INTRODUCTION

Development planning, design and regulation of the uses of space that focus on the
physical form, economic functions, and social impacts of the environment and on the location of
different activities within it. Because planning draws upon engineering, architectural, and social
and political concerns, it is variously a technical profession, an endeavour involving political will
and public participation, and an academic discipline. Development planning concerns itself with
both the development of open land and the revitalization of existing parts of the municipality,
thereby involving goal setting, data collection and analysis, forecasting, design, strategic
thinking, and public consultation. In the late 20th century the term sustainable development
came to represent an ideal outcome in the sum of all planning goals ( ). As advocated by the
United Nations-sponsored World Commission on Environment and Development in Our
Common Future (1987), sustainability refers to “development that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” While there is
widespread consensus on this general goal, most major planning decisions involve trade-offs
between subsidiary objectives and thus frequently involve conflict.

The municipality of Binalonan has the same function of planning and implementing its
plan to achieve its goal of development. BinalonAN is located in the eastern part of the Province
of Pangasinan. It is bounded on the north by the Municipalities of Pozorrubio and Sison; on the
south by the City Urdaneta; on the east by the Municipalities of San Manuel and Asingan; and on
the west by the Municipality of Laoac. According to the data of DENR Dagupan, 1995,
Binalonan only had a land area of 4,020 hectares, which constituted about 0.75 percent of
Pangasinan’s 536,818 hectares of land. However, as of the 2011 computation of Internal
Revenue Allotment (IRA), DENR considered a total land area of 4,757 hectares for the
Municipality of Binalonan.

Driven by the vision to be a “University Town”, Binalonan gives priority to good

governance, character formation, knowledge creation, and habitability. For a town that envisions
becoming a “University Town”, Binalonan has constantly been changing for the better and
steadily moving towards its goals. Students of Binalonan are always encouraged to delve in
excellent academic performances while improving their talents in performing and visual arts.
Further, the town focuses on giving livelihood to its people by helping them maximize all the
town’s agricultural resources in a sustainable way. Binalonan acquired its first-class municipality
status not only from the great administration work of its LGU but also from giving priority on
the cleanliness and habitability of its public areas. Also, with its preserved natural areas shed by
its famous acacia trees, Binalonan offers Eco-tourism along with educational, cultural, and social
events for people’s recreation. The town of Binalonan serves as the crossroad of different
cultures. Such as Pangasinan and Cordillera thus bearing witness to the growth and development
of educational institutions, connecting roads, cultural exchanges and migrations. It is the task of
the Public Order and Safety unit to make sure that the town is free from chaos and crime, and
that the people feel safe even if they are outside the safety of their homes. Thus, in Binalonan the
said unit is tasked to patrol day and night to look after its constituents because, above all, the
priority of the town of Binalonan is its people, the Binalonians.

These programs and initiatives inspired the researchers to find out the desirability of
development program and effectiveness of implemented projects in the municipality of
Binalonan, Pangasinan.

Theoretical Framework/Conceptual Framework

The traditional definition of a stakeholder is “any group or individual who can affect or is
affected by the achievement of the organization’s objectives” (Freeman 1984). The general idea
of the Stakeholder concept is a redefinition of the organization. In general the concept is about
what the organization should be and how it should be conceptualized. Friedman (2006) states
that the organization itself should be thought of as grouping of stakeholders and the purpose of
the organization should be to manage their interests, needs and viewpoints. This stakeholder
management is thought to be fulfilled by the managers of a firm. The managers should on the
one hand manage the corporation for the benefit of its stakeholders in order to ensure their rights
and the participation in decision making and on the other hand the management must act as the
stockholder’s agent to ensure the survival of the firm to safeguard the long term stakes of each
group.

The definition of a stakeholder, the purpose and the character of the organization and the role of
managers are very unclear and contested in literature and has changed over the years. Even the
“father of the stakeholder concept” changed his definition over the time. In one of his latest
definitions Freeman (2004) defines stakeholders as “those groups who are vital to the survival
and success of the corporation”. In one of his latest publications Freeman (2004) adds a new
principle, which reflects a new trend in stakeholder theory. In this principle in his opinion the
consideration of the perspective of the stakeholders themselves and their activities is also very
important to be taken into the management of companies. He states “The principle of stakeholder
recourse. Stakeholders may bring an action against the directors for failure to perform the
required duty of care” (Freeman 2004). All the mentioned thoughts and principles of the
stakeholder concept are known as normative stakeholder theory in literature. Normative
Stakeholder theory contains theories of how managers or stakeholders should act and should
view the purpose of organization, based on some ethical principle (Friedman 2006). Another
approach to the stakeholder concept is the so called descriptive stakeholder theory. This theory is
concerned with how managers and stakeholders actually behave and how they view their actions
and roles. The instrumental stakeholder theory deals with how managers should act if they want
to flavor and work for their own interests. In some literature the own interest is conceived as the
interests of the organization, which is usually to maximize profit or to maximize shareholder
value. This means if managers treat stakeholders in line with the stakeholder concept the
organization will be more successful in the long run. Donaldson and Preston (1995) have made
this three-way categorization of approaches to the stakeholder concept kind of famous.

