Politics and Governance in the Philippines

1. 1. POLITICS GOVERNANCE PHILIPPINES BASIC POLITICAL CONCEPTS Public

Administration and Social Communication Reported by: Ryan C. Espino
2. 2. Politics - denotes a social activity - is the creation,maintenance and amendment of
social norms or rules. - Is an art and science of the government. - Is the realm of public
affairs or the state.
3. 3. Governance - Is the exercise of power/ authority by political leader for the well being
at their country’s citizens or subject. - Refers to the manner of steering/ governing and or
directing and controlling a group of people/ the state.
4. 4. BASIC CONCEPTS OF POLITICS 1. ORDER - Is the central to the study of politics
because it shows different components of human society.
5. 5. STRUCTURES of ORDER a. COMMUNITY – is one kind of social order which
refers to the association of individual who shares a common identity. b. GOVERNMENT
– is a higher level of social order that exist primarily for the maintenance and
perpetuation of the community. c. STATE - is the largest social order today and in which
the term politics originally derived.
6. 6. 2. POWER - The main source of reign of the government.The possession to govern or
rule the state. 3. JUSTICE - The process of legalizing and penalizing the abuse of
political power and power to rule.
7. 7. “ If the government gives what people need, protect and respect their rights, and put
the common good over and above the personal interest of the leaders then there is said to
be justice.”
8. 8. TWO APPROACHES to the STUDY of POLITICS • POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY - It
is the traditional approach in which the primary goal is to understand the essence or the
truth about politics. • POLITICAL SCIENCE - It is the empirical/ objective approach in
which it places little emphasis on abstract and normative question, and concentrates on a
dispassionate and objective of the realities of politics.
9. 9. Importance of Studying Governance Governance, the people, most especially the
citizens, will be aware of the need for good governance. Consequently, such awareness
should move them to action. For their continued empowerment and sustainable
 development, they have to know how to fight for their rights by knowing what to expect
from Philippine governance.
10. 10. PROCESSES AND ACTORS IN GOVERNANCE  Decision-Making and
Implementation - decision-making refers the process by which a person or group of
persons, guided by socio-political structures, arrive at a decision involving their
individual and communal needs and wants. Implementation is the process that logically
follows the decision.
11. 11.  Actors and Structures - An actor is a sector or group or institution that participates
in the process of decision-making and implementation. A structure refers to an
organization or mechanism that formally or informally guides the decision-making
process and sets into motion the different actors and apparatuses in the implementation
process.
12. 12.  Informal Actors and Bad Governance - Their influence is felt more clearly in local
governments, such as organized crime syndicates and powerful families, and in rural and
urban areas. Most often than not, these actors are the cause of corruption, in that
legitimate government objectives are distorted by their illegal and private interests.
Worse, they manipulate government officials and agencies, and cause widespread yet
organized violence in the community. In urban and rural areas, for example, the rich and
powerful families control the economy by controlling the local government officials.
They bring about a controlled environment so that decisions must always favor them.
13. 13. INDICATORS GOOD GOVERNANCE
14. 14. 1. Participation - active involvement of all affected and interested parties in the
decision-making process. Participation is one of the strengths of Philippine governance.
The 1987 Philippine Constitution is replete of provisions dealing with relational and
inter-sectoral governance. The Local Government Act of 1989 was borne out of the need
for decentralization in Philippine governance. As such, these and other related
legislations may be considered as normative standards for good governance.
15. 15. 2. Rule of Law - Democracy is essentially the rule of law. - Rule of law demands that
the people and the civil society render habitual obedience to the law. It also demands that
the government acts within the limits of the powers and functions prescribed by the law.
The Philippines does not fare well in this aspect of good governance. In spite of being
 one of the oldest democracies in the region, the Philippines ranked as last among seven
indexed Asian countries according to the World Justice Project Rule of Law Index.
Generally, the reasons for ranking last are “lack of respect for law,” “pervasive and
systemic corruption in the government,” and “circumvention of the law.” Lack of respect
for law is generally caused by distrust on the integrity of law enforcement agencies.
Order and security are compromised and criminal justice is rendered ineffectual.
16. 16. 3. Effectiveness and Efficiency - actors meet the needs of the society means that there
is effective governance.That the valuable resources are utilized, without wasting or
underutilizing any of them, means that there is efficient governance. - enhancement and
standardization of the quality of public service delivery consistent with international
standards, professionalization of bureaucracy. Efforts were made to attain effectiveness
and efficiency in Philippine governance.The Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007 (ARTA), for
instance,was passed to require the setting up of Citizen’s Charter for a simplified
procedure and to facilitate governmental transactions. Also, many government
departments and agencies pursued a rationalization program to check excessive and
redundant staffing.
