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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

The Internal Affairs Services (IAS), Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP)-National

Headquarters is one of the executive staff of the OFFICE OF THE CHIEF BFP which has

exceptionally done its mandated tasks of helping the Chief, BFP in instituting reforms to

improve the image of the BFP force through assessment, analysis and evaluation of the

character and behavior of BFP personnel.

The BFP IAS personnel were able to do their function by out rightly receiving cases

pending through investigation of formal administrative charges against erring BFP high

ranking officials and undertakes prosecution of cases that are formally charged before the

BFP Hearing Office. Its other functions include evaluation and review of request for

financial support or known as ―Class ‗E' allotment‖, conducting investigation for medical

reimbursement claims and also issuances of clearance to BFP personnel.

IAS was not part of BFP‘s precursor under the Presidential Decree No. 765 dated January

1, 1975, the Fire Department was at the time integrated with the Philippine

Constabulary/Integrated National Police (PC/INP) until it was organized as the Bureau of

Fire Protection (BFP) under R.A. No. 6975, the Department of the Interior and Local

Government Act, enacted in 1990. The BFP is mandated to ensure public safety through

the prevention and suppression of all kinds of destructive fires; enforce the Fire Code of

the Philippines (PD 1185); investigate all causes of fires and file complaints with the
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appropriate agencies; and assist the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) during national

emergencies.

The scope of BFP‘s mandate does not rest in ensuring the safety of the community but

also in setting the standards to safety itself, a power which according to Myint (2000) is

constantly equated to corruption not only in the Philippines but in other parts of the world.

―Violating building codes through the connivance of corrupt officials and building

contractors has resulted in collapse of apartment buildings, department stores and hotels is

common in a lot of countries. Paying bribes to deliberately observe proper fire prevention

and safety regulations has caused supermarkets, hotels and discos, filled with shoppers and

customers to go up in flames.‖

With this in mind, IAS was tasked to support the Chief, BFP to ensure the department‘s

integrity through the following capabilities:

• To conduct thorough and final investigation on matters related to personnel,

equipment, funds, facilities and the like;

• To conduct inspection on all units of the BFP related to performances, morals and

welfare, discipline and utilization of funds and equipment;

• To conduct investigation on vehicular accident involving fire trucks and other

accidents involving BFP personnel;

• To file administrative cases against erring BFP personnel with strict observance to

due process of law;

• To conduct intelligence coverage on reported anomalous activities involving BFP

personnel;
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• To prepare special projects that will enhance administrative efficiency and

operational readiness;

• To conduct background investigation in the accreditation of dealers/suppliers and

BFP applicants on any positions.

As the internal auditing body of the BFP, IAS personnel are expected to be at their utmost

competence in dealing with the cases they are hearing. The integrity of the BFP largely

depends on how each of IAS personnel responds in the situation presented to them.

The researcher firmly believes that one important factor that distinguishes BFP-IAS

personnel is their concept and context to the idea of corruption in public governance.

Self-perceptions are a person‘s own beliefs or predictions concerning their abilities and

performance. This may be different from an individual‘s actual performance. Both self-

perceptions and actual competence have traditionally been divided into four smaller

categories. These include academic, social, emotional, and behavioral (self-) perceptions

(Harter, 1982). The following review will discuss self-perception in terms of the academic

category. Although all of the subcategories are important for providing a complete picture

of self-perceptions, academic self-perceptions can be most directly related to the IAS

personnel.

Rationale of the study

The BFP-IAS personnel address issues on corruption on a daily basis, with this study the

researcher will be able to gage not only the department‘s perceived competence but also

their concept and context on corruption in the public governance.

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According to a World Bank study in 2008, corruption in the Philippines is considered to be

the worst among East Asia‘s leading economies and the country has sunk even lower

among those seen to be lagging in governance reforms. The 2009 Corruption Perceptions

Index published by global watchdog Transparency International, showed that the situation

in the country had improved slightly but still remained serious.

The Philippines ranked 139th among 180 countries included in the index, up from its

previous 141st ranking in 2008. The nation scored 2.4 in the TI index, compared to 2.3 in

2008, which ranked it equal to Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Baltic state of Belarus.

This result of the correlational study will be able to help the department in pinpointing

areas of development to consider and probable actions in order to carry on their mandate

more efficiently.

Statement of the problem

This study was conducted to provide answers to the following questions:

1. What is the current profile of the BFP Personnel assigned to IAS along the

following stratification?

A. Age

B. Gender

C. Civil Status

D. Highest Educational Attainment

E. Number of years in the service

F. Status of appointment
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G. Type of appointment

H. Rank

I. Position/Designation

J. Salary grade

K. Salary Grade for non-uniformed

L. Year of Last Promotion?

2. What is the level of competence of the IAS BFP personnel based on their self-

assessment?

3. How does the IAS BFP personnel understand corruption in public governance?

4. Is there a relationship between (a) the perceived level of competence of the IAS

BFP personnel and (b) their concept and context of corruption in public governance?

Objectives of the study

This study aims to:

1. Determine the current profile of the BFP Personnel assigned to ;

2. Identify the level of competence of the IAS BFP personnel based on their self-

assessment;

3. Assess the IAS BFP personnel understanding of corruption in public governance;

4. Find out if there is a relationship between (a) the perceived level of competence of

the IAS BFP personnel and (b) their concept and context of corruption in public

governance.
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Significance of the study

The results of this study will be beneficial to the following:

BFP. Results of this study will enable the Bureau to look into the problems faced

by the BFP Personnel assigned to IAS NHQ and make appropriate actions to improve the

service. Likewise, serve as basis for policy formulation.

BFP Personnel. Results of this study will enable the BFP Personnel to be extra

careful in handling functions at work and be aware of the charges that could be filed

against them. Likewise, serve as a basis as to what type of complain to file against an

erring BFP Personnel.

IAS. This study will serve as a guide what to provide to its personnel for an

effective and efficient delivery of services.

Fire Chief. This will enable the Fire Chief to support and look into the needs of the

BFP Personnel assigned to IAS specifically in the prompt processing of their CFC.

Scope and delimitation of the study

This study aims find out if there is a relationship between the perceived levels of

competence of the BFP Personnel assigned to IAS National Headquarters and their concept

and context of corruption in public governance. The respondents are the current working

group of the department located in Agham Road Diliman, Quezon City with data gathered

from two instruments between November 2012 and June 2013.

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Facets of this study exist that could not be controlled as there are only 12 active personnel

under the BFP IAS department aside from the researcher where he is assigned. There is

also no precedence for studying the relationship between the perceived levels of

competence and the concept and context of corruption in public governance.

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CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter presents the review of related literature and studies relevant to the present

study. The literature and studies cited served as a guide and basis in the conduct of this

study.

Related Literature

Firefighting is one of the world‘s most honored but dangerous occupations (Hall &

Adams, 1998). Saving lives, incident stabilization and property conservation summarizes

the duty of every fire station. The job of a firefighter is not easy; it is a profession that

exposes an individual to a hazardous situation. Firefighting requires a high sense of

personal dedication, a genuine desire to help people and a high level of skill.

The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) is mandated to carry out the firefighting job

here in our country. The men and women behind this gallant organization are appreciated

by some and belittle by others. As public safety employees, they are often times

confronted in an extraordinary situation where the public wants them to be extraordinary

persons (Almaden,.2007).

Firefighter training never ends (Hall & Adams, 1998). New ideas and

equipment require new methods that must be learned. Unpredictable environments and

new technology create challenges that never before existed.

The creation of the Internal Affairs Services (IAS) of the Bureau of Fire Protection

is an answer to the above-cited realities that call for new ideas and new methods to
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improve the system. As an executive staff of the Office of the Chief, BFP to resolve cases

pending through investigation of formal administrative charges against erring BFP

Personnel at the same time prosecutes case with formal charge and which evaluates review

of request for financial support and above all conducts investigation for medical

reimbursement claims, it is but imperative to adopt new ideas, equipment and methods to

be able to deliver effective and efficient services to its clientele.

