CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SPANISH COLONIAL BUREAUCRACY CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SPANISH COLONIAL BUREAUCRACY
1. Philosophy of public office did not
distinguish between private and public interest. 2. Highly centralized character 3. Morally corrupt 4. Had too much discretion on how they would implement colonial policies CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SPANISH COLONIAL BUREAUCRACY
5. Viewed Filipinos negatively and did not
allow them to participate 6. Implemented policies which were convenient for them or those which favored their interest. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SPANISH COLONIAL BUREAUCRACY These features of the bureaucracy during the Spanish colonial period emerged because of the a) system of government (monarchy) which prevailed in Spain at that time,
b) the distance between Spain and Manila which gave
the bureaucrats more discretion on how they would implement the policies, and
c) the negative view that Spaniards had of the Filipino’s
capability. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE AMERICAN COLONIAL BUREAUCRACY CHARACTERISTICS OF THE AMERICAN COLONIAL BUREAUCRACY
1. No one individual person’s will
dominated 2. Civil service evolved freely of church or clerical intervention 3. Immediate action, penalties on cases of graft and corruption 4. Exclusion of politics and spoils system CHARACTERISTICS OF THE AMERICAN COLONIAL BUREAUCRACY
5. Government officials could not engage in
private business unless given permission to do so by the Governor-General 6. Strained relationships between Civil Service Bureau and heads of other bureaus. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE AMERICAN COLONIAL BUREAUCRACY
The character of bureaucracy during the
American colonial period was the outcome of the system of government which existed in America that time .
The Americans also wanted to institute an
efficient and non-political civil service, where appointment would be based on merit. It was also one which designed, from the beginning , to involve more Filipinos in the administration of the colonial government. It will be noted that despite the major changes in the administration of the bureaucracy, its highly centralized character persisted over these two colonial periods.
This was largely because a centralized
bureaucracy suited the needs of a colonial government as it was easier to manage and direct such a structure from Manila, the center of power and authority, where the Governor- General also held office. THE EARLY REPUBLIC From the American Colonial period, we moved on the experience of the early republic after the United States granted the Philippines its independence in 1946.
By this time, the country had just gone
through the Second World War which caused several physical destruction and economic prostration. While these factors would pose demanding challenges on the public bureaucracy, it was the emergence of the two-party system soon after independence, that would affect, significantly, the character and nature of the civil service. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BUREAUCRACY DURING THE EARLY REPUBLIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BUREAUCRACY DURING THE EARLY REPUBLIC
1. It was vulnerable to nepotism
2. The Spoils System in the civil service promised to be another serious defect 3. The bureaucracy seemed to have entered a period of “normalcy” in that public charges of corruption committed by government officials seemed to be part of the regular fare of newspapers CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BUREAUCRACY DURING THE EARLY REPUBLIC 4. An element of the environment which affected all government officials (whether elective or appointed officials), was the role of the media in the peaceful correction of governmental defects in general. 5. Two features of the bureaucracy in 1955, Corpuz attributed to Spanish influence: its centralized organization and the administration of laws which were based on the civil law system which the Spanish bureaucracy enforced. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BUREAUCRACY DURING THE EARLY REPUBLIC
6. The strong influence of the American
colonial system was also very apparent in the Philippine Bureaucracy of the mid-fifties. 7. During this period, the bureaucracy served as an instrument of social change and innovations when it was placed under Filipino Control. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BUREAUCRACY DURING THE EARLY REPUBLIC
8. The extensive coverage of the service,
made the bureaucracy a motley aggregate of individuals representing diverse families, interest, ambitions and occupation groups. 9. In 1995, although bureaucracy was important, it was not an independent power in Filipino politics. In all these, we see n the bureaucracy as being essentially a creation of its times, shaped by its history and the legacies it inherited from our colonial masters.
As it responded to the demands of nation-building
after our independence in 1946, it had to rely on the principles that it worked with during the American colonial period .
The political party system and its operations had
major implications on the enforcement of the merit system. THE AUTHORITARIAN REGIME On September 21, 1972, Ferdinand Marcos, invoking powers vested in him by the constitution, declared and placed the entire nation under martial law with him serving as the president of the government.