17. 17. 4. Transparency - Transparency, as an indicator of good governance, means that
people are open to information regarding decision-making process and the
implementation of the same. In legal terms, it means that information on matters of public
concern are made available to the citizens or those who will be directly affected. - It also
means that transactions involving public interests must be fully disclosed and made
accessible to the people. Efforts were made in pursuit of transparency in Philippine
governance. As far as the government sector is concerned, the current administration,
consistent with its drive of curbing corruption, promotes honesty and integrity in public
service. It is currently pursuing the passage of the Freedom of Information Bill and other
related legislations, as well as intensifying people’s engagement in local governance.
Transparency in budget and disbursements are, however, still far from being substantially
implemented.
18. 18. 5. Responsiveness - means that institutions and processes serve all stakeholders in a
timely and appropriate manner. It also means that actors and structures of governance
easily give genuine expression to the will or desire of the people. Some of the important
 efforts made to attain responsive governance in the Philippines are decentralization,
creation of citizen’s charter in all frontline agencies (as required by ARTA), and gender
sensitivity programs. First, through decentralization, local governments, which are more
proximate to their constituents, serve more promptly the people, who in turn become
more involved in decision-making. Second, every government agency now has it
Citizen’s Charter, which provides timeframes for every step in attaining frontline
services. Agencies now must also respond to written queries sent by the stakeholders or
interested parties within a period of ten days, otherwise there will be delayed service.
However, this aspect of governance still remains to be one of the causes for the decline of
public’s confidence in the public sector. Although the ARTA has been passed, there is
still so much delay in public service delivery. The failure of the government agencies to
explain the charters to the stakeholders is one of the main reasons why there is still delay.
19. 19. 6. Equity and Inclusiveness - Equity and inclusiveness means that all the members of
the society, especially the most vulnerable ones or the grassroots level, must be taken into
consideration in policy-making. - Social equity refers to a kind of justice that gives more
opportunity to the less fortunate members of the society. The Philippine Government has
done extensive efforts in promoting equity and inclusiveness. The Constitution makes it
as one of its state policies the promotion of social justice. Pursuant to this, the Congress
has enacted social legislations like the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law which aims
at freeing the farmer tenants from the bondage of the soil. Also, representation in the
Congress, under the party list system, is constitutionally mandated to have sectoral
representation of the underprivileged. Gender and Development programs are in the
process of being integrated with the various structures and institutions in the country. But
legislation is one thing; implementation is another. It is in the faithful implementation of
these laws that the country failed. Inequality is especially felt in the justice system,
electoral system, and even in the bureaucracy itself.
20. 20. 7. Consensus Oriented - Governance is consensus oriented when decisions are made
after taking into consideration the different viewpoints of the actors of the society.
Among the things done by the Philippines in promoting a consensus oriented governance
are: (1) creation of a wide-based of representation in the Congress; (2) a two-tiered
legislature or bicameralism which subjects legislation to the evaluation of national and
 district legislators; and (3) necessity of public hearings or consultations of various
governmental policies and actions.
21. 21. 8. Accountability - Accountability means answerability or responsibility for one’s
action. It is based on the principle that every person or group is responsible for their
actions most especially when their acts affect public interest. - Accountability comes in
various forms: political, hierarchical, and managerial accountability. Political
accountability refers to the accountability of public officials to the people they represent.
Hierarchical accountability refers to the ordered accountability of the various agencies
and their respective officers and personnel in relation to their program objectives.
Managerial accountability refers to employee accountability based on organization and
individual performance.
22. 22. The Philippines in the recent years had endeavored to comply with the requirements
of accountability. It had put in action the concept of political accountability as it held
answerable erring public officials involved in graft and corruption and for acts contrary to
the mandate of the constitution. It had also strengthened parliamentary scrutiny through
legislative investigations and creation of special committees exercising oversight
functions. The Office of the Ombudsman, considered as the public watchdog, has become
ever so active in investigating and prosecuting graft and plunders cases. Citizen’s
Charter, as required by ARTA, was also an important tool in promoting professional
public service values. In this area, Philippine governance has done relatively well.
23. 23. CURRENT STATE GOVERNANCE PHILIPPINES
24. 24. The Philippines is plagued by bad governance. Based on the six dimensions of
governance in the Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI), it ranks in the lower half of
the percentile. In 2010-2011, the Philippines ranked only 85th in the Global Competitive
Index (GCI), lagging behind most of its Southeast Asian neighbors. The decline of trust
on the actors of governance and the consequential poor economic condition were brought
about by the systemic corruption among and between public officials and private
organizations. In 2013, it ranked 94th among 177 countries in the Corruption Perception
Index. Among the key institutions in the Philippines perceived to be most corrupt based
on the Global Corruption Index are “political parties,” “judiciary,” “police,” “public
officials and civil servants,” and “legislature.” This means all branches of the Philippine
government are now challenged.