There are a lot of factors to be considered in measuring competencies of a

worker/employee. The researcher believes that factors such as age, gender, civil status,

educational attainment, number of years in the service, and status of appointment are some

of the contributory factors that could affect performance of employees. Thus, the above

enumerated factors were used in this study.

Sison (1976), pointed out that an incompetent worker or employee who is

inadvertently hired due to poor selection becomes a liability to the establishment. He is

not only a direct loss to the company in terms of substandard performance and low

productivity, but he is also a potential source of problems to management, his co-workers

and customers. Sison has been cited in this study as it has direct bearing to the present

study in that it also speaks of the cause of incompetence of a worker or employee.

Although the present study has yet to determine the level of competency of BFP Personnel

assigned to IAS in a particular task..

Sison (1991) stressed that there are two types of seniority. Straight and qualified

seniority. Straight seniority determines employment references through length of service.

Employees in this category are given priority in job opportunities such as promotion and

transfer. They may also be retained in the service during .lay-off. However, in qualified
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seniority, length of service is only one factor used in determining preference in the

employment opportunities. Other factors considered are educational attainment, fitness for

the job, training and experience in the type of job to be filled up. Qualified seniority gives

merit and efficiency of the employee, and has greater weight than the plain seniority.

Likewise, his study showed that seniority‘s role in the practice of basing the right of

employment and job opportunities upon the employees relation to length of service in any

organization is often used as basis for promotion, transfer, layoff, rehiring and other

personnel actions. It is also the factor in boosting the morale of the employee.

Franco (1991) in his book entitled, ―Training Center for Development Management

and Productivity‖, emphasized training as learning to change the performance of people

doing jobs. According to him it is deliberate and forceful not a hit-or-miss and is result

oriented. Continuous training for individual helps in making better decisions and effective

problem-solving, and aids in energizing and achieving self-development and self-

confidence.

In fact, it has been noted that one of the responsibilities of any organization is to

send employees to trainings, seminars more so to encourage them to pursue further studies

to enhance the knowledge and skills of their workers in the organization to be able to apply

in the work place new methods and techniques acquired during the course of their training,

seminars and studies. Hence, come up with a productive, efficient and effective service.

Martinez (1988) study revealed that the following institutional variables:

workplace, work design, relationships between and among individuals and organizations‘

groups, reward system, career development and continuing training, affect tremendously
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the workers‘ productivity, while individual goals constitute another relevant factor,

especially from the management point of view.

Gomez (1994) recommended in his study entitled, ‖Policies and Practices in the

Acquisition and Maintenance of Human Resources in Selected Educational Institutions in

Metro Manila: an Assessment‖ that schools should provide opportunities for their

personnel to grow professionally. Likewise, trainings and seminars be undertaken to

strengthen and maintain morale and efficiency of the workers.

Anti-corruption efforts in the Philippines are largely diffused and uncoordinated.

There are gaps and overlaps in anti-corruption policy development, enforcement and

system improvement. There is also no performance tracking / accounting system to

determine how far the country has come in achieving its anti-corruption goals and

objectives. Although there are multi-sectoral anti-corruption efforts in the Philippines, the

anti-corruption actors seem to pursue their own initiatives with little regard for the bigger

national picture.

The magnitude and seriousness of the problem of corruption in our country will

need the methodical convergence not only of synchronized action from all stakeholders but

also of resource sharing. Well-managed resource utilization will produce a multiplier effect

in concerted anticorruption programs.

With this point intact, it is vital for the BFP IAS personnel to understand the proper

concept and context of what corruption is which will provide valuable cause in their

progress against delivering their duties to remove it in the system.

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According to Wikipedia, in philosophical, theological, or moral discussions,

corruption is spiritual or moral impurity or deviation from an ideal. Corruption may

include many activities including bribery and embezzlement. Government, or 'political',

corruption occurs when an office-holder or other governmental employee acts in an official

capacity for his or her own personal gain. With this being it deals with the commonplace

use of the term corruption to mean dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power.

While according to the World Bank, Corruption is a complex phenomenon. Its

roots lie deep in bureaucratic and political institutions, and its effect on development varies

with country conditions. But while costs may vary and systemic corruption may coexist

with strong economic performance, experience suggests that corruption is bad for

development. It leads governments to intervene where they need not, and it undermines

their ability to enact and implement policies in areas in which government intervention is

clearly needed—whether environmental regulation, health and safety regulation, social

safety nets, macroeconomic stabilization, or contract enforcement. This chapter looks at

the complex nature of corruption, its causes, and its effects on development.

But perhaps, the most concise and precise way to put it is the Transparency

International‘s definition, ‗the abuse of entrusted power for private gain.'

The researcher plans to use a specially formulated rubric in order to measure the

BFP IAS personnel‘s existing concept and context on what corruption is. By being able to

define what something is then we can understand how to prevent it. That is not the same

as suggesting that you ignore corruption. It is the opposite. Blandly labelling something as

corruption is meaningless. For example, we can not cure cancer unless we know what type

of cancer it is.
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Traditionally, intellectual argument on ethics in Ireland has qualified as assuming that

corrupt behaviour is wrong. We know that. The challenge is to diagnose it so we can cure

it.

In this paper, corruption is defined as the use of public office for private gain, or in other

words, use of official position, rank or status by an office bearer for his own personal

benefit. Following from this definition, examples of corrupt behavior would include: (a)

bribery, (b) extortion, (c) fraud, (d) embezzlement, (e) nepotism, (f) cronyism, (g)

appropriation of public assets and property for private use, and (h) influence peddling.

In this list of corrupt behavior, an official can undertake activities such as fraud and

embezzlement alone and without involvement of a second party.

While others such as bribery, extortion and influence peddling involve two parties – the

giver and taker in a corrupt deal.

The two party type of corruption can arise under a variety of circumstances.

Often mentioned are concerned with the following:

(i) Government contracts: bribes can influence who gets the contract, the terms of the

contract, as well as terms of subcontracts when the project is implemented.

(ii) Government benefits: bribes can influence the allocation of monetary benefits such as

credit subsidies and favored prices and exchange rates where price controls and multiple

exchange rates exist. Bribes can also be important in obtaining licenses and permits to

engage in lucrative economic activities such as importing certain goods in high demand

and in short supply. Moreover, bribes can be employed to acquire in-kind benefits such as
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access to privileged schools, subsidized medical care, subsidized housing and real estate,

and attractive ownership stakes in enterprises that are being privatized.

(iii) Government revenue: bribes can be used to reduce the amount of taxes, fees, dues,

custom duties, and electricity and other public utility charges collected from business firms

and private individuals.

(iv) Time savings and regulatory avoidance: bribes can speed up the granting of

permission, licenses and permits to carry out activities that are perfectly legal. This is the

so-called ―grease money‖ to turn the wheels of bureaucracy more smoothly, speedily and

hopefully in the right direction. It is also not difficult to think of a really awful situation

where rules and regulations, and the way they are applied, are so complex and burdensome

that the only way left to get things done is to pay money to avoid them.

(v) Influencing outcomes of legal and regulatory processes: bribes can be used to provide

incentives to regulatory authorities to refrain from taking action, and to look the other way,

when private parties engage in activities that are in violation of existing laws, rules and

regulations such as those relating to controlling pollution, preventing health hazards, or

promoting public safety as in the case of building codes and traffic regulations. Similarly,

bribes can be given to favor one party over another in court cases or in other legal and

regulatory proceedings.

Rules, regulations and their transparency and consistency

The conduct of economic and business affairs, like engaging in a sporting event such as a

football match, requires observance of certain ―rules of the game‖ for activities to proceed

in an orderly fashion. Rules and regulations are required to maintain a sense of fair play; to

prevent disastrous conflicts; keep greed, predatory and other unsavory human instincts in
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check; minimize socially undesirable consequences; and generally to ensure that players

and referees abide by certain accepted standards of moral conduct and good behavior.