As stated previously, the study of Public Administration entails a broad and often
interdisciplinary field (cf. Raadschelders 1999:281 ) of enquiry. This field comprises the
government and governance systems (e.g. regulatory, institutional and administrative), the particular
social system (e.g. human dynamics in society), the political system (e.g. power dynamics in society),
and the economic system (e.g. accumulation, production, distribution of wealth). Public Administration
as a field of study reflects various research traditions and approaches. These background elements
denote a philosophical and theoretical point of departure from which to conduct an inquiry into
governance-related phenomena. As such, it provides a research focus and methodological strategy that
informs the collection and the analysis of data.

Through traces of its classical origins in Western and Eastern cultures, Public Administration has
evolved to cover a broad field of scientific inquiry. As interdiscipline, it borrows heavily from adjacent
or reference disciplines (cf. Van der Waldt 2016:213) such as sociology, political sciences,
economics, and law. These are approaches and theories that scholars deem useful for the study of
phenomena related to the public sector. Early scholars in various fields made significant contributions to
theory development. These include authors such as Max Weber (On bureaucracy), Gulick
(POSTCORB), Woodrow Wilson (The study of administration), Chester Barnard (Functions
of the executive), Dwight Waldo (The administrative state), Lyndall Urvick (Science of
Administration Theory), and Herbert A. Simon (Administrative behaviour). In a postmodern era,
more contemporary scholars expanded the corpus of knowledge to include managerial and
broader governance perspectives. These are scholars such as Bouckert, Bourgon, Frederickson, Hughes,
Pollitt,
Raadschelders, and Rutgers.

The theory of Public Administration can be regarded as the convergence of history,

organisational theory, social theory, political theory and related studies focused on the meanings,
structures and functions of public/civil service/bureaucracy in its various forms (Shafritz and Hyde
1997:13; Mautner 2000:168; Rosenbloom and Kravchuk 2002:45). The study of Public Administration
is complicated by the fact that social phenomena are so complex that they are neither explainable,
nor understandable through the analysis of logically-arranged concepts and variables. Public
administration is best thought of as a multi- dimensional phenomenon involving the interaction,
interdependence, and collaboration of government, politics, economics, technology, legal issues, social,
and cultural contexts. Each of these spheres involves different networks of relations, activities, and
human interactions (cf. Bedeian 1998). A study of the administrative phenomenon cannot simply explain
from a single sphere (or one social situation) what will occur in another one. Each sphere or situation
should be approached separately in order to understand idiosyncratic aspects of institution, politics,
culture, and people from that context.

Both the practice of public administration and the discipline Public Administration are in a state of flux.
This situation is pointed out by eminent scholars such as Greenwood and Eggins (1995), Rutgers
(1998), and Lynn (2008). Their main argument is that practice is not supported adequately by
basic and applied research anymore, mainly due to outdated theory (cf. Van der Waldt 2016:216).
Furthermore, it is evident that research in Public Administration in general, and postgraduate
research in particular, suffers from theoretical and methodological weaknesses (cf. Wessels 2008:118;
Cameron 2013:573). It seems that the applied, practical, and vocational foci that dominate research
endeavours are dealt with at the expense of theory application and theory building. In a discipline of
applied social sciences such as Public Administration, it is essential that the
interface between theory, research and practice is established.

An analysis of Public Administration theory should consider the chronological development of

paradigms. In this regard, Bourgon (2007:7) underscores the fact that Classic Theory of Public
Administration do not fully support the diverse nature of public sector practices anymore.
Knowledge does not remain static; as new insight come to light, existing theories either are adjusted, or
abandoned totally. Paradigms shift over time and, therefore, the theories that are in use also
undergo shifts in thinking. Theories are thus influenced by prevailing societal thinking on conceptions
of government and governance. As such, theories generally are divided into classical, neo-classical and
contemporary categories.

Furthermore, the specific system of government will influence the design of theoretical
frameworks. Whether a government is capitalistic, decentralised, interventionist,
developmental, et cetera, may make it necessary to consider particular constructs when building a
theory. The theory adopted for purposes of analysis is also influenced by the particular phenomenon
under investigation. Such phenomena may be more complex than the original constructs for the theory. In
such a case, the theory is not developed sufficiently to describe the phenomenon. This is particularly true
about theories in the public sector, which is highly dynamic and fluid with its interconnected issues.
Public Administration Theory is also influenced by theories and approaches from references of adjacent
disciplines.

