When talking about Philippine Administrative System, first thing that comes to mind is about the

government and its political divisions in the country. It is about the nations’s political hierarchy such as
the central government, provinces, municipalities and barangay. However, these divisions and
subdivisions can be attributed to our past history. It is not a plant that simply blooms from nowhere. The
Philippine Administrative System is dynamic, shaped and evolved through time.

The Philippines was colonized indirectly as opposed to the direct control of Spaniards during the Spanish
period. Americans had its strategies to control us. They allowed the Filipinos to oversee the government
with their help without us knowing that they still controlled us. Then, we had our independence in 1946
which was the start of what we can be called Filipino independence. Filipinos started to spearhead and
governed our country. Past Philippine presidents had their own way of governance though they are still
embracing the American’s bureacracy.

Those things were learned and studied however, more indepth realization regarding the administration
was not discussed. Upon reading modules 1-3, I am enlightened that the Philippines Administrative
System is not only about learning our history and strengtening our sense of nationalism but it also
understanding the notions behind our administrative system. It is about the how’s and why’s unlike the
what, where and who concepts back in our elementary days. It allows us to distinguish and differentiate
the past from the present enabling us to apply for the betterment of the future administrative systems.

These modules put emphasis on the organization, planning, implementation in a bureacratic form of
government and indepth meaning of national identity and national consciousness. National identity is
the sense of belonging to the country. It can strengthen the nation through tough times. However, the
Philippine Administrative System lacks its own identity. We only let a group of people to control us.
According to Prof. Felipe M. De Leon, Jr. (2011), a small elite minority has always governed our country
and controlled our economy and resources that resulted to to a mutual distrust and hostility between
the elite-led government and the people.

A good examples is the traditional politicians, also know as “trapo”, because most of them belong to the
elite class. Elite theory explains that the economic elite holds the most power in public policy making.
Filipino masses do not have the connection with the government. The elite class is the ruler while the
other variable is the masses who are the one being ruled. Elites cannot simply identify the needs of the
masses if they will not go down to the norms of the masses. This only shows that colonial mentality is
still in our roots. Colonial mentality can destroy our national identity. It only proves that we are still in a
captive state.

Captive by the elite class. Even the elite performs their duties and responsibilties, without connection to
the masses, Filipinos do not feel that they belong in the society. Thus, national identity cannot be
certainly identified. National consciousness started the during the Spanish period when the GOMBURZA
was executed in 1872. Filipinos started to realize that they were just on same boat and they should be
treated fairly. Unity of the people led the independence of the nation. Unity of elite and masses resulted
to the Philippine independence in 1896 as well as freedom from authoritarian rule in 1986 EDSA
revolution.

The abovementioned national identity can be attributed to the unity of the elites and the masses since
they only have one goal and that is freedom. According to Fartz Fanon (1961), national consciousness
should embrace the innermost hopes of the whole people. Hence, it is only compared to any case of an
empty shell. An idea of what it might have been. It is considered as traditional weakness which is
present in most under-developed country. It cannot only be attributed to the result of the colonization
period but also to the intellectual laziness of the nation.

Ignorance and lack of information can be a good example. History teaches us to appreciate the past and
learned from them. However, it was ignored and the process of enlightenment was not revealed.
Spaniards and Americans ruled us through bureacracy thereby bureaucratic form of government was
instilled in the minds of the Filipinos. Centralization connotes bureacracy. Centralization, as stated in
various readings about the administrative system, started during the Spanish period. There is a need for
the Spaniards to centralize the country for the purpose of consolidation of their power.

Only the governors-general had the political authority to rule the nation. During the post-colonial
period, several bureacratic reforms were implemented however, most of it failed or not implemented as
planned. One of the reforms was the decentralization. Decentralization per se is the process of
dispersing the decision making in a nation. Considering that the Philippines is an archipelago,
decentralization is the strongest form of linkage and coordination between regions and provinces. I
remember during one of the debates I had in college. It is about the reasons why the Philippines is
lagging behind in terms of economy.

Our group’s strongest claim is that Philippines is composed of 1,700 islands. Having 1,700 leaders and let
them communicate for the benefit of the whole country is difficult. Our country needs one leader to
oversee and spearhead the whatabouts of the government. At present, the president assigns who will
be the Cabinet members and the society will elect the president up to the lowest rank in each
municipality. The issue of centralization is shaped at the time of crisis. Centralization can benefit the
nation if the issue of corruption is not injected in the minds of the Filipino people.

Corruption also started during the Spanish era. Spaniards used their political powers for their personal
advantage. It plagued the minds of the Filipino that power through politics can bring them wealth and
fame. The Emilio Aguinaldo-and-Andres Bonifacio issue can be addressed as non-sense politics which led
to corruption. Though I am not aware of the Aguinaldo-Bonifacio set-up and I only rely on the written
history, the issue can be attributed as political intrigue which causes the ravage and destroy of society.
Politics can take advantage the situation and exploit the system.