Naturally, for rules to be properly observed, they must be transparent, that is, must be set

out clearly and made known in advance to all concerned, so that they can be understood

and obeyed by participants in the game. The game cannot proceed in an orderly way if

players are uncertain about what constitutes a foul for which they will be penalized, or the

referee is not sure when to blow the whistle. Aside from being clear, rules must also be

applied in an impartial manner with respect to all players and must be consistent and not be

subject to frequent and arbitrary changes. Obviously, the game will become unplayable and

players will pack up and leave, if rules keep changing as the game proceeds and the referee

keeps blowing his whistle whenever he feels like it.

Working Definition

The decisive role of the state is reflected in most definitions of corruption, which will

define corruption as a particular (and, one could say, perverted) state-society relation.

Corruption is conventionally understood, and referred to, as the private wealth-seeking

behavior of someone who represents the state and the public authority. It is the misuse of

public resources by public officials, for private gains. The encyclopedic and working

definition used by the World Bank, Transparency

International and others is that corruption is the abuse of public power for private benefit

(or profit). Another widely used description is that corruption is a transaction between

private and public sector actors through which collective goods are illegitimately converted

into private-regarding payoffs (Heidenheimer et al. 1989:6).

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This point is also emphasized by Rose-Ackerman, who says corruption exists at the

interface of the public and private sectors (Rose-Ackerman 1978), and stressed by

researchers who point to the Weberian distinction between public and private as the

foundation of non-corrupt politics and administration (Médard 1986, 1991).

In Colin Nye‘s classical definition, corruption is ―behavior that deviates from the formal

duties of a public role (elective or appointive) because of private-regarding (personal, close

family, private clique) wealth or status gains― (Nye 1967:416). An updated version with

the same elements is the definition by Mushtaq Khan, who says corruption is ―behavior

that deviates from the formal rules of conduct governing the actions of someone in a

position of public authority because of private-regarding motives such as wealth, power, or

status‖ (Khan 1996:12). Samuel Huntington noted that where political opportunities are

scarce, corruption occurs as people use wealth to buy power, and where economic

opportunities are few, corruption occurs when political power is used to pursue wealth

(Huntington 1968).

By looking at the different kinds of resources transferred, a distinction has been made

between corruption in economic terms and corruption in social terms. Economic corruption

takes place in a market-like situation and entails an exchange of cash or material goods,

which is basic to corruption. This is a strict definition of corruption, reflected in the

regulations that stipulate limits to what amounts can be ―given‖ before it is considered a

bribe. Transfers are not only in cash or other tangibles, however, and the exchange takes

place in a social setting with a number of cultural and moral meanings. Corruption

understood in these broader terms has been called ―social exchange‖ and social corruption.

Social corruption is conventionally understood as an integrated element of clientelism.

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Clientelism often implies an exchange of material benefits but cannot be reduced to this,

because clientelism has a wider cultural and social implication. Clientelism, nepotism,

ethnic and other favoritism are all variants of corruption, in social terms (Médard

1998:308).

Rent-seeking is sometimes used interchangeably with corruption, and there is a large area

of overlap. But, while corruption involves the misuse of public power for private benefit,

rent-seeking derives from the economic concept of ―rents‖, i.e. earnings in excess of all

relevant costs, and equals what most people think of as monopoly profits.

Rent-seeking, the effort to acquire rents, is not necessarily banned by law or regarded as

immoral in society, or necessarily uneconomical in terms of development if reinvested

productively, but it is largely ―directly unproductive‖, wasteful and very often

economically inefficient (Coolidge and Rose-Ackerman 2000).

Given a definition of corruption as a particular state-society relationship, the genesis of

corruption is consequently found at the two fields of interaction between the state and the

society beyond it, namely at the national and the international arena. Besides, it takes place

within the state itself, between its various layers or levels.

On the international arena, the globalization of markets, finances, and numerous other

transactions have expanded the opportunity of collusive and concealed transactions,

including between the various non-state players and the ―host‖ governments and their

representatives. Multinational companies are for instance buying concessions, preferences

and monopolies; kickbacks are offered on tenders, including travels, computers and other

fringe benefits for local officials sometimes eases through loans and contracts; and

development projects.
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Corrupt host countries are sometimes particularly attractive for certain businesses from

abroad (Bayart et al. 1999). However, international actors (in business, politics and

development co-operation) can be both possible corrupters and reform supporters (Rose-

Ackerman 1999; Moody-Stuart 1997). Foreign-sponsored bribery tends to be held by many

observers in developing countries as the most significant contributing factor to corruption.

On the national arena, corruption takes place at the meeting point between the state and the

various non-state actors. On the one side is the corrupt state official; on the other side is the

corrupter, the supplier of bribes. The officials can be anyone from the president and top

political leadership (political corruption) down through the hierarchy (bureaucratic

corruption) to the most remote local government public servant. The many possible non-

state counterparts include the general public, any non-governmental and non-public

individual, corporate and organizational. Many theories and conceptualizations of

corruption will call attention to the ―corrupters‖, those who offer the bribes in the first

place, and the advantages they gain. Other theories will emphasize the corrupted and their

advantages.

On the national institutional arena, i.e. within the various levels and agencies of the state,

corruption can take place between the different branches of government (like the

executive, legislative and judicial branches), and between the political an

administrative/bureaucratic institutions (the civil service, local authorities and parastatals).

These relationships can be corrupted because of overlapping and conflicting authority,

political power-struggles over access to scarce resources, manipulated flows of

information, and personal relationships of dependence and loyalty. In particular, a weak

separation between civil service and party politics, a weak professionalization of the
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bureaucracy, a lack of administrative accountability and transparency, and deficient

political control and auditing mechanisms will increase corruption at these junctures. The

more discretion officials have through abundant, complex and non-transparent regulations,

the more corruption becomes likely.

Corruption, however, also exists within and between private businesses and within non-

governmental organizations, without any state agency or state official being involved.

There is corruption in terms of bribing, swindling and mafia-methods in businesses, and

there are disloyal employees in private firms, non-governmental organizations and

associations. Besides, corruption also exists as a moral and cultural problem in society,

among individuals in their personal dealings. Accepted and expected practices of gift-

giving, tipping and patronage exist in most societies, even when such habits may be illegal.

Generally, such practices impose hidden costs on public services and/or confuse the

distinction between public and private.

The level of ―private‖ corruption can indeed be symptomatic for the general economic and

political development of a society. Besides, all forms of ―private‖ corruption can be

destructive to the public morale and undermine the general trust and confidence in rules

and regulations. However, most definitions of corruption will emphasize corruption as a

state-society relationship because public sector corruption is believed to be a more

fundamental problem than private sector corruption, and because controlling public sector

corruption is a prerequisite for controlling private sector corruption.

Forms of corruption

A recent study has characterized some main forms or manifestations of corruption,

according to a number of basic characteristics (Amundsen 1999). The main forms

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considered are bribery, embezzlement, fraud and extortion. Even when these concepts are

partly overlapping and at times interchangeable with other concepts, they may identify

some basic varieties of corruption.

―Bribery‖ is the payment (in money or kind) that is given or taken in a corrupt relationship.

To pay or receive a bribe is corruption per se, and should be understood as the essence of

corruption. A bribe is a fixed sum, a certain percentage of a contract, or any other favor in

money of kind, usually paid to a state official that can make contracts on behalf of the state

or otherwise distribute benefits to companies or individuals, businessmen and clients.

There are many equivalent terms to bribery, like kickbacks, gratuities, ―commercial

arrangements‖, baksheesh, sweeteners, pay-offs, speed- and grease money, which are all

notions of corruption in terms of the money or favors paid to employees in private

enterprises, public officials, and politicians. These are payments or returns needed or

demanded to make things pass swifter, smoother or more favorably through the state or

government bureaucracies. By ―greasing palms‖ corporations and business interests can for

instance buy political favors and escape the full burden of taxation and environmental

regulations, they can buy protected markets and monopolies, import/export licenses and

quotas, and get access to large state contracts on capital goods, on-going supplies, major

civil engineering projects, construction works, and so on.

