ETHICS and ACCOUNTABILITY

(Lesson 1)

PA 202 C (PUBLIC ETHICS AND

ACCOUNTABILITY)
MASTER IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
 What is Ethics?
Broadly defined, ethics principles that govern a
person’s behavior. Ethics refers to the study of
right and wrong behaviours.
In the context of government, Ethics refers to a
particular professional code of conduct
involving rules and guidelines for those who
work in and for government, covering the
lowliest job order laborer to the highest elected
official.
 CATEGORIES OF ETHICS
• DESCRIPTIVE ETHICS
-describing how people
behave/moral standards they claim
follow

What do people think is right?
• METAETHICS
-investigate where ethical principle
come from

What does "right" even mean?
• NORMATIVE ETHICS
-is concerned with classifying actions
as right and wrong without bias

How should people act?
• APPLIED ETHICS
-involves examining specifics
controversial issues
- most practical

How do we take moral knowledge and
put it into practice?
WHAT IS AN ETHICAL DILEMMA?

• Is a situation that requires

choosing a course of action.
• State of uncertainty or
perplexity especially as
requiring a choice between
equally unfavourable options
• How do you apply your ethics as
a teacher?
• How are the ethics of your
student? In your
workplace?
• What are your good work ethics?
1987 Constitution; Article XI,

Public Office is a public trust. Public

officers and employees must at all
times be accountable to the
people, serve them with utmost
responsibility, integrity, loyalty,
and efficiency, act with patriotism
and justice, and lead modest
lives.
• Under a democracy such as in the
Philippines, the people’s fundamental faith
in the integrity of political institutions is
what holds the system together even under
the most difficult times.
• As Foster (1981) states: as the public
becomes better educated, they also become
more aware, more demanding, less
understanding, and less willing to accept
average performance
Eight norms of conduct
• Commitment to public interest
• Professionalism
• Justness and sincerity
• Political neutrality
• Responsiveness to the public
• Nationalism and patriotism
• Commitment to democracy
• Simple living
The Concept of Public
Accountability
-The activities of civil servants and
public agencies must follow the will
of the people .
- The obligation of an individual/
organization to account for its
activities, accept responsibility for
them and to disclose the result in a
transparent manner
 Code of Conduct for Public Officials
and Employees

Commitment to public interest

Public officials and employees shall always uphold
the public interest over and above personal
interest. All government resources and powers of
their respective offices must be employed and
efficiently, effectively, honestly and economically,
particularly to avoid wastage in public funds and
revenues.
 Code of Conduct for Public Officials
and Employees

Professionalism
Public officials and employees shall perform and
discharge their duties with the highest degree of
excellence, professionalism, intelligence and skill.
They shall enter public service with utmost
devotion and dedication to duty. They shall
endeavor to discourage wrong perceptions of their
roles as dispensers or peddlers of undue
patronage.
 Code of Conduct for Public Officials
and Employees
Justness and sincerity
Public officials and employees shall remain true to
the people at all times. They must act with justness
and sincerity and shall not discriminate against
anyone, especially the poor and the
underprivileged. They shall at all times respect the
rights of others, and shall refrain from doing acts
contrary to law, good morals, good customs, public
policy, public order, public safety and public
interest. They shall not dispense or extend undue
favors on account of their office to their relatives
whether by consanguinity or affinity except with
respect to appointments of such relatives to
positions considered strictly confidential or as
members of their personal staff whose terms are
coterminous with theirs.
 Code of Conduct for Public Officials
and Employees

Political neutrality
Public officials and employees shall
provide service to everyone without unfair
discrimination and regardless of party
affiliation or preference.
 Code of Conduct for Public Officials
and Employees

Responsiveness to the public

Public officials and employees shall extend prompt,
courteous, and adequate service to the public. Unless
otherwise provided by law or when required by the
public interest, public officials and employees shall
provide information of their policies and procedures in
clear and understandable language, ensure openness
of information, public consultations and hearings
whenever appropriate, encourage suggestions, simplify
and systematize policy, rules and procedures, avoid
red tape and develop an understanding and
appreciation of the socio-economic conditions
prevailing in the country, especially in the depressed
rural and urban areas.
 Code of Conduct for Public Officials
and Employees

Nationalism and patriotism

Public officials and employees shall at all times be
loyal to the Republic and to the Filipino people,
promote the use of locally produced goods,
resources and technology and encourage
appreciation and pride of country and people. They
shall endeavor to maintain and defend Philippine
sovereignty against foreign intrusion.
 Code of Conduct for Public Officials
and Employees

Commitment to democracy
Public officials and employees shall commit
themselves to the democratic way of life and
values, maintain the principle of public
accountability, and manifest by deeds the
supremacy of civilian authority over the military.
They shall at all times uphold the Constitution and
put loyalty to country above loyalty to persons or
party.
 Code of Conduct for Public Officials
and Employees