He abolished Congress and apprehended political
leaders who opposed or were potential oppositionists to his political plans for the country.
He proclaimed his strategy to create a “New Society”
through revolution from the center, with his government leading this revolution. CHANGES IN THE BUREAUCRACY INTRODUCED DURING THE MARTIAL LAW REGIME The Presidential Decree issued right after he declared martial law was PD which reorganized the entire bureaucracy. Among the major structural changes implemented were:
a) National government decentralized national
government functions to the extent necessary for improved administration by reducing the agencies, under the office of the President creating eleven uniform administrative regions. b) It standardized the organization and common operational activities of departments. Four staff services were formed in each department for planning, finance and management, administration and technical services.
c) It facilitated the preparation and execution of
national development plans by creating the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA)
d) It converted the single-headed Civil Service
Commission into and three-person commission e) It decentralized personnel functions to line departments, bureaus and regional offices
f) It created the Career Executive Service as the
highest level in the career service. These structural changes were accompanied by the summary dismissal of a large number of personnel at least twice: once in 1973 and another in 1975. The basis for this purge was not clearly established and the term “notoriously undesirable” struck fear in the hearts of many civil servants. Instead of promoting excellence and productivity, purges caused employee behavior to deteriorate. (Carino, 1992:83) A more significant change was the politicization of what was otherwise a neutral civil service.
Civil servants were forced to “volunteer” to
become members of the “Kilusan Bagong Lipunan” Marcos’ political party which was to be his main instrument for the creation of his new society.
Carino pointed out that civil service neutrality was a
casualty of the martial law. (Carino, 1992:83) Aside from being politicized , the bureaucracy served as a major instrument of Marcos’ authoritarian regime and continued to be a highly centralized structure despite efforts to decentralize.
While Marcos deconcentrated
administrative power , he centralized political control in his office. US-concept of development and development administration which sought to bring about economic growth, became the vision and ideology of the bureaucracy which has taught modern techniques of planning, implementation and the evaluation of development program. When Marcos government fell, the bureaucracy was described as
a) interventionist in that the government
competed with the private sector, b) a bloated bureaucracy, c) corrupt and committed to serve only the interest of one family, d) highly centralized and e) inefficient. THE AQUINO REGIME Corazon C. Aquino was sworn into office as the President of the Republic of the Philippines after Marcos left the country as a result of the EDSA Revolution.
As democratization as her main agenda,
her administration proceeded to reform political institutions, including the civil service. She created the Presidential Commission on Government Reorganization which saw the need to “de-Marcosify” the bureaucracy. This was to be achieve through:
1.The promotion of private initiatives
2.Decentralization 3.Accountability 4.Efficiency of front-line services 5.Cost-efficient of operations
In short, the bureaucracy was to be an instrument
for democratic end. WHAT HAPPENED TO CIVIL SERVICE DURING THE AQUINO ADMINISTRATION? 1. Carino observed that the “Aquino government has had to contend with a bureaucracy that has become militant about guarding its own interest and is slowly venturing out to make the executive more responsible. 2. Aquino controlled the civil service through personnel and organizational changes as well as policies affecting employee conduct and behavior. 3. Using the revolutionary character of her initial days in power, Aquino followed the Marcos model of summary dismissals. This was accompanied by general reorganization which was more tumultuous than any other undertaken before. (Carino, 1992: 128)
4) On the whole, however, Carino saw the
bureaucracy under the Aquino as one which was dominated and controlled by the executive. REASONS WHY DOMINATION OF THE BUREAUCRCY BY THE EXECUTIVE IS A PHENOMENON THAT PERSISTED SINCE THE COLONIAL PERIOD UP TO THIS TIME 1. Executive control of the bureaucracy is fostered by the authoritarian culture which is reinforced by the hierarchical nature of the bureaucratic organization. Civil servants are accepting the orders of power-holder and they tend not to question these orders. 2. The civil service is divided. Member organization tend to fend for themselves rather than act in a united manner when dealing with policies such as salary standardization law or those which affect the reorganization of their offices. There is the thinking that offices are more likely to succeed in their request to ne exempted from certain restrictive policies if they make such a request only for their office and not for the entire bureaucracy. THANK YOU…