―Embezzlement‖ is theft of resources by people who are put to administer it; it is when

disloyal employees steal from their employers. This is a serious offence when public

officials are misappropriating public resources, when state official steals from the public

institution in which he or she is employed and from resources he is supposed to administer

on behalf of the public.

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Embezzlement is not considered as corruption from a strict legal point of view, but is

included in the broader definitions. In legal terms, corruption is a transaction between two

individuals, one state agent and one ―civilian‖, where the state agent goes beyond the

limits of the law and regulations in order to secure himself a personal benefit in the form of

a bribe. Embezzlement is regarded as theft because it does not involve the ―civilian‖ side

directly. The general public is deprived when public funds are embezzled, but no

individual property is stolen and individual citizens are bereft of legal rights to present

themselves as forfeited.

This points to one of the dangers of embezzlement. There will have to be a political will as

well as an independent judiciary and a legal capacity to clamp down on embezzlement.

Embezzlement is a form of corruption and power abuse that can develop in closed

institutional and moral spheres, independently of the public moral and with few

possibilities of public sanction. In many thoroughly corrupt countries, embezzlement is a

fundamental part of the resource extractive capacity of a ruling elite, even more important

than extraction through bribes.

―Straddling‖, the process by which some power-holders systematically use their political

office to enter into, secure and expand their private business interests, should be regarded

as another form of embezzlement. In some countries the political elite has nationalized

foreign businesses, property and monopoly rights, and redistributed these to the members

of the ruling families.

―Fraud‖ is an economic crime that involves some kind of trickery, swindle or deceit.

Fraud involves a manipulation or distortion of information, facts and expertise, by public

officials positioned between politicians and citizens, who seeks to draw a private profit.
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Fraud is when a public official (agent), who is responsible for carrying out the orders or

tasks assigned by his superiors (principal), manipulates the flow of information to his

private profit; hence the widely used principal-agent or incentive theory employed by

economists to study this phenomenon (Eskeland and Thiele 1999; Fjeldstad 1999).

Fraud is also a broader legal and popular term that covers more than bribery and

embezzlement. It is fraud for instance when state agencies and state representatives are

engaged in illegal trade networks, counterfeit and racketing, and when forgery, smuggling

and other organized economic crime is propped up by ―official‖ sanction and/or

involvement. It is fraud when politicians and state agents take a share for closing their eyes

on economic crimes, and it is serious fraud when they have an active role in it.

―Extortion‖ is money and other resources extracted by the use of coercion, violence or the

threats to use force. Blackmailing and extortion are corrupt transactions where money is

violently extracted by those who have the power to do it, but where very little is returned

to the ―clients‖ (perhaps only some vague promises of exception from further harassment).

―Protection‖ or ―security‖ money can be extorted in the classical, well-known mafia style,

where organized criminals use insecurity, harassment and intimidation to extort money

from individual citizens, private businesses and public officials. Corruption in the form of

extortion is usually understood as a form of extraction ―from below‖, by mafias and

criminals.

Corrupt practices of this kind can, however, also be ―from above‖, when the state itself is

the biggest mafia of them all. This is for instance when the state, and in particular its

security services and paramilitary groups, extorts money from individuals, groups and

businesses. With more or less concealed threats, taxes, fees and other resources are
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extracted from travellers, market vendors, transporters and other private sector businesses.

Furthermore, various state officials may extract ―under the table‖ fees and ―gifts‖ from

individual citizens as they approach the state as clients, customers, patients, school

children etc. These practices may be interpreted as ―informal‖ forms taxation.

―Favoritism‖ is a mechanism of power abuse implying ―privatization‖ and a highly biased

distribution of state resources, no matter how these resources have been accumulated in the

first place. Favoritism is the natural human proclivity to favor friends, family and anybody

close and trusted. Favoritism is closely related to corruption insofar as it implies a

corrupted (undemocratic, ―privatized‖) distribution of resources. In other words, this is the

other side of the coin where corruption is the accumulation of resources.

Favoritism is the penchant of state officials and politicians, who have access to state

resources and the power to decide upon the distribution of these, to give preferential

treatment to certain people. Clientelist favoritism is the rather everyday proclivity o most

people to favor his own kin (family, clan, tribe, ethnic, religious or regional group).

Favoritism or cronyism is for instance to grant an office to a friend or a relative, regardless

of merit.

Favoritism is a basic political mechanism in many authoritarian and semi-democratic

countries. In most non-democratic systems, the president has for instance the constitutional

right to appoint all high-ranking positions, a legal or customary right that exceedingly

extends the possibilities for favoritism. It easily adds up to several hundred positions

within the ministries, the military and security apparatus, in the parastatal and public

companies, in the diplomatic corps and in the ruling party.

 24

Nepotism is a special form of favoritism, in which an office holder (ruler) prefers his

proper kinfolk and family members (wife, brothers and sisters, children, nephews, cousins,

in-laws etc.). Many unrestricted presidents have tried to secure their (precarious) power

position by nominating family members to key political, economic and military/security

positions in the state apparatus.

Related Studies

Power breeds competence, not corruption, according to a new study in the May

issue of Psychological Science. The study, a collaboration between U.S. and Dutch

researchers, finds that if people feel powerful in their roles, they may be less likely to make

on-the-job errors — like administering the wrong medication to a patient. Contrary to

conventional wisdom, the study suggests that people at the bottom of the workplace totem

pole don't end up there for lack of ability, but rather that being low and powerless in a

hierarchy leads to more mistakes. It's a finding that surprised even the study's authors. "I'll

be totally honest. When we started this research," says Adam Galinsky, a co-author and a

social psychology professor at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern

University, "we first had the hypothesis that maybe power might impair [cognitive]

functioning."

Talania (1999), in his study showed that matured personnel whose age range from

41-56 and above were presumed to perform their duties accordingly as indicated in rule X I

of their Manual of Operations of the BJMP. In terms of gender, his findings revealed that

disciplinary services are predominantly assigned to males and that he attributed this to the
 25

fact that investigating and hearing administrative cases is a tedious task which maybe

considered more appropriate for male personnel. Another possible reason is that during

the period covered by the study, the number of female personnel in the Bureau was very

much smaller than that of the male, so that the males dominate in all the units or divisions

of the Bureau. Another factor pointed out by Talania (1999), is the civil status. His

findings revealed that married persons are usually matured, established and experienced

that they are able to grasp and relate to the situations more closely and better understand

the reasons and factors that lead to the commission of these administrative offense. His

findings likewise showed that majority of the respondents have training in the law

profession being graduates in Law. As college graduates with legal training they are

qualified to be members of the disciplinary machinery. Their knowledge of law on

account of their educational background, that they are in a better position to investigate,

hear and decide on administrative cases, since they are able to interpret the rules and

regulations of the BJMP and the Civil Service, as well as the laws of the country. In terms

of trainings and seminars, the study reflected that majority of the respondents have

adequate orientation and training in relation to their job. Hence, they were in better

position to perform their task more effectively and efficiently than those without related

training. Still another factor on eligibility implied that there is security in their job on

account of their eligibility and therefore are permanent/regular employees of BJMP.

Talania (1999), further revealed that majority of the respondents encountered the

following problems: inadequate trained personnel, inadequate office supplies and

equipment and mobility problem.

 26

Researchers employed several different tests of executive function, the best-known among

them being the Stroop test, a measure of cognitive attention developed in the 1930s:

participants are shown color words, such as "red," "blue" or "yellow," printed in colors that

are different from the color that the word actually names. So, the word "blue" might be

written in green lettering, "red" would appear in blue, and so forth. The participant's goal is

to name the color of the font he or she sees — an exercise of mental effort, called "directed

attention," that requires people to override the immediate and automatic urge to simply

read the word.