Simple living
Public officials and employees and their families
shall lead modest lives appropriate to their
positions and income. They shall not indulge in
extravagant or ostentatious display of wealth in
any form.
 ACCOUNTABILITY VS. RESPONSIBILITY
•Is answerability, •may refer to being in
blameworthiness, charge, being the owner
liability and the of task or event
expectation of •explanation not
account giving necessary
• owed explanation •can be before and/or
•you hold as a person after a task
to only after a task is
done or not
 Four standard questions are
central to Accountability
o Who is considered
accountable?
o To whom he is
considered
accountable?
o To what standard or
values is he
accountable?
o By what means is he
made accountable?
Types of Accountability

Process Accountability.
• It implies emphasizes on procedures and
methods of operation and focuses on the
black box inside systems which transforms
inputs (the concern of traditional and
managerial accountability).
Traditional Accountability
• Focuses on the regularity of fiscal
transactions and the faithful
compliance to legal requirements and
administrative policies
(Mckinney1981:144 as cited by Cariño
2003: 808)
• Concerns with efficiency and economy in
Determining if an act is within the
provisions of laws and regulations.
► the use of public funds, property and manpower (Tantuico 1982:8 as

cited by Cariño 2003:808);

Managerial Accountability
• These programs range from attempt at
work simplification and revision of forms
all the way to systems improvements
and agency reorganization;

2 Standards:
1. Economical operation -elimination
or reduction of needless costs.
2. Efficient operations-decreasing costs
at a lower rate than benefits
Program Accountability

• Whether the government unit is carrying

out only authorized activities or
programs in the manner contemplated
and whether they are accomplishing
their objectives.
• Is concerned with the results of
government operations.
Social Accountability

• the main inquiry is whether the

administrative activities inspire general
confidence and secure what are
widely regarded as desirable social
ends (Normanton 1981:34 and cited by
Cariño 2003:911)
 Summary of Ethics and
Accountability
► Ethics or moral philosophy which determine the
concepts of right and wrong behavior
► Ethics has been defined in a variety of ways. In
general, it is identified as “the branch of philosophy
that deals with issues of right and wrong in human
affairs”.
► refers to well-founded standards of right and wrong
that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in
terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society,
fairness, or specific virtue”.
 Conts.
► 1. Meta-ethics, concerning the theoretical meaning
and reference of moral propositions, and how their
truth values can be determine.

► 2. Normative Ethics is concerning the practical

means of determining a moral course of action.

► 3. Applied Ethics is concerning what a person is

obligated ( or permitted ) to do in a specific
situation.
► The highest standards of ethics are embodied in
Republic Act No. 6713 or the Code of Conduct and
Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.
RA 6713 also bears the eight (8) norms of conduct –
commitment to public interest, professionalism,
justness and sincerity, political neutrality,
responsiveness to the public, nationalism and
patriotism, commitment to democracy, and simple
living.
► The same norms promote the idea that even in the
smallest of matters, a lingkod bayani should be able
to withstand temptation, reject mediocrity, and
protect his or her integrity.
(THE 1987 CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES )

Accountability of Public Officers

article XI
►SECTION 1. Public office is a public
trust. Public officers and
employees must at all times be
accountable to the people, serve
them with utmost responsibility,
integrity, loyalty, and efficiency,
act with patriotism and justice,
and lead modest lives.
Enforcing
Accountability:

• Sandigan Bayan
• Anti Graft Court
• Ombudsman
• Public Prosecutor
• Civic consciousness
Laws related to graft and
corruption
 Republic Act no. 3019 – Anti-Graft and Corrupt
Practices Act
 Republic Act no. 1379 – Forfeiture in favor of the state
any property found to have been un-lawfully acquired
 Republic Act no. 6713 – Code of Conduct and Ethical
Standards for Public Officials and Employees
 Republic Act no. 6770 – Functionality and structural
organization of the office of the ombudsman
 Presidential Decree no. 46 – Prohibition on receiving
and giving gifts on any occasion, including Christmas
Ethics and Accountability through
Oversight Institutions
Oversight Institutions:
1. Congress
2. Senate
3. Office of the President
4. Internal Oversight Organizations:
a. Internal Affairs
b. National Police Commission
(NaPolCom)
c. People’s Law Enforcement Board
(PLEB)
Problems :

• Ethics are over powered by ego.

• Ethics of the modern society(students)
• Ethics Vs personal interest/advancement
• Ethics influenced by bias
• Trustworthiness of public servants
• Promotion and commitment to ethics and
accountability in the public sector.
• Inability or unwillingness of the society to
call powerful and prominent
• people in their wrongdoings
Reference:

Civil service Commission

Zorate, Cynthia A.Organizational
Behavior and Management: In
Philippine Organization, R. Ed.,
Rex Books Store, 2012.
Andres, Tomas Quintin D. Human
Resource Management in the
Philippines Setting, Quezon City;
New Day Publishing, 1991.
SHUKRAN