enjoy high prestige and visibility, but most women occupy
traditional social roles and occupations. Women on average earn about half as much as
men. Most, but not all, of the legal rights enjoyed by men are extended to women.
Spousal abuse and violence remain serious concerns. The absence of divorce laws and
lack of economic opportunity keep women in destructive relationships.

The government has enacted various measures in recent years to safeguard the rights
of children. Child prostitution, while illegal, is widespread and has contributed to the
growing sex tourism industry. A new family court system strengthened safeguards
against the sale of children.

Some human rights violations remain, including arbitrary arrest and detention, torture,
and disappearances.

Philippine’s economic status ---

The Philippines' economy is considered as one of the most dynamic economies in East
Asia and the Pacific. In 2019, GDP growth rate decreased but remained high, reaching
5.9% according to IMF estimates. This slowdown is mainly due to a deceleration in
investment growth and a weak external environment. According to the updated IMF
forecasts from 14th April 2020, due to the outbreak of the COVID-19, GDP growth is
expected to fall to 0.6% in 2020 and pick up to 7.6% in 2021, subject to the post-
pandemic global economic recovery. Key economic drivers include solid fundamentals,
a competitive workforce, a stable job market, steady remittances, and investment in the
construction sector (World Bank).

The Philippines' public deficit was moderate at 1.6% of GDP in 2019; it is expected to
remain at 1.6% in 2020 and 1.7% in 2021. Public debt also remained at a reasonable
39.3% of GDP in 2019 and is expected to stabilise in 2020 and reduce in 2021 (38.8%).
Economic policy is expected to be supportive of growth. The inflation rate reached 5.2%
in 2018 but slowed in 2019 to 2.5%, respecting the central bank’s target (2-4%).
Inflation rate should decrease to 1.7% in 2020 and increase to 2.9% in 2021, according
to the latest World Economic Outlook of the IMF (April 2020). Domestic consumption is
expected to remain the main driver of the economy, accounting for 70% of GDP.
Institutional reforms are needed in business freedom, investment freedom, and rule of
law, according to the Heritage Foundation. According to Reuters, gross international
reserves could go from $85 billion in 2019 to $86 at the end of 2020.

The unemployment rate decreased in 2019 to 5.1% and is expected to continue its slow
decline in the following years. Nevertheless, inequality in wealth distribution keeps
increasing and underemployment hovers at 18% of the employable population. The
country's Labour Force Participation Rate also increased to 61.5% as of October 2019,
compared to the previous year (CEIC). The population living below the poverty line has
increased in recent years (33% of the population and 75% in some areas of the
southern Philippines). Duterte's administration wants to reduce the poverty rate to 17%
and expects the economy to reach upper-middle income status by 2022. However, the
IMF expects the unemployment trend to be heavily affected by the negative economic
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the rate being currently estimated to increase to
6.2% in 2020 and decrease to 5.3% in 2021.

Politically speaking,-- particularly on the prevention of political dynasties, the Philippines

has a long way to go. As provided for under the 1987 constitution Article II Section 26:
"The State shall guarantee equal access to opportunities for public service, and
prohibit political dynasties as may be defined by law." However, such “non-self-
executing” provision of the constitution needs to have an enabling law, made by
congress in order to achieve its result. Interestingly, we have yet to have a bill passed
clearly defining “political dynasties” and providing of measures to prevent such
conglomeration of power in one family to happen.

For the 33 years that our charter has provided for that supposed prevention we can only
speculate that the ones responsible for making such a law do not want to effect the
prevention of dynasties. There has only been two attempts made by two different
senators and each time it has not gained traction. As such can be gleaned from the fact
at hand, there is little development in terms of political nature in our county in the past
few decades.
(last part) is there development administration-

2. Discuss how development may be measured. The HDIs of UNDP’s Human

Development approach and the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) offer
tools of assessing the quality of life, what can be done by the Philippine
Government to improve the quality of filipino?

All development efforts should be assessed on their results and impact - be they a
government education programme, a private investment in a food-processing industry
or a community group improving and managing a local water supply system. To assess
and monitor the effectiveness of development policies, one should also be able to
compare development levels and trends between countries and between regions.

