'Good PA, Bad PA' : 4 Examples Government agencies are always stigmatized of being incompetent, cranky, full of red

tape and out of touch with what people need. There are certain proposals on how the flow of services can be improved, from legislative initiatives to the promotion of government 'engineering'. But to be fair, not all agencies can be considered incompetent; some are exemplary in their work through creative initiatives and effective projects, some we cannot deny as a headache to all of us. Following are four projects of different agencies which can serve as examples of good and bad Public Administration in the country. Premyo sa Resibo (Bureau of Internal Revenue) The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is tasked for the collection of taxes used for the delivery of social services and funding of government projects. While it gives a huge chunk of income to the government coffers, it perenially suffers from missed collection targets due to tax evasion by companies and individuals. Premyo sa Resibo can be considered as a good Public Administration initiative for it is a creative project aimed to run tax evaders. It is a raffle conceptualized to support efforts to plug leakages in the tax collection system. People are encouraged to get their copy of official receipts whenever they purchase goods or avail of services. By texting the Tax Identification Number of the establishment, receipt number and amount to a text hotline, one automatically qualifies for raffle draws with prizes up to P 1 million. Through the PSR promo, people can participate in the anti-tax evasion campaign with the chance of winning in the process, and the agency can use the data they receive to track if business establishments are honest in their tax declarations. Junior Graftwatch Unit (Office of the Ombudsman)

Since its establishment in 1987, the Office of the Ombudsman has been active in pursuing government officials with graft and corruption cases. But besides their judiciary activities, the office has also been active in promoting anti-corruption campaigns to different sectors of society. The Junior Graftwatch Unit was established in 1996 as part of the Ombudsman's mutlisectoral strategy to encourage the youth, particularly high school and college students to participate in graft prevention and control. It has now expanded to key schools across the country. Part of the organization's activities are dissemination of information regaring graft and corruption and monitoring of community projects to ensure compliance with laws. It also serves as an extension of the Ombudsman for people to complain of misdeeds or comment on the different activities of government agencies. On this note, the JGU can be considered as good Public Administration since it gives the youth a chance to participate in government processes such as those of the Ombudsman. 'Pilipinas Kay Ganda' (Department of Tourism) It has been noted that the Philippines can perform best on tourism for ir possesses a lot of scenic places and the warm hospitality Filipinos are known for. But with limited funding, it has been a problem what kind of branding can be created for promotional activities. The new DOT administration headed by Alberto Lim thought of a new catch-phrase: 'Pilipinas Kay Ganda'. Pilipinas Kay Ganda (Philippines, So Beautiful) was launched to replace the 8-year Wow Philippines campaign. It was meant to show the Philippines as a beautiful place not just of its destinations but of its people and everything they do. Within a week after launch, online communities had their eyebrows raised, thinking that the new slogan was rushed and the concept accused of being plagiarized that of Poland's

tourism campaign. While the Tourism department has defended the campaign, it was eventually scrapped. Pilipinas Kay Ganda is a bad example of Public Administration since for one, it was thought without considering public opinion and it was admitted to be rushed. The tourism office should had not launched the branding immediately, rather they should invited experts and the public (known in the internet as 'crowd-sourcing') to help the agency find a suitable brand than just creating one by their own. Stradcom (Land Transportation Office) Most government agencies, particularly those dealing with records and documents such as the Land Transportation Office has partnered with the private sector with the management of their databases. With the millions of vehicles being registered in the country it can sure be difficult to manage information without the help of IT companies. The agency awarded Stradcom Corporation a contract for the provision of IT infrastructure and services under the Build-Operate-Transfer scheme in 1997. The company was expected to recover their investment on a 25-year period, but so far it has never managed to earn even if the government pays the agency yearly fees of P1.3 billion. The government however has accused Stradcom of anomalies in the registration processes, including the alleged registration of fictitious vehicles. Adding to the mix was an ownership dispute among the company's owners December last year, creating a sudden halt of LTO's registration operations. The LTO-Stradcom partnership is an example of bad Public Administration for it did not fulfilled what public-private partnerships are envisioned for-efficiency in operations and reduction of red tape and corruption. Similar systems such as in the National Statistics Office worked so it is puzzling why it failed for Stradcom. The government may find it difficult to terminate its contract with the company but it

could help for the interest of the public. Another round of bidding may be done to invite new companies which could better serve the requirements of the LTO, however, transparency in the process must be ensured. References "FAQs: Premyo sa Resibo." Premyo sa Resibo. Web. 23 September 2011. "Premyo sa Resibo from BIR." PinoyTechie.com 17 June 2008. Web. 23 September 2011. Primer on the Junior Graftwatch Unit Program. Junior Graftwatch Unit. Web. 23 September 2011. Galarpe, Karen. Pilipinas Kay Ganda lifted from Poland logo? ABS-CBN News. ABS-CBN, 18 November 2010. Web. 23 September 2011. Howard, Catherine. Stradcom to P-Noy: Protect sanctity of our Contract. ABS-CBN News. ABS-CBN, 23 June 2011. Web. 23 September 2011. Montecillo, Paolo. Supreme Court remand Stradcom dispute to lower courts. Philippine Daily Inquirer, 15 September 2011. Web. 23 September 2011. Oiga, Jacky Lynne. Pilipinas Kay Ganda. Manila Bulletin, 16 November 2010. Web. 23 September 2011. Uy, Josephine. From Wow to Pilipinas Kay Ganda. Philippine Daily Inquirer, 17 November 2010. Web. 23 September 2011. Zambrano, Chiara. Pilipinas Kay Ganda Officially Dead. ABS-CBN News. ABS-CBN, 21 November 2010. Web. 23 September 2011.