BUNTOG, KIMBERLYN R.

MPA-1
PA 263 (The Philippine Administrative System)
Even Saturday (8:00 AM- 2:00 PM)
Prof. Farell M. Relacion, MPS, MBA, JD
June 21, 2021

In an article published by Ma. Alfiler Ma Concepcion last 2008 titled “The

Philippine Administrative System as an Enabling Institution” presenting and
elaborating on a framework which views the Philippine Administrative System
(PAS). One matter in particular deemed to be clarified by this article is the
existence of the Philippine public administration. Ways on how it can transform
the Philippine Bureaucracy as a force that pushes the people to participate in
decision-makings, rather than a deterrent that discourages them from doing so.
The article consists of 4 components that shows, presents, describes, and asks the
significance of the mutual participation of the people and the government and
how the PAS can be properly taken into effect by the bond between two parties.
Alfiler’s article seeks for people to see PAS as a supportive ally and ceases it to be
a deterrent.

If you look for the term “Public Administration” online, you will find it defined
as a field in which leaders serve communities to advance the common good and
effect positive change. While public administrators research, plan and
recommend policies and programs that fall within budgets and follow
administrative and government law. Coordinate with others to adopt and put into
action new policies or programs. Manage and evaluate special programs and/or
projects. The question the article attempts to answer is “Is there a Philippine public
administration?” With that being said, and by the gist given above about public
administration, it is still not safe to give out conclusions whether our country has
really a public administration existing or not. Borrowing the term used in criminal
trials, there is still room for reasonable doubt.
BUNTOG, KIMBERLYN R.
MPA-1
PA 263 (The Philippine Administrative System)
Even Saturday (8:00 AM- 2:00 PM)
Prof. Farell M. Relacion, MPS, MBA, JD
June 21, 2021
Under the “Citizen Participation, Traditional Public Administration, And
Governance.” It is stated there that participation, from the human development
perspective, is both a means and an end. That maximizing the use of human
capabilities is thus a means in the development of both social and economic.
Nussbaum capability approach provides us with the idea that the intuition that
grounds the capabilities, is the intuition of a dignified human life whereby people
have the capability to pursue their conception of the good in cooperation with
others. However, human development also equates to human fulfillment. The
capability approach also stated that resources and goods alone do not ensure
that people are able to convert them into actual doings and beings. Thus, making
human capabilities also an end in itself. Sometimes, what you think is an act of
heroism, could be anarchy instead.

Written in the article, governance is labeled as ‘responsive governance.’

Under this section, there are three principles observed. Accountability,
Transparency, and Participation. Accountability is the act of acknowledgment of
responsibility to one’s act or decision. You cannot get people to assume
ownership of their actions without this. The lack of accountability can create
fraction or division between the state and the people. While, transparency in
governance is the duty to act upon the people’s knowledge. To avoid making
decisions without the proper awareness to the citizens. Such transparency also
promotes accountability, for if you are transparent, you are to be held
accountable for the actions and decisions you made or will make. Lastly,
participation is the direct or indirect involvement in anything that involves the
state, the law, and the people. It is the key cornerstone of good governance and
BUNTOG, KIMBERLYN R.
MPA-1
PA 263 (The Philippine Administrative System)
Even Saturday (8:00 AM- 2:00 PM)
Prof. Farell M. Relacion, MPS, MBA, JD
June 21, 2021
is deemed as a catalyst for further development that encourages a sense of
responsibility. These three are fundamental to responsive governance. However,
among these three, participation gets top billing. The answer to the ‘why’ is self-
explanatory, maybe not to all, but to those who have a fair share of what it is like
to have leaders with no visions of having a progressive state. Participation is a
crucial factor of good governance, because without this, the other factors
wouldn’t function properly. One cannot practice accountability and
transparency without its participation. A domino effect. One shift would affect
everyone or anything around it.

A part of the article stated that, “If no one is unduly advantaged or

disadvantaged because PAS’s existence of administrative power, then there is
fairness and just enforcement of the law.” Majority would agree to this statement,
but I do not belong to one of them. One could be unduly advantaged or
disadvantaged and all is still fair and just. One could suffer oppression, and in our
eyes, it is tyranny, but for them it’s governance. The basis of fairness and just
shouldn’t be by what the administration tells us, but it should be what the people
see and experience. There will always be a glitch in the system. Nothing is perfect.
Everything is bound to have loopholes. This is one if it.

“People are the ultimate source and end of state power,” and it should stay
that way. The state’s power shouldn’t be what will end the people. Reality and
truth are different. The reality of the existence of the public administration, but the
truth that it is not for everyone. So, is there a Philippine public administration? Yes,
there is. But the question shouldn’t be it. It should be, “Is the Philippine public
administration fair and just?”