Development in countries can be measured in several different ways. Some are

economic measures, and others are social measures. Development is measured using
the Human Development Index (HDI)). HDI is calculated by the United Nations. It
measures average life expectancy, level of education and income for each country in
the world. Each country is given a score between 0 and 1 - the closer a country gets to
1, the more developed it is.

In the context of the Philippine Government based on the recent Human Development
Index report in 2018 Philippines’ HDI value for is 0.712— which put the country in the
high human development category— positioning it at 106 out of 189 countries and
territories. Between 1990 and 2018, Philippines’ HDI value increased from 0.590 to
0.712, an increase of 20.6 percent. A feat that is worthy to be celebrated.

However, based on this report as well, I have also noticed a handful of issues regarding
the quality of life in the Philippines the ones that require the most attention being, the
stagnant mean years of schooling, difference of GNI per capita between men and
women, the increasing deaths of women during pregnancy, the alarming statistics of
teenage pregnancy and the pressing issue on poverty in the country.
(statistics and proof for the mentioned problems above
-The mean years of schooling is currently 9.4 and only increased 0.1 for the last 4
years.
-GNI per capita between women and men have a noticeable difference, women only
have GNI per capita of P7,541 while men have P11,518
-For every 100,000 live births, 114.0 women die from pregnancy related causes; and
the adolescent birth rate is 54.2 births per 1,000 women of ages 15-19. )
-5.8 percent of the population (6,081 thousand people) are multidimensionally poor
while an additional 7.3 percent are classified as vulnerable to multidimensional poverty
(7,617 thousand people).

If I were to recommend any possible measures to combat the pressing problems that
currently hinder the improvement of quality of life for Filipinos it would be to prioritize
programs and laws that cater to the needs of the individuals and minority groups that
are suffering from these problems and inequalities.

Introducing bills to the congress such as legalizing abortion would be a good start,
however, considering how rooted the Philippines is to our religious beliefs, another way
to solve this issue is to create programs that are aimed to assist and fund teenage
mothers through their pregnancy. Especially teenagers that were sexually assaulted
thus resulted to their unwanted pregnancy.

Another suggestion would be to encourage local government units to create job

opportunities for underprivileged Filipinos that do not require literacy or technical skills
this is to ensure that they are able to support and provide for their families without
resorting to illegal activities.
 3. Some of the best intentions of government to improve quality of life are
blocked by political-legal constraints. Discuss how the Philippine
constitution may be revised to contribute to the attainment of development
goals.

The Philippine Government envisions all Filipinos to emerge economically and socially
secure in the 21st century. Today, as the economy continues to grow and gain strength,
hopes are high that this vision will be realized within the foreseeable future. This is a
formidable challenge that involves several tasks in many fronts. In this context, the
Government welcomes this report on the “critical development constraints” that the
Philippines faces.

The analyses and the informed recommendations geared to overcoming poverty,

income inequality, and other unwanted economic and social outcomes are of immense
value to policy makers in Government and observers of Philippine development.

The Philippines, as report notes, has implemented a number of important policy reforms
over the past three decades. Today, it is integrated with the rest of the world not only in
trade in commodities but also in securities and foreign currencies. It has privatized
many large Government corporations and deregulated key industries. It is actively
involved in the Doha Round of the World Trade Organization. In the area of social
development, it adopted the Millennium Development Goals. All these and more have
helped usher in economic growth and improvements in living standards of Filipinos.

The Government, however, is aware that poverty, unemployment, and regional income
disparities are all constant reminders of the difficulties that some of our countrymen are
still experiencing. There are often political and legal factors involved in why some
countries remain poor, and one of those is bad government. Governments need to do
lots of things to encourage development – they need to build and maintain
infrastructure, and raise and spend finance wisely, on the right projects. When
governments are inept at managing infrastructure, development is impossible.
In order to combat the constant presence of legal-political constraints to the government
when introducing developmental programs, I strongly believe that it is essential for the
government to thoroughly plan and analyze the factors and stakeholders who will be
affected by the programs especially when it involves revising the law. With that said, I
believe that in order to successfully implement anything, preparation is crucial especially
in brainstorming and executing plans.

