Decentralization In 1991, the Aquino regime passed the Local Government Code (LGC) which it considered as a milestone step to address the problem of overcentralization of government. The devolution of functions from the National Government Agencies (NGAs) to the Local Government Units (LGUs) is supposed to empower the latter to improve services to their respective constituents. However, contrary to its intent, the implementation of the LGC proved to be another arena of competition for turfs among th e various interest groups in government. While it relatively diffused the pressure from the national government as the LGUs became the receiving end of complaints and buffer of the NGAs, they remain incapable and unable to respond to even just the basic s ocial services of the more than 75% of the population who reside in the rural areas. As the functions and responsibilities were devolved, there were no corresponding change in the power structure and fund allocations in support of these. The immediate impact was on the more than 100,000 civil servants who were dislocated due to their transfer to the LGUs. They were either forced to resign, were not absorbed by the LGUs, or suffered reduction in pay due to lack of funds. The situation whereby the Chief Execu tives of the LGUs are mere dummies of the local landlords and the bureaucrat capitalists is perpetuated. The LGUs are still beggars for funds for their projects from the national leadership which treats the grant of funds as favor to the local executives. The high cost of local elections also make them subservient to those who can finance and provide the force for their candidacy. While in power, the preoccupation of Local Executives is to pay for their political debts and recover with interest their own c ampaign costs thru favors and government contracts. Integrated Area Development (IAD) Approach This approach traces its lineage from decentralization and the matrix type of organization wherein it departs from specific agency. It focuses its efforts on a particular program into the coordination of activities of various public offices within a spatial location under a lead agency. It is supposed to institutionalize a multisectoral orientation to improve the quality of services and development efforts with in a given geographical area more specially in a rural setting "Tensions in the Troubled Bureaucracy..." by Danilo R. Reyes). This approach was heavily funded by the World Bank (WB) during the Marcos dictatorship and was taken advantage to overconcentrate in a few agencies, like the defunct Ministry of Human Settlements (MHS), National Council for Integrated Area Development (NACIAD), and the Metro Manila Authority (MMA), the resources of government. It made easier the misutilization of public funds as th e rest of the bureaucracy became second flingers to these super public organizations which are within the direct control of the conjugal dictatorship. In the same manner that the LGUs became easy prey to the wishes of President Marcos as they are mere ext ensions in the implementation of the IAD programs. Though the IAD approach became less prominent as its funding from the WB has been consumed, the concept is still being used in various forms. The Social Reform Agenda (SRA) of the Ramos administration is intended to showcase the coordinative efforts of all sectors of government to alleviate the situation in the so called Club 20 or the Low-Income Provinces. However, reports of its implementation has not shown qualitative difference in the lives of the poor in these areas. Up to now, the SRA remains an exercise of putting together in documents the spare amounts of each department of government to create an impression of priority. The decision to include all provinces as SRA areas only highlights the fact that the entire country is in miserable situation and thus safety net measures has to be undertaken nationwide. Other forms of this approach are the Key Production Areas (KPAs) of the Philippine Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Agrarian Reform Communities (ARCs) of the Philippine Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) both of which are failures because of its orientation towards more intervention by the private sectors more specially the foreign investors in the agricultural sector. The chronic crisis f or staple food is the result of the government's policies to reduced the land hectarage for rice and corn production to allow the conversion of agricultural lands to other uses in order to exempt them from agrarian reform and the importation of agricultur a l products. On the other hand, areas which have been covered by the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL) are being subjected to joint ventures with previous land owners and foreign investors thereby making the beneficiaries as mere workers of these en terprises after all. Its pattern of multisectoral orientation and advocacy remain a readily available mechanism for the Aquino and Ramos administrations to fastly attain specific objectives or to even just project control when the people express their disg ust over the chaos of their daily lives. The proliferation of inter-agency committees and task forces is a variation of this approach. President Ramos conveniently creates layers and layers of presidential committees and task forces whenever he desires to be in full control of almost any concern more specially if there is a perceived opposition to it. A temporary body under his control thru his closest lackeys is an instant solution to the attainment of the agenda of his clique. Privatization of Public Estates The public estate system is supposed to rationalize the production and delivery of public goods thru the use of Government-Owned and Controlled Corporations (GOCCs). Conceptually, it is intended to ensure the availability of basic services to every Filipino household. Over the years however, these GOCCs failed to live up to the expectations due to large scale inefficiencies, exorbitant expenditures, massive losses and huge foreign debts (Briones and Zosa 1975:175). The reasons for the low performanc e of the GOCCs is not different and independent of the entire malaise that has long afflicted the bureaucracy -- the division of the spoils. After serving as milking cows for the bureaucrat capitalists, the sale of these GOCCs is being undertaken to strik e another deal for their take. The plan to privatize came in 1989 as an offshoot of the Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) of the IMF-World Bank for the Philippines. This include austerity measures to curve the deficit spendings of government due to the automatic allocation of almost half of its national budget to the payment of public debts. As the foreign debt payments and misprioritization for national defense fund increased, the subsidy for social services is further pushed to less importance. But pr ivatization is not a mere administrative reform
measure. The policy of government to allow the super
profit orientation of the private sector to control and
manipulate the affordability of even the most basic needs
for food, power generation, potable wate r , education,
shelter, and health services is definitely a change for
the worst of the orientation of the government. What it
cannot effectively and efficiently provide to the people
due to mismanagement is thus being taken away completely
for the ultimate goal for super profits. |
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Position Papers