Republic of the Philippines

Technological University of the Philippines

College of Industrial Education
Graduate Program

LYNDY G. PANTAO
Program: Ed.D. - IEM
Course: MM 517 Public Administration
Professor: ROMEO S. EBONITE, Ed.D.
Semester: Second Semester
School Year: 2019-2020

Insight Paper No. 5

Reinventing and Reforming the Machinery of Government

The Administrative Architecture of the Philippine Government

The Philippines is a republic with a presidential form of government wherein
power is equally divided among its three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial.
The government seeks to act in the best interests of its citizens through this system of
check and balance.
One basic corollary in a presidential system of government is the principle of
separation of powers wherein legislation belongs to Congress, execution to the
Executive, and settlement of legal controversies to the Judiciary.
The Legislative branch is authorized to make laws, alter, and repeal them
through the power vested in the Philippine Congress. This institution is divided into the
Senate and the House of Representatives.
The Legislative Branch enacts legislation, confirms or rejects Presidential
appointments, and has the authority to declare war. This branch includes Congress
(the Senate and House of Representatives) and several agencies that provide support
services to Congress.
The Senate is composed of 24 Senators who are elected at large by the qualified
voters of the Philippines.
The House of Representatives is composed of about 250 members elected from
legislative districts in the provinces, cities, and municipalities, and representatives
elected through a party-list system of registered national, regional, and sectoral parties
or organizations.
The party-list representatives shall constitute twenty per cent of the total number
of representatives including those under the party list. For three consecutive terms after
the ratification of this Constitution, one-half of the seats allocated to party-list
representatives shall be filled, as provided by law, by selection or election from the
labor, peasant, urban poor, indigenous cultural communities, women, youth, and such
other sectors as may be provided by law, except the religious sector.
The Executive branch is composed of the President and the Vice President who
are elected by direct popular vote and serve a term of six years. The Constitution grants
the President authority to appoint his Cabinet. These departments form a large portion
of the country’s bureaucracy.
The executive branch carries out and enforces laws. It includes
the President, Vice President, the Cabinet, executive departments, independent
agencies, boards, commissions, and committees.
The President leads the country. He or she is the head of state, leader of the
national government, and Commander-in-Chief of all armed forces of the Philippines.
The President serves a six-year term and cannot be re-elected.
The Vice President supports the President. If the President is unable to serve,
the Vice President becomes President. He or she also serves a six-year term.
Cabinet members serve as advisors to the President. They include the Vice
President and the heads of executive departments. Cabinet members are nominated by
the President and must be confirmed by the Commission of Appointments.
The Judicial branch holds the power to settle controversies involving rights that
are legally demandable and enforceable. This branch determines whether or not there
has been a grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction on the
part and instrumentality of the government. It is made up of a Supreme Court and lower
courts.
The judicial branch interprets the meaning of laws, applies laws to individual
cases, and decides if laws violate the Constitution. The judicial power shall be vested in
one Supreme Court and in such lower courts as may be established by law.
Each branch of government can change acts of the other branches as follows:
 The President can veto laws passed by Congress.
 Congress confirms or rejects the President's appointments and can remove
the President from office in exceptional circumstances.
 The Justices of the Supreme Court, who can overturn unconstitutional laws,
are appointed by the President.
The Constitution expressly grants the Supreme Court the power of Judicial
Review as the power to declare a treaty, international or executive agreement, law,
presidential decree, proclamation, order, instruction, ordinance or regulation
unconstitutional (https://www.gov.ph/about-the-government).

Modeled after the American system, the Philippine national government has an
executive branch and president, a bicameral legislature with a House of
Representatives and a Senate, and a judicial branch with the Philippine Supreme Court
presiding over the federal court system. Administratively, the Philippines is broken down
into successively smaller political units. Below the national government there exist the
provinces and independent cities, then municipalities, and finally the barangay. The
barangay is significant because it addresses local governing issues from laws, to
development, to festival preparation. The barangay also plays an important role in
dispute resolution at the local level outside the court system
(https://www.niu.edu/clas/cseas/_pdf/lesson-plans/fulbright-hays/philippine-political-
structure.pdf).