Considering today’s social climate, it is undeniable that the average citizen especially
the youth harbours a strong mistrust towards government officials and employees. In
light of this, instead of seeing this as a problem I envision this as an opportunity to
involve the youth in nation building and creating law reforms. Studies have shown that
millennials are much more amenable to change in comparison to former generations.

Thus, if the national government where to take advantage of this and exert effort in
including and educating the youth as to why certain developments need to occur, they
will be a great source of manpower and support for the plans of the government. It
would also be a smart move to utilize the influence that they have continuously shown in
social media and reality especially when revising the constitution. Recent events have
shown how passionate and efficient they are in signing petitions, an extremely valuable
practice if they were to side for governmental plans in changing the law.

In contrast to this, if the current rigid and tension-filled relationship between the
government and youth were to persist this will undeniably result in constant clashes
between the two parties.
 4.

5.Are the current New Public Management Style reforms fundamentally different
from prior reforms in Philippine public administration? If so why? If not, why not?
What are the implications of your answers for accountability to the constitution,
citizens and for administration in a democratic system?

The development of the classical model of administrative owes much to the articulation
of the principles of bureaucracy by Max Weber.

Based on historical events, researches as well as articles have shown that the art and
science public administration has grown exponentially over the years to the point that
modern styles have emerged from the discipline. To answer the question, yes the two
concepts are hugely different to one another as they differ from numerous aspects such
as management approaches, personnel prioritization, perspective and stance to the
constitution and laws, citizens and even role in administration which I will explain later.
However what I like to emphasize is that despite their differences, they do share a few
similarities which is understandable considering the fact that NPM is literally born out
from TPM nonetheless they are different concepts.

In order to truly comprehend the difference between Traditional Public Administration to

the New Public Management Style it is crucial to differentiate the two.

The traditional model of public administration emphasized monocratic hierarchy in which

fundamental control lies in the laws enacted by the legislature and their faithful
execution by the executive authority. In the words of Klaus Konig: In a state upholding
the division of powers, the core of public administration lies in its executive function.
Bound by the rule of legal regulations, it executes the laws passed by the democratic
legislative body. (Implication on the Ph Administration)

This means that this bureaucratic system is purely based on a set of rules and
regulations flowing from public law or the constitution; the system of control is rational
and legal. The role of the bureaucrat is strictly subordinate to the political superior.
During this era, citizens mainly seen as taxpayers, continuously keeping the
government running and therefore their needs were as much as possible prioritized but
due to the rigid bureaucratic structure these needs were often met when it was needed.
(Implication on the Ph Constitution and Citizens)

The term new public management encompasses a wide range of techniques and
perspectives that are intended to overcome the inefficiencies inherent in the traditional
model of public administration. Robert Behn defines the New Public Management as “. .
.the entire collection of tactics and strategies that seek to enhance the performance of
the public sector. . . .”

The large size and rigid structures of the traditional system are too cumbersome for the
new era of instant communication and an economy in which economic value is based
on information and its manipulation rather than industrial production. Controlling
behavior of workers from the top does not allow those closest to service delivery to
react quickly enough. Thus the new public management favors decentralized
administration, delegation of discretion, contracting for goods and services, and the use
of the market mechanisms of competition and customer service to improve
performance. (Implication on Administration)

It aims to achieve accountability through the measurement of outcomes rather than

accounting for inputs. Performance measures will take the place of tight control from the
top through rules and regulations. Granting more discretion to managers to manage is
necessary. (Implication on Accountability)

The approaches of the NPM include more participation, flexibility, and deregulation
internally, and the use of market mechanisms externally. Perhaps the most dominant
theme of the new techniques is the attempt to use market mechanisms to improve
performance in the public sector. This includes privatization, in which functions formerly
performed by government are given over to private sector or business organizations
thus providing citizens job opportunities and better incentives. (Implication on citizens)

If program implementation is contracted out, management decisions are at the

discretion of private sector managers; and their decisions are acceptable as long as
they legally produce the goods or services under contract. The result will be that the
government’s goals will be accomplished at a cost to the public that competition will
keep to a minimum.