Conceptual Paradigm

FIGURE 1:

Ocular Inspection of On-

Project Development Project Development going and Implemented
Plan Identification Plan Gathering Projects at the
Municipality

Distribution of Projects Interviewing and Floating of

Development Plan Questionnaires to Locals of Project Development
Binalonan for Further
Evaluation Locals of Assessment of Project Plan Assessment
Binalonan Development Plans
FIGURE 2:

INDEPENDENT VARIABLES

Gender
Age
Civil Status
Educational Attainment
Average Family Annual Income

DEPENDENT VARIABLES

Social Services Sector

Economic Services
Infrastracture Services Sector
Environmental Services
Institutional Sector

EXPECTED OUTPUT

To determine the desirability and effectiveness of the

implementation of the current and accomplished projects
in the province of Binalonan, Pangasinan.

Statement of the problem

The study would like to find out the effectiveness of development planning and goals in
the municipality, specifically it seeks to answer the following questions:

1. What is the profile of respondent in terms of:

a. Gender
b. Age
c. Civil Status
d. Educational attainment
e. Average family annual income
2. What is the level of desirability of the aspects of the development plan of the
municipality in Social services sector, Economic services sector and Environmental
services sector?
 3. What is the level of effectiveness of the projects that are implemented and on-going in
Economic sector, Infrastructure sector, Social Services sector, Environmental sector, and
Institutional sector?
4. What are the problems observed in the municipal development planning and
implementation?
5. What are the most important recommendations of constituents to improve the municipal
development planning and implementation

6. Is there a significant difference in the desirability of the development plan if respondents

were grouped according to
a. age
b. gender,
c. educational attainment, and
d average family annual income?
7. Is there a significant difference in the level of effectiveness of the implemented and on-
going projects if the respondents were grouped according to
a. age
b. gender,
c. educational attainment, and
d average family annual income?
8. Is there significant correlation between the desirability of the development plan and the
effectiveness of the implemented and on-going projects?
Hypothesis

Statement of Hypotheses

The following are the hypotheses that guided the conduct of this study.

Ho- There is no significant difference in the desirability of the development plan by sector in

terms of respondent’s:

a. Age

b. Gender

c. Educational Attainment

d. Average family annual income

Ha- There is a significant difference in the desirability of the development plan by sector in terms

of respondent’s:

a. Age

b. Gender

c. Educational Attainment

d. Average family annual income

Ho- There is no significant difference in the level of effectiveness in the implemented and on-

going projects per sector in terms of respondent’s:

a. Age

b. Gender

c. Educational Attainment

d. Average family annual income

Ha- There is a significant difference difference in the level of effectiveness in the implemented

and on-going projects per sector in terms of respondent’s:

a. Age

b. Gender

c. Educational Attainment

d. Average family annual income

Significance of the study

The project/program evaluation was conducted in helping the municipal government to

find out the desirability of development program and effectiveness of implemented projects in
the municipality of Binalonan, Pangasinan by describing program’s strengths, weaknesses,

opportunities and threats, and outlines strategies and directions. It would provide a blueprint to

strengthen program activities, address areas of improvement, and move the program forward to

new accomplishments.

Definition of terms

Development- The systematic use of scientific and technical knowledge to meet specific

objectives or requirements.

Planning- A systematic process of envisioning a desired future, and translating this vision into

broadly defined goals or objectives and a sequence of steps to achieve them.

Goal- An observable and measurable end result having one or more objectives to be achieved

within a more or less fixed timeframe

Desirability- Worth having or seeking, as by being useful, advantageous, or pleasing

Effectiveness- The degree to which objectives are achieved and the extent to which targeted

problems are solved

Program- A plan of action aimed at accomplishing a clear business objective, with details on

what work is to be done, by whom, when, and what means or resources will be used

Usefulness- Period during which an asset or property is expected to be usable for the purpose it

was acquired
Quality- An aspect of the quality assurance process that consists of activities employed in

detection and measurement of the variability in the characteristics of output attributable to the

production system, and includes corrective responses

Fulfilment- The achievement of something desired, promised, or predicted

Problems- a situation, person, or thing that needs attention and needs to be dealt with or solved

Recommendations- a suggestion or proposal as to the best course of action, especially one put

forward by an authoritative body

Survey- a general view, examination, or description of someone or something

Sector- area of the economy in which businesses share the same or a related product or service