How are public policies crafted in the Philippines?

Please explain and discuss the basic

concepts of public policy making and include your analysis here.

As cited in Cabo (2010), the formulation of public policies in the Philippines involves the executive
department and the legislature who are aided by the civil service bureaucracy and administrators.
They are what Anderson (1975) identified as the official policy makers, one of the two major types
of participants in the policy process. The civil service bureaucracy and administrators provide the
information, presented in various forms and styles, such as technical reports and policy papers
needed by the executive department and the legislators for the crafting of policies (Cabo, 2010).

Guno (1991) in her paper, The Generics Act of 1988: Policy Formulation and Implementation
Under Pressure, further discussed how the Department of Health, an executive department of the
Philippines, formulated the policy with four basic components:

1. Determination of the need, scope and process for policy formulation

2. Conduct of orderly and documented consultations
3. Conduct of local research, and
4. Conduct of international research

The aforementioned components were further broken down into focused processes fitted for the
policy being formulated, such as the planning of the preparation process, preparation of reference
papers, launching of the consultation process where the ground rules were presented, preparation
of position papers to solicit reactions from different sectors, conduct of studies in major areas of
concern, conduct of clarificatory meetings, preparation of working papers for the multisectoral
conference, conduct of multisectoral conference, and workshop on the policy to formulate the new
policy after the consultation procedures. It is also with these thorough and deliberate processes
during the policy formulation that Guno (1991) concluded that the policy “fared relatively well
“despite the propaganda war being waged against it” (Guno, 1991).

In a paper presented by Brillo (2012), the author discussed a theoretical review on the Philippine
policy making and presented the weak state-elitist framework and the pluralist perspective in the
conceptualization and Philippine policy making (Brillo, 2012). In his weak state-elitist framework
concept, Brillo presented the idea that the rise of the predatory elite ramifies into state weakness
thereby lessening the government’s capacity to produce policies concerning the public, which
means that the political elite controls the policy making and outcome to secure political relevance
and continuity (Brillo, 2012). Brillo further presented frameworks explaining the incoherence of
policies. For one, Brillo cited Lande’s work on the patron-client framework as a result of his
observation on the “Philippine polity being structured less by organized interest groups or by
individuals who in politics think of themselves as members of categories such as the distinctive
social classes or occupations, than by a network of mutual relationships between pairs of
individuals. (Brillo, 2012)

Another framework cited in the paper is the work of Scott (1969) which presented the political
machine perspective wherein the material rewards are the center of analysis rather than personal
ties. (Brillo, 2012)

Other scholars also used the neocolonial frameworks which considers the influence of the foreign
countries in the policy making and outcome, and control over the government (Brillo, 2012).

In his other perspective, Brillo (2012) in his contemporary political thought explained the pluralist
perspective as viewing the government “as an arena among competing interests in society and
that policies are political decisions that reflect the acceptable equilibrium among contending
group”, and putting emphasis on diversity and competition among political actors as they utilize
power and resources to influence the government’s policy decisions (Brillo, 2012).

Personal Views

The importance of a well thought out policy which underwent thorough process and deliberation
as it is being crafted is a big factor on the success of its implementation and its continuity. The
Generic Drugs Act of 1988 is one example which as of today, many has benefited.

I could not help but agree in Brillo’s concepts and frameworks because I can see that, indeed,
there has been too many policies though formulated, directed, agreed and implemented to
augment the masses’ situations, are more of for the benefits of those who formulated them in the
first place. However, I don’t think the elitist perspective is ultimately true today. As far as the new
policies that have been implemented are concerned, I can see that a lot are directed to alleviate
the inconvenience of the public. For one, the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) crafted
during the Arroyo administration has been helping a lot, if not all, indigenous Filipinos in our
country, with stories of success being posted and updated in the DSWD Website. Another one is
the free college education in state universities giving more opportunities for those who cannot
afford education and lately, the ending of hiring of employees under contracts and instead
regularizing them which favors more the common workers than the business owners who are
obliged adhere.

I have tried searching for studies focusing on the advancement and development of policy making
in the Philippines showing a rather different framework than the elitist one being presented by
Brillo but the limited time led me to none so far. I think studies should also be made to consider
how our current administration fared in the policy making aspect and its intended beneficiaries;
evaluating the existing theoretical concepts and frameworks considering how our economy have
changed in relation to the newly implemented policies.

References
Brillo, B. B. (2012). A Theoretical Review on Philippine Policy Making: The Weak State-Elitist Framework
and the Pluralist Perpective. Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society, 39(1), 54-76. Retrieved
2019, from https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2263537

Cabo, W. L. (2010). Theory and Practice of Public Administration. Diliman, Quezon City: UP Open
University.

Guno, C. Y. (1991, October 4). The Generics Act of 1988: Policy Formulation and Implementation Under
Pressure. Philippine Journal of Public Administration, 35(4). Retrieved 2019, from Frank X. Lynch,
SJ Library: http://lynchlibrary.pssc.org.ph/