Galinsky expected that the empowered participants would be distracted by their own high-

powered perch and would behave more impulsively, leading to more errors in recognizing

the color of the font. Rather, he found the opposite was true. The students who were

primed to feel devoid of power actually performed significantly worse than the powerful

group — perhaps because the former group felt, as the study concludes, "guided by

situational constraints... rather than by their own goals and values." In other words, low-

power participants did not, in a way, feel in control of their own ability to complete tasks,

feeling instead that they were "the means for other people's goals."

The approach presented in this paper is essentially holistic. Corruption is viewed as a

systemic issue requiring the donors to work on several fronts and collaboration among the

branches of government and many parts of society. The approach to promote good

governance through among other things, prevention, is to help client countries curb

corruption and build integrity, and therefore, improve their public services and create an

enabling environment for the private sector. The Governance and Anti-Corruption program
 27

comprises three principal activity areas: (a) improving public sector service delivery by

focusing on public sector accountability and legal reform in order to re-introduce rule of

law; (b) building integrity by promoting governmental accountability and transparency;

and (c) building a prevention and anti-corruption capacity of the public sectorand of civil

society, particularly by strengthening non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the

media. The program dovetails with other reforms such as: Public Sector Management

program, which focuses on prevention through civil-service reform and public-expenditure

planning and management, as well as, on supporting governance activities, research and

dissemination of findings.

Legislative reforms to strengthen the government role in overseeing the executive but also

the passing of new anti-corruption legislation

Legal reforms; that strengthen the rule of law

Building ―integrity‖, which means ―using public powers for the public good,‖ is the flip

side of fighting corruption. Experience gained from work with client countries

demonstrates that it is preferable to focus on prevention through the building of integrity,

which suggests a positive, pro-active preventive approach. It is often easier to get various

stakeholder groups to support preventive measures through the creation of a system of

national integrity rather than specific measures designed to fight corruption.

 28

CHAPTER III

RESEARCH FRAMEWORK

Conceptual Framework

This review found that few studies examine or establish a direct relationship between the

perceived level of competency and the level of understanding in the concept and context of

corruption in public governance. Self-Perceived Competence or the lack of, by itself, does

not produce a thorough understanding of the concept and context of corruption. Rather,

corruption has direct consequences on a personnel‘s performance, intermediaries that in

turn produce incompetency. Thus, the relationship examined by researchers is an indirect

one.

Two models emerge from the research literature. The ‖correlational model‖ postulates that

self-perceived competence affects the judgment of the BFP IAS personnel by first

impacting their comprehension, which, in turn, impact their concept and context on what

corruption is. In other words, decreased self-perceived competence reduces

comprehension, distorts job function, hinders good judgment, creates inefficiencies and

bends the idea of what corruption is.

Within Self-Determination Theory, competence is assumed to be one of three fundamental

psychological needs, so the feelings or perceptions of competence with respect to an

activity or domain is theorized to be important both because it facilitates people‘s goal

attainment and also provides them with a sense of need satisfaction from engaging in an

activity at which they feel effective. Thus, perceived competence has been assessed in
 29

various studies and used, along with perceived autonomy (i.e., an autonomous regulatory

style) to predict maintained behavior change, effective performance, and internalization of

ambient values.

This study is anchored on the Psychomotor Skills Theory. According to this theory, this

results from organized muscle activity in response to stimuli from the environment. The

sensory and motor cortex of the brain, as well as the new fibers that connect the two

hemispheres of the brain controls psychomotor skills.

A skill is not a reflex action. A skill is a complex movement that requires practice.

To acquire psychomotor learning we usually develop the skills quite quickly during

reinforced practice. Studies have shown that we retain psychomotor skills longer that we

retain learned text material, because we tend to over learn these skills. Environmental

factors such as heat/cold, amount of oxygen, and noise have been shown to interfere with

the acquisition and performance of psychomotor skills.

The term ―skill‖ also refers to the level of proficiency at which someone can

perform a certain task. For example, sports are often complex tasks, requiring

coordination, speed,a nd endurance. These motor skills are essential for a player to be

considered ―skilled‖, but performance will always be limited by our basic abilities.

Skill performance is analyzed using several criteria at fixed intervals. First, the

performer must be alert and attentive enough to realize that sensory information is being

transmitted. At the sensory cue, the performer must be able to decide whether or not to

respond and with what type of response. Performance is based upon past experience in

similar activities, speed, the amount of force exerted, and the person‘s basic ability.
 30

The three major factors that affect the acquisition of psychomotor skills are

feedback, motivation and the amount of practice undertaken. The more specific the

feedback received, the faster the skill is acquired. Motivation serves to encourage skill

acquisition, often speeding up the process. Practice may be the most powerful factor, but

the effect of the amount and intensity of practice is unique to each person. The complexity

and distribution of the skill may also contribute to its acquisition. The more complex a

skill, the more difficult it is to learn, and therefore the longer it will take. Distribution of

work and rest also affects the acquisition of a skill, especially if the person is overworked

or is not receiving sufficient rest. Hence, the said office likewise deals with psychomotor

skills as described in the following paragraph:

The Internal Affairs Services of the Bureau of Fire Protection was created to instill

discipline among BFP Personnel. The Staff assigned to this agency has the following

functions: investigates admin complaints and gather evidence in support of an open

investigation; submits periodic report on admin cases (i.e. the assessment to OPLAN

PAGBABAGO) and provides pertinent documents to the OMBUDSMAN and/or Civil

Service Commission as appropriate; Issues summons or memo to concerned parties and

conducts conciliation and mediation pertaining to financial support for class ―E‖;

investigates where incidents that involved alleged violation of rules and engagement have

been violated; conducts background investigation on business establishments for

accreditation of suppliers/dealers of BFP (to check legality against the procurement law) ;

prosecution of admin cases before the hearing office, and issues IAS clearance as regards

to promotion of BFP Personnel or assignment of BFP Personnel to any key position and

for loan purposes.

 31

The above-enumerated functions will give readers background information as to

how this particular agency operates and how important its functions are to the BFP

Personnel. The Researcher firmly believes that identifying competencies of the BFP

Personnel assigned to IAS coupled with their profile will paved a way for an improved

delivery of services of the said agency. Moreover, the researcher likewise intends to come

up with a proposed measure to ensure an effective and efficient delivery of services of the

IAS.

Effectiveness of institutions in dealing with corruption has been assessed through

three principle means. One of the means used is the registered cases, cases filed with the

courts and cases owned by BFP IAS against the suspected offenders. While examining the

cases registered and forwarded for punishment to the courts, two especial factors have been

considered. First, especial care has been given to find-out whether or not suspected

politicians and high officials have been included in the investigation net. Secondly, it has

also been thoroughly examined that whether or not high corruption prone sectors as

reported by Transparency International and other perception surveys have come to the anti-

corruption net. Through a perception survey, opinion of various groups as regards to

different aspects of corruption was collected and compiled.

 32

Level of Competence of the IAS BFP

Profile of the IAS

 Conducting investigation
related to: personnel,
Ideal
BFP equipment, funds, facilities Concept
 Age  Conducting Inspection on all
 Gender units of the IAS-BFP related and
to: performance, morale,
IAS BFP 

Civil Status
Educational welfare, discipline ,utilization Context of Improve
Qualification

of funds
Conducting investigation on
Corruption d
 No. of years in
the service vehicular accidents involving in Public Services
 Status of fire trucks and BFP Personnel
Appointment  Conducting intelligence Governanc of the
coverage on reported


Rank
Position anomalous activities e BFP IAS
 Salary involving BFP Personnel
 Year of last  Preparing special project to
promotion enhance administrative and
operational procedures and

Figure 1. Schematic diagram of the study showing the profile, level of competence, and concept and context of Corruption in

Public Governance among the IAS BFP Personnel

 33

Operational Definition of Terms

The following terms are defined for easy understanding of the study:

Accreditor. - one who establishes firms who are applying for accreditation whether or not

it possesses the legal qualification to be a supplier of the BFP. Likewise, conducts ocular

inspection of the firm‘s office warehouse and stockrooms to determine its physical

existence and capacity.