The National and Local Government

 The Constitution of the Philippines recognizes the importance of local
governments. It provides as a policy that "the State shall guarantee and promote the
autonomy of the local government units -- especially the barangays -- to ensure their
fullest development as self-reliant communities."

Local governments constitute the foundation of the entire structure of the

government. The acts of the local government units affect the ordinary citizen more
directly than those of the national government. The average citizen has more and closer
contacts with the local governments and their agencies than with the national or
provincial government, and is more concerned with the local affairs than with those of
the national or provincial in scope.

The President of the Philippines exercises supervision over the whole country.
But for purposes of administrative control, the Philippines is divided into units of different
sizes -- known as political subdivisions. These are provinces, municipalities, cities, and
barangays. These political subdivisions enjoy autonomy, especially in local affairs. But,
they are also under the general supervision of the Chief Executive, through the
Secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG). These local
governments are agencies of the national government in the matter of collection of
taxes, law enforcement, and other governmental functions, which may be delegated by
the national government to these local governments.

PROVINCES

The provincial government takes care of the functions which affect the people of
a certain province. The province is the largest political unit in the Philippines. It possess
the following powers --- 1) to acquire and transfer real and personal properties, 2) to
enter into contracts, including those incurring obligations, which are expressly provided
by law; and 3) to exercise such other rights and incur such other obligations as are
expressly authorized by law.

There are 77 provinces in the Philippines. They are classified according to their
average income for five consecutive years. The higher the income of the province, the
higher is its classification. The salaries that can be paid to the provincial officials depend
upon the class to which it belongs. Higher salaries are paid to the officials of the higher-
class provinces. A province elects its executives -- the governor, vice governor, and the
members of the provincial board (vocales). There are three vocales in the first, second,
and third class provinces, and two in the other classes of provinces. The rest of the
provincial officials -- like the provincial treasurer, provincial assessor, district auditor,
judges of the Regional Trial courts, provincial fiscal, division superintendent of schools,
district health officer, district engineer, and register of deeds -- are all appointed by the
corresponding departments of the national government. However, under the New Local
Government Code, they are the administrative control of the provincial governor. The
provincial governor exercises general supervisory powers over the entire province. He
also makes known to the people of his province all laws and orders of the government,
especially those which directly concern them and sees to it that they are faithfully
carried out. He acquaints himself with the conditions of the municipalities comprising the
province and advises local officials in matters affecting their official work.

The provincial board is the law making body of the province, with the provincial
governor serving as the presiding officer. Some of its most important functions are as
follows: a) it passes laws for the welfare of the municipalites and cities within its
jurisdiction; b) it prepares and approves the provincial budget; c) it appropriates money
for provincial purposes; d) it exercises the power of eminent domain; and e) it provides
for the maintenance of equipment and buildings for provincial purposes. The board
holds a regular weekly meeting upon a day fixed by it. Special meetings, however, may
be called by the provincial governor on any day.

MUNICIPALITIES

Each province is composed of municipalities commonly called towns. The

municipality is a public corporation created by an act of congress and is governed by
the Municipality Law, which defines its duties and powers. Being public corporations,
municipalities can sue or be sued in court; enter into contracts; acquire and hold real
and personal properties for municipal purposes; and exercise such other powers as are
granted by law. Municipalities are classified according to their average annual income
for the last four fiscal years. There are 1,540 municipalities in the Philippines. They are
autonomous units of government and have elective and appointive officials. The elective
officials are the municipal mayor, vice mayor, and councilors. They are elected by the
qualified voters for a term of three years. They cannot serve for more than three
consecutive terms. The appointive officials are the municipal secretary, treasurer,
justice of the peace, and chief of police. The municipal mayor is the chief executive
officer of the town. His main functions are: 1) to execute all laws and municipal
ordinances; 2) to supervise the administration of the town; 3) to issue orders relative to
the maintenance of peace and order; 4) to preside over the meetings of the municipal
council; and 5) to recommend measures to the municipal council aimed at the
improvement of the social and economic conditions of the people. The municipal
councils is the law-making body of the town and is composed of the mayor -- who is the
chairman of the council -- vice mayor, and the councilors. The number of councilors for
each municipality depends upon the class to which the municipality belongs. Each
councilor is in-charge of a village or barangay. Some of the more important mandatory
powers of the municipal council are the following: 1) to fix the salaries of all municipal
offices and employees, except the treasurer, teachers in the public schools, and staff of
national government agencies assigned to the municipality; 2) to provide for expenses
necessary to carry out the functions of the municipality; 3) to provide for buildings
adequate for municipal uses, including school houses; 4) to provide for the levy and
collection of taxes, fees, and charges as sources of municipal revenue; and 5) to
establish and maintain an efficient police department and an adequate municipal jail.