Corruption, as the state of mind, is inherited until now. Nepotism is a form of corruption and is present
in some of the government and private offices. Nepotism can be attributed to close bonds of the
Fiilipino families. Political cronies during the authoritarian regime of former Pres. Marcos can be clearly
viewed as nepotism. Though, nepotism is prohibited by law and still government offices tolerate it.
Millenniums have past and corruption is still alive in the minds of the people thus, it will be difficult to
eradicate in our minds that not all political leaders are corrupt.

Another thing that we inherited from the colonized system is the invisible power of the church. During
the Spanish period, Catholic Church through Spanish friars influenced the Filipinos. It was only in the
later part of the Spanish colonial period that Filipinos began to contravene the “words of God”. From the
Spanish era, let us jump to 1986 EDSA Revolution. Cardinal Jaime Sin was one of the leaders who
brought EDSA I possible. He was also one of the responsible leaders to make EDSA II possible. At
present, church intervenes with the on-goings in the political system.

Iglesia ni Cristo, for example, announces who will they support in the upcoming election. The famous
Reproductive Health Bill cannot be endorsed to become a law because most people, especially, the
Catholic Church is opposed to the passing of the bill. Separation of the church and the state is as old as
the Public Administration discipline. However, until now, it can be difficult to isolate one from another
since freedom of expression is widely spread in the country. The abovementioned areas of concerns also
occur around the globe and in all historical eras.

Those were only adopted, structured and instutionalized. Therefore, Philippines can be viewed as weak
form of post-colonized state since we keep on embracing the injected colonizers’ culture and
bureacratic form. We are the product of our own history however, we keep on reorganizing the adopted
ideas and yet we cannot polish the flaws in our nation. Corruption is still rampant. Elite still dominates
the country. Church still mingles with the political issues. The relevance of history was not absorbed.

The present generation should not repeat the mistakes and that the future generations should be freed
from the bondage of colonial mentality. The sense of nationalism is still weak. What we were before is
what we are at present. As George Santayana said: “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed
to repeat it. Those who do not remember their past are condemned to repeat their mistakes. Those who
do not read history are doomed to repeat it. Those who fail to learn from the mistakes of their
predecessors are destined to repeat them. Those who do not know history’s mistakes are doomed to
repeat them. ”
Philippine Administrative System

Accountability of national leaders – elected national leadership must answer for the performance in
pursuing their programs of government and their use of national resources, given the authority, power
and resources vested in them by their constituency

Philippine Administrative System

PAS Structure

Administrative Relationships

Jorge Winston Altura

Public Administration

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS - TERRITORIAL AND

POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OF THE STATE

If an office is under the supervision and control of

another unit, it means that the higher office:

Government Owned Companies or Corp.

Constitutionally Mandated Special Bodies

Office of the Ombudsman

Commission on Human Rights

Constitutional Commissions

Civil Service Commission

Commission on Audit

Commission on Elections

Local governments have four major categories of functions:

Efficient service delivery;

Management of the environment;

Economic development; and

Poverty alleviation.

Executive Departments

Office of the President

Office of the Vice-President

Local Government Functions

Individual accountability – public employees are answerable for the responsible, efficient and effective
performance of their tasks.

Legislative Branch

Senate of the Philippines

House of Representatives

Instrument of the state – government functions are exercised legitimately, supported by enabling state
policies and authority

Enforcer and implementer of public policy – discretion in policy

Service delivery system – discretion to determine quantity, quality, adequacy and timeliness of services
it provides

Participant in policy formulation – advice is sought on legislation and policy-making

Technical expertise –professional training of civil servants in areas of competence on policy issues

Nationwide presence – expansive reach to mobilize support for programs all over the country.

Chartered Institutions ( created by Law )

Sources of Power

PAS refers to a network of organizations with specific rules and goals, structures, resources and
programs. It includes the internal processes of and the interaction between and among public
organizations, which are constituted to implement, help formulate, monitor or assess public policies.
Four Types of Accountability

Has authority to act directly, whenever specific function is entrusted by law or regulation to a
subordinate

Directs the performance of a duty

Restrains the commission of acts

Reviews, approves, reverses or modified acts or decision of subordinate officials and units

Determines priorities in executing plans and programs

Prescribes standards, guidelines, plans and programs

Four Types of Accountability

It is the process and contents of implementing public policies and programs.

It is cooperative human action whether within the public bureaucracy, the private sector, or in NGOs
aimed at delivering services to the people

Accountability of administrators – for their stewardship of the administrative authority, resources and
information placed at their disposal as leaders of public organization.

For the purpose of administration and

development planning, the Philippines is

divided into 17 administrative regions. In

each regional capital, the 26 departments

of the national government have their

regional offices.

Political accountability – of institutions that must answer for their organizational mandate and
functions, particularly as they form part of the incumbent government strategy for national
development.