Assessment - as used in this study is the process of evaluating and appraising the level of

competency of BFP Personnel assigned to IAS.

Bureau of Fire Protection – a Bureau who takes charge of saving lives and property.

IAS, BFP-NHQ – is one of the executive staff of the OFFICE OF THE CHIEF, BFP to

resolve cases pending through investigation of formal administrative charges against erring

BFP Personnel and undertakes as the prosecuting case with formal charged before the BFP

Hearing Office. Its other functions include evaluation/review of request for financial

support or known as ―Class ―E‖ allotment‖, conducting investigation for medical

reimbursement claims and also issuances of clearance to BFP Personnel.

IAS BFP Personnel – active BFP Personnel assigned at the Office of the Internal Affairs

Service.

Investigator – one who receives complaints filed against BFP Personnel (Uniformed and

Non-Uniformed) and conducts investigation either emanating or indorsed by DILG, CSC,

and Ombudsman.
 34

Self-perceptions – a person‘s own beliefs or predictions concerning their abilities and

performance. This may be different from an individual‘s actual performance. Both self-

perceptions and actual competence have traditionally been divided into four smaller

categories. These include academic, social, emotional, and behavioral (self-) perception.

Correlation – is computed into what is known as the correlation coefficient, which ranges

between -1 and +1. Perfect positive correlation (a correlation co-efficient of +1) implies

that as one security moves, either up or down, the other security will move in lockstep, in

the same direction. Alternatively, perfect negative correlation means that if one security

moves in either direction the security that is perfectly negatively correlated will move in

the opposite direction. If the correlation is 0, the movements of the securities are said to

have no correlation; they are completely random.

In real life, perfectly correlated securities are rare, rather you will find securities with some

degree of correlation.

Research Hypothesis

There have been no studies yet with regards to the correlation of the two variables

presented in the study as it is a new concept, the results from this will produce data that

will potentially support one of the following hypotheses:

H1A: There is a significant correlation between the perceived level of competency among

BFP-IAS personnel and their concept and context of corruption in public governance

H1O: here is no significant correlation between the perceived level of competency among

BFP-IAS personnel and their concept and context of corruption in public governance
 35

CHAPTER IV

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research design

The study was implemented in a management approach focusing on the correlational

analysis of two traits characterized through the self-perceived competence of the BFA-IAS

personnel and their concept and context of corruption in the public governance. Therefore

evaluating their self-worth and understanding of the nature of their mandate.

Locals of the Study

The subjects of the research were the BFP personnel assigned to IAS NHQ. Total

enumeration was used in this study, as there were only fifteen (15) personnel from BFP

who were assigned to IAS NHQ. Each of the IAS BFP were given survey questionnaires

which were prepared by the researcher.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government, Bureau of Fire Protection National

Headquarters issued a memorandum to the Office of the Fire Chief with the subject,

―Roster of Personnel of Internal Affairs Services (IAS) last March 1, 2012. The letter

contained the list of active BFP Personnel assigned at the Office of the Internal Affairs

Service, BFP-National Headquarters as the basis for the processing of their CFC the period

March 1 – 15, 2012. The letter specified that there were a total of fifteen (15) personnel

who are categorized as active personnel and two (2) as detached service PACC-DILG.

The BFP IAS office is located at Agham Rd., Diliman, Quezon City.
 36

BFP-IAS
Office

Data Collection Methods

The needed information of this study were obtained in two parts, first is from the

questionnaire that were distributed to the respondents and retrieved at once from the

respondents as the said respondents were just assigned in the Office where the researcher is

also assigned. Hence, after answering the questions, the respondents immediately handed

in the questionnaires to the researcher who personally administered the questionnaires. The

second part, was based on the recorded and transcribed interview where the respondents

were asked to give a brief description on what is corruption in public governance and is
 37

given appropriate grade based on the rubrics on the working definition of corruption in the

related review of literature and studies.

Sampling Plan

The researcher managed to take the entire populace in order to get the real figures

without applicable biases on his part as a member of the BFP IAS personnel.

Data Gathering Instruments

The research instrument was a modified questionnaire in terms of the demographic

variables and the level of competencies of the IAS-BFP. The checklist contained questions

that sought inquiries on the personnel‘s profile and self perceived competency level. To

measure these competencies, answers of respondents were based on a 5 – point Likert

scale.

As for the context and concept of corruption, the researcher made use of a

qualitative interview measured through a rubric form. The rubrics guide came from the

literature and studies review presenting the working definition of corruption in public

governance.
 38

Method of Data Analysis

He study will make use of simple mode, modal, and mean testing in realizing its objective

other than the Spearman‘s Rho Correlation Regression expressed as:

One final resource was utilized to conduct this analysis, and this involved the input of

experts‘ opinions. The researcher asked the external service of a statistician and

proofreader to better analyze the study in identifying correlations between through the self-

perceived competence of the BFA-IAS personnel and their concept and context of

corruption in the public governance. The expert was used due to the lack of research into

these relationships. The correlations were analyzed using the Pearson or product-moment

correlation. The study also includes a variation on this type called partial correlation. The

latter is useful when you want to look at the relationship between two variables while

removing the effect of one or two other variables.

The main result of a correlation is called the correlation coefficient (or "r"). It ranges from

-1.0 to +1.0. The closer r is to +1 or -1, the more closely the two variables are related.

If r is close to 0, it means there is no relationship between the variables. If r is positive, it

means that as one variable gets larger the other gets larger. If r is negative it means that as

one gets larger, the other gets smaller (often called an "inverse" correlation).

While correlation coefficients are normally reported as r = (a value between -1 and +1),

squaring them makes then easier to understand. The square of the coefficient (or r square)
 39

is equal to the percent of the variation in one variable that is related to the variation in the

other. After squaring r, ignore the decimal point. An r of .5 means 25% of the variation is

related (.5 squared =.25). An r value of .7 means 49% of the variance is related (.7 squared

= .49).

Meanwhile, the researcher used weighted mean in the Likert scale, which was used in

identifying problems encountered by the BFP IAS Personnel a list of identified problems

were enumerated for the respondents to select/choose which will evaluate the current

profile of the BFP IAS Personnel used in the study.

 40

CHAPTER V

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter presents the analysis and the interpretation of the data gathered and their

implications thereof.

Profile of the Respondents

Age. Table 1 below shows that 92% of the employees are between 30 to 39 years

old. Thus, almost all employees of BFP are still young compare to any other government

agencies. In other words, young employees are more likely competent and more capable in

handling the task involving hard tasks as they are physically fit to handle functions outside

the office specifically in handling investigative matters which is a bit risky.

Table 1
Age of the respondents.
Frequency Percentage
21 – 29 0 0.0
30 – 39 11 91.7
40 – 49 1 8.3
50 – 55 0 0.0
56 and above 0 0.0
Total 12 100.0

Gender. Table 2 shows the gender of the employees. Table below only shows that

gender is not equally distributed in the office of BFP. There are about 58% female

employees and about 42% male employees. This implies that female employees

are the ones fit for office work as compared with the male employees. This can be

attributed to the type of work and the risk that will be faced by females if they will

be the one exposed outside office.

 41

Table 2
Gender of the respondents.
Frequency Percentage
Male 5 41.7
Female 7 58.3
Total 12 100.0

Civil Status. Table 3 shows the civil status of the employees. Table shows that

half of the employees are already married. In addition about 42% of the total employees

are still single and about 8% is separated from his/her wife/husband.

