A REFLECTION ON DE GUZMAN AND CORPUZ’S NOTES “IS THERE A PHILIPPINE

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION?”

Is there a Philippine Public Administration? A common question frequently asked

when Public Administration is being talked about. With the Notes of Raul de Guzman
and Onofre Corpuz, both authors did not deny the fact that there is a Philippine Public
Administration. They, instead, described what kind of Public Administration the
Philippines have. It was mentioned that our country’s public administration is shaped by
three major institutions, education, politics and government. This question is not as
simple as most thought it is since it requires an extensive analysis on every aspect of
the country’s Public administration before arriving at a certain conclusion. Like what
Brillantes and Fernandez (2009) said, there is a Philippine Public Administration as long
as institutions which address specific sectoral concern exist, there is a massive role of
bureaucracy and the presence of the above mentioned components.

If we look into the Philippine Public Administration, it includes the activities of all
three branches of the government, executive, legislative and judiciary, each consists of
different operations having for their purpose of fulfilling and enforcing Public policies
which contribute to a well working government system. Public administration is the
collaboration of the three, along with the private sector and the civil society in crafting
policies and programs to maximize resources and implement effective, efficient and
economic programs. The PA in our country is being maintained by public laws and
order, peace and welfare. It is concerned with what enables the government to perform
its job and how will it do it. Considering the function of the government, it takes a lot of
coordination, problem solving and unlimited decision making activities. This requires not
only active participation of all government agencies and politicians, but also of all
sectors of our society in overcoming many administrative and socio-economic problems.
This then encourages full involvement and commitment of the government, the workers
and the people to attain national greatness. However, most problems arise from these
aspects as well. For instance, corruption, incompetence in the public sector and law
violations may come out from such collaborations as well. Thus, a big part of the
solution to these governance problems not only lies in the government itself but
comprises the active participation of the civil society as well as the private sectors and
the media in governance, monitoring and feedback.

The Philippine government, like every government in the world, has its flaws.
Cronyism is rampant in the Philippines as evidenced during the Marcos regime. It is
evident and the Philippine government was even compared once to the Pasig River.
What was once a bounding and living artery of commerce and life is now silted, dirty
and dead. As said, if a government cannot keep its hallways clean, or cleanse a dying
river and bring it back to life, then it can neither govern well nor attain development for
the people. Though change is never too late, it will take time to straighten its frail nature.