CITIES
 The chartered city is also a unit of local administration. It is created by a special
law which serves as its charter. The charter is the constitution of the city. The charter
creates the city, defines its boundaries, provides its system of government, and defines
the powers and duties of its officials. A city or any of its officials cannot perform any
official act which is not permitted by its charter. The city elective officials are the mayor,
vice mayor, and the members of the board of councilors. They are elected for a term of
three years. They cannot serve for more than three consecutive terms. The mayor is the
executive official of the city, aided by the appointive heads of the various departments.
The vice mayor is the presiding officer of the board. And the city courts exercise judicial
functions. The law-making body of the city is council. Among its important functions are
as follows: 1) to levy and collect taxes in accordance with law; 2) to enact ordinances; 3)
to provide for public workds constructions and for the maintenance of a local police
force; 4) to establish fire zones within the city and to regulated the type of building which
may be constructed within each zone; and 5) to provide for the protection of the
inhabitants from public calamities and to provide relied in times of emergency. There
are 67 chartered cities in the Philippines.

BARANGAYS

Each municipality or city is composed of a number of villages or barangays. The

barangays are the smallest units of local government in the Philippines. They are
governed by the Barrio Charter. The elective officials of the barangays are the Barangay
Captain and the Barangay Councilors. As chief executive, the barangay captain is its
recognized leader. He enforces all the laws and ordinances applicable to his
constituency. He may organize fire brigades, preside over all meetings both of the
barangay council and assembly, organize groups of citizens to fight criminality and
brigandage, and approve all payments from barangay funds. He also sings all contacts
in which the barangay is a party. There are 41, 945 barangays in the Philippines. They
are public corporations and so, they can sue and be sued in court; can enter into
contracts, can acquire and hold all kinds of property; and can exercise such powers or
perform such acts as are provided by law.

Reforming the National Machinery of Government

Just as every new generation writes its own history, each new managerial
generation has its own ideas about the “one best way”—even if that means multiple
ways. What has been genuinely new here is that governments at all levels are actually
being forced by events to change the fundamental ways in which they operate. They
must literally rethink (reinvent) how they operate because they can no longer afford to
simply do what they have been doing—with reorganization here and a new public
relations effort there—to assuage their critics.
Every situation needs a new approach. For example, today’s pandemic needs a
special type of administration in order to respond to the needs of the situation.
Reforming the national machinery of government means that the government leaders
should be dynamic in its approach to the problems being faced by the nation. There is
no one size fits all approach. Each response must be tailored to the problem at hand.
Furthermore, we know that change is the only constant in this world. Laws generated 50
years ago might not be applicable today that is why our laws must be amended in order
to serve its purpose.

The Pressure for Privatization

The real goal is getting the best deal in terms of quality and cost for the taxpayer.
Nothing is more challenging, indeed threatening, to public administration than the
now constant specter of privatization. Indeed, to many on the political right, reinventing
is virtually synonymous with privatization. There are essentially two kinds of
privatization. First, as discussed in the Keynote, there is the private provision of services
with a “public” character, such as private police and private parks. These services are
public only in the sense that they are available to any who can pay for them. Second,
privatization is the process of returning to the private sector property or functions
previously owned or performed by government.
Generally there are three basic forms or types of government privatization:
1. The sale of government assets (such as a railroad to a corporation or public housing
units to their tenants).
2. The private financing of public facilities (such as toll highways).
3. The private provision of services (such as trash collection or retirement benefits).