Table 3
Civil Status of the Respondents.
Frequency Percentage
Single 5 41.7
Married 6 50.0
Widow/er 0 0.0
Separated 1 8.3
Total 12 100.0

Educational Attainment. Table 4 showed the highest educational attainment of

the employees. The table shows that 10 out of 12 employees are college graduate. While,

one employee has units in the Masters‘ degree and the other is a post graduate. It only

implies that employees should further study since most of them are still college graduate

given that degree in the post graduate is required in the promotions. Hence, most of them

can be considered not competent still in this aspect and that their knowledge in handling

cases related to BFP-IAS is still limited as reflected in the result of the educational

attainment obtained by most of the personnel of the said office..

 42

Table 4
Highest educational attainment of the respondents.
Frequency Percentage
HS Undergraduate 0 0.0
HS Graduate 0 0.0
College Undergraduate 0 0.0
College Graduate 10 83.3
With Units in the Masteral Degree 1 8.3
Post Graduate 1 8.3
Total 12 100.0

Number of Years in the Service. Table 5 below shows the employees number of

years in service. Table 5 shows that half of the total employees were employed 6 to 10

years ago while the 42% were employed 11 to 15 years ago. The longest possible number

of years in service of an employee is only 15 years. Possibly, employees retire when they

reach 20 years in service as soon as they receive retirement benefits. It can be implied that

their competence in handling the functions in the BFP IAS can already be considered that

competent enough as most of them had already gained experience in handling the services

of the IAS as well as in performing the corresponding functions assigned to them.

Table 5
Number of Years in the Service
Frequency Percentage
5 years and below 1 8.3
6 – 10 years 6 50.0
11 – 15 years 5 41.7
16 – 20 years 0 0.0
21 – 25 years 0 0.0
26 years and above 0 0.0
Total 12 100.0

Status of Appointment. Table 6 shows the status of appointment of the

employees. It shows that all employees are already permanent. Thus, it can be implied
 43

that master‘s degree is not a requirement for permanency. Moreover, this cannot be

considered determinant in terms of competency as new employees are at once given

permanent status.

Table 6
Status of Appointment of the Respondents.

Frequency Percentage
Permanent 12 100.0
Temporary 0 0.0
Total 12 100.0

Appointment of the Employee. Table 7 shows the type of appointment of the

employees. It showed that all employees are categorized as having the uniformed type of

appointment.

Table 7
Type of Appointment of the Respondents.
Frequency Percentage
Uniformed 12 100.0
Non-uniformed 0 0.0
Total 12 100.0

Rank of the Employee. Table 8 shows the rank of the employees. It shows that

75% of the total employees have rank from FO1 to FO3, 17% have rank from SFO1 to

SFO4, and the 8% have rank Insp Sr Insp. The employee mentioned in table 4 who is a

post graduate has a rank Insp Sr Insp. This can be implied that the higher the educational

attainment the higher the rank will be. Hence, this could served as motivation for the BFP-

IAS personnel to pursue post graduate studies as it is for their own advantage to help them

achieve a higher rank or position.

 44

Table 8
Rank of the Employees

Frequency Percentage
FO1 – FO3 9 75.0
SFO1 – SFO4 2 16.7
Insp Sr Insp 1 8.3
C Insp-Supt 0 0.0
Sr. Supt 0 0.0
Total 12 100.0

Table 9 shows the salary grade of the employees. It shows that about 67% of the

total employees have salary grade between 14 to 16 while one employee has salary grade

above 20. This implies that most of the employees of IAS-BFP belonged to the lower rank

and therefore has to take further studies and training to be able to be promoted a higher

rank.

Table 9
Salary Grade of the Respondents.
Frequency Percentage
Below 10 0 0.0
11 -13 1 8.3
14 -16 8 66.7
17 – 19 2 16.7
20 and above 1 8.3
Total 12 100.0

Year of last Promotion of the Employees. Table 10 shows the year of the last

promotion of the employees. The table showed that 75% of the total employees were

promoted last 2010. Furthermore, three employees were promoted last 1999, 2008, and

2009. It can be implied that BFP-IAS should be vigilant in submitting their papers for

promotion and likewise upgrade their educational qualification, seminars and training to

avail of the promotion granted by the Office almost every year.

 45

Table 10
Year of last Promotion of the Employees
Frequency Percentage
1999 1 8.3
2008 1 8.3
2009 1 8.3
2010 9 75.0
Total 12 100.0

Level of competence of the employees

Table 11 shows the level of competence of the employees in conducting thorough

investigation on matters related to personnel, equipments, fund, and facilities. The result

in the table shows that employees have high level of competence in conducting thorough

investigation on matters related to personnel. Thus, given this result employees are already

equipped in investigating matters related to personnel.

However, employees have moderate level of competence in conducting thorough

investigation related to equipments, funds, and facilities. Thus, the office should conduct

such activity or seminar to further enhance the competence of the employees along the area

on investigation.

Table 11
Level of competence of the respondents in conducting thorough investigation on
matters related to the following:
Mean Interpretation
Personnel 4.45 High level of competency
Equipments 3.55 Moderate level of competency
Funds 3.64 Moderate level of competency
Facilities 3.36 Moderate level of competency
Overall mean 3.75 High level of competency

Table 12 shows the level of competence of the employees in conducting inspection

on all units of the BFP related to their performance, morale, welfare, discipline, and
 46

utilization of funds. The result in the table shows that employees have high level of

competence in conducting inspection on all units of the BFP related to their performance,

morale, welfare and discipline. Thus, given this result employees are already equipped on

these matters.

However, employees have moderate level of competence in conducting inspection

on all units of the BFP related to the utilization of funds. Thus, the office should look to

this matter to increase the level of competence of the employees in the utilization of funds.

Table 12
Level of competence of the respondents in conducting inspection on all units of the
BFP related to the following:
Mean Interpretation
Performance 4.00 High level of competency
Morale 4.00 High level of competency
Welfare 4.00 High level of competency
Discipline 4.09 High level of competency
Utilization of funds 3.70 Moderate level of competent
Overall mean 3.96 High level of cmpetency

Table 13 shows the level of competence of the employees. The result in the table

shows that employees have high level of competence in conducting intelligence accident

involving BFP personnel and performing related tasks as directed by the chief of BFP. On

the other hand, the employees have moderately level of competence in conducting

investigation on vehicular accidents and performing special projects.

 47

Table 13
Level of competence of the employees.
Level of competence in Mean Interpretation
1. Conducting investigation on vehicular 3.09 Moderate level of competent
accidents involving fire trucks.
2. Conducting investigation on accident 3.36 Moderate level of competent
involving BFP personnel.
3. Conducting intelligence coverage on 3.82 High level of competency
reported anomalous activities involving
BFP personnel.
4. Preparing special project that will 3.36 Moderate level of competent
enhance administrative efficiency.
5. Preparing special project that will 3.36 Moderate level of competent
enhance operational readiness.
6. Performing other related tasks as 4.18 High level of competency
directed by the chief, BFP.

Table 14 shows the problems encountered by the employees of BFP in discharging

functions or duties. Table below shows that 75% of the employees said that they have

problems on the logistical and financial support of the office. While 33% of the employees

said that lack of cooperation of witnesses and dilatory tactics of counsels are problems that

they have encountered.

Table 14
Problems encountered by the respondents in discharging functions/duties.
Frequency Percentage
1. Inadequacy of trained personnel. 2 16.7
2. Inadequacy of logistical and financial 9 75.0
support.
3. Lack of cooperation of witnesses and 4 33.3
dilatory tactics of counsels.
4. Mobility 2 16.7

Table 15 shows the propose recommendations of the employees of BFP to enhance

the services of the IAS NHQ BFP. Table below shows that 55% of the employees
 48

recommend for an additional computer, internet services, travel allowance, etc. Other

recommendations of the employees can be seen in the table below.

Table 15
Propose recommendations of the respondents to enhance the services of the IAS NHQ
BFP.
Frequency Percentage
1. Adequate logistical and financial support 6 54.5
(logistical support – add computer/laptop,
internet services, etc.;
financial support – travel allowances,
etc.) 1 9.1
2. Procurement of service vehicle for
immediate response to remote 1 9.1
investigation.
3. To promote those qualified and observe
seniority like entry in the BFP. 1 9.1
4. Promotion to the next higher rank. 1 9.1
5. A seminar or training be conducted to all
IAS personnel. 1 9.1
6. Train all personnel of IAS nationwide.
Total 11 100.0
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The correlational analysis of the two variables

Table 16
The correlation of the self-perceived competence of the BFA-IAS personnel and their
concept and context of corruption in the public governance.
Self-Perceived Context and
Competence Concept of
Corruption
7. Respondent 1 3.23 90
8. Respondent 2 3.27 85
9. Respondent 3 2.00 75
10. Respondent 4
1.96 60
11. Respondent 5
12. Respondent 6 1.96 60
13. Respondent 7 1.96 65
14. Respondent 8 1.88 60
15. Respondent 9 1.73 55
16. Respondent 10 1.77 50
17. Respondent 11 1.73 45
18. Respondent 12
1.96 65
1.96 65

R = 0.89
Intercept = 18.39
Slope = 21.80
 50

Figure 2
Plotting of The correlation of the self-perceived competence of the BFA-IAS personnel
and their concept and context of corruption in the public governance.

Series1

Linear (Series1)

40
1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50

Note:

Exactly –1. A perfect downhill (negative) linear relationship

 –0.70. A strong downhill (negative) linear relationship

 –0.50. A moderate downhill (negative) relationship

 –0.30. A weak downhill (negative) linear relationship

 No linear relationship

 +0.30. A weak uphill (positive) linear relationship

 +0.50. A moderate uphill (positive) relationship

 +0.70. A strong uphill (positive) linear relationship

 Exactly +1. A perfect uphill (positive) linear relationship

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CHAPTER VI

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION

Summary of Findings

The profile of the BFP IAS Personnel

1. The demographic characteristics in terms of the following: Age - showed that

(92%) belonged to age bracket between 30 to 39 years old which means that almost all

BFP-IAS Personnel are still young. This only showed that the present generation is

already composed of young people who managed to work/employ at a young age;

Gender. The results showed that (58%) were females and only (42%) males. This can be

attributed to the nature of work. BFP Personnel assigned to IAS are given office work

which could be considered why there are more female personnel than male personnel;

Civil Status. It reflected that (50%) of the BFP Personnel were already married and (48%)

single and about (8%) were separated from his/her spouse. This means that married people

have that desire to get employment for them to provide the needs of their family. Highest

Educational Attainment. The results revealed that (83.3%) of the personnel did not

pursue further studies. Hence, there is a need for the office to encourage personnel to

pursue post graduate studies to enhance their skills/capabilities and their knowledge to

make them more competent in their chosen field. Number of Years in the Service. The

results showed that (50%) of the personnel have already served for more than five years in

the service as there is only (8.3%) are new while (41.7%) have been able to serve for

more than 11 to 15 years. This only showed that most of the personnel are already
 52

experienced in the service. Status of Appointment. The results showed that (100%) of

the personnel are all permanent. Type of Appointment. Likewise, (100%) are

categorized as having uniformed type of appointment. Rank of the Personnel. The

results showed that (75%) of the total personnel belonged to the rank from FO1 to FO3,

(17%) having the rank of SFO1 to SFO4, and only (8%) have the rank of Sr. Insp. Those

who obtained the SR. Insp. Rank were those who pursued post graduate studies. This

implied that those who continue further studies will help them obtain higher rank. Salary

Grade of the Personnel. The results showed that (67%) of the total number of employees

belonged to salary grade 14 to 16, only one belonged to salary grade 20. This could be

attributed to the educational attainment and rank of the employee. Year of last

Promotion. The result showed that (75%) of the personnel were promoted last 2010 and

the remaining (25%) were yet promoted last 1999, 2008 and 2009.

Self Perceived Competence of the BFP-IAS Personnel

In terms of the level of competence of the BFP-IAS Personnel, the results showed that

employees‘ high level of competence was obtained in conducting thorough investigation

on matters related to personnel. Thus, BFP-IAS Personnel are already equipped in

investigating matters related to personnel. However, BFP-IAS Personnel have moderate

level of competence in conducting thorough investigation related to equipment, funds, and

facilities. Thus, the office should conduct such activity on seminar to further enhance the

competence of the employees in the investigation.

In terms of the competence of the BFP-IAS Personnel in conducting inspection in

all units of the BFP related to their performance, morale, welfare, discipline and utilization

of funds. It can be revealed that BFP-IAS Personnel have high level of competence in
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conducting inspection in all units of the BFP related to their performance, morale, welfare

and discipline. Thus, BFP-IAS Personnel are well versed along the area on performance,

morale, welfare, and discipline except in the utilization of funds as there is a need for the

office to provide the employees the needed funds to make them more competent enough in

the conduct of their inspection along this area.

It has also been observed that BFP-IAS Personnel have high level of competence in

conducting intelligence accident involving BFP Personnel and in terms of performing

related tasks assigned to them. However, the BFP-IAS Personnel have moderate level of

competence in conducting investigation on vehicular accidents and performing special

projects. This can be attributed to the limited funds allocated to them in terms of their

mobilization.

Context and Concept of Corruption

Considering that the passing mark in the interview is pegged at 75%, only three (3) of the

12 respondents were able to match the contextual and concept definition of corruption for

the study. The lowest being 45%, with a modal score of 65% overall.

The correlational analysis of the two variables

With a 0.89 regression at an 18.39 intercept and 21.80 slope, the correlational link between

the BFP-IAS personnel‘s self-perceived competence and contextual concept of the working

definition of corruption in the public governance is on a strong uphill (positive) linear

relationship.
 54

Conclusions

The objective in simple regression is to generate the best line between the two variables

(the tabled values of X and Y), i.e., the best line that fits the data points. Regression uses a

formula to calculate the slope, then another formula to calculate the y-intercept, assuming

there is a straight-line relationship. The best line, or fitted line, is the one that minimizes

the distances of the points from the line, as shown in the accompanying figure. Since some

of the distances are positive and some are negative, the distances are squared to make them

additive, and the best line is one that gives lowest sum or least squares. For that reason, the

regression technique will sometimes be called least squares analysis, therefore although the

two variables presented that of the self-perceived competency and understanding of the

working definition of corruption in public governance is not at a very high correlation it is

in the ceiling of high correlation which means the self-worth of the BFP-IAS personnel is

proportional to their actual understanding of the concept of corruption which is integral to

the formation of their mandate.

Therefore, the researcher moves to approve Hypothesis 1A: There is a significant

correlation between the perceived level of competency among BFP-IAS personnel and

their concept and context of corruption in public governance

Recommendations

The researcher, therefore highly recommends the upgrading of the personnel through a

series of workshops and seminars that will not only hone them in the competency skills

they are lacking but will also guide them in understanding the concept of corruption which

in turn will make the department more efficient in terms of fulfilling its mandate.
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Other lines of actions may include:

1. BFP-IAS Personnel should be provided with sufficient funds to enable them to

perform their tasks and functions specifically in conducting investigation in the

field work.

2. BFP-IAS Personnel should be adequately equipped with the necessary resources

needed in their mobilization.

3. BFP-IAS Personnel should be provided with a service vehicle for an immediate

response to cases which needs immediate action and solution.

4. Conduct yearly evaluation for the promotion of the BFP-IAS Personnel so that they

could be motivated to perform their functions well at the same time to improve the

level of competency in the designated task assigned to each one of them. Hence,

provide efficient services to their clientele.

5. Provide incentives or rewards to witnesses so that they will come out of the open

and cooperate in solving the cases submitted to the Office of the IAS.

6. Similar studies may be conducted identifying other variables in determining level

of competency of the BFP-IAS.