PHILIPPINES POLITICS

PHILIPPINES POLITICS AND

GOVERNANCE

1. GOVERNANCE - The term used specifically to describe changes in the nature and
role of the state following the public-sector reforms.
2. POLITICS - The activities associated with the governance of a country or other
area, especially the debate or conflict among individuals or parties having or hoping
to achieve power.
3. SOCIAL - relating to society or its organization
4. GOVERNMENT - the governing body of a nation, state, or community.
5. NATION - a large body of people united by common descent, history, culture, or
language, inhabiting a particular country or territory.

Defining Politics

1. "What is politics?"
"Politics is an activity that involves the interaction of people whose relationship is
characterized by conflict and cooperation, and come together to solve such
disagreements through binding solutions." (Heywood, 2013, History of Politics)

"What makes social interactions a political one?"

Any form of social interaction that involves the art of government, public
affairs, compromise and consensus, or power and distribution of resources is
political.

Politics is thus inextricably linked to the phenomena of conflict and

cooperation. The existence of rival opinions, different wants, competing needs and
opposing interests guarantees disagreement about the rules under which people live.
According to Hannah Arendt, political power acts in a concert. However, people
recognize that, in order to influence these rules or ensure that they are upheld, they
must work with others.

The word 'politics' is derived from polis, meaning literally 'city-state'. Ancient
Greek society was divided into a collection of independent city-states, each of which
possessed its own system of government. The largest and most influential of these
city-states was Athens, often portrayed as the cradle of democratic government. In
this light, politics can be understood to refer to the affairs of the polis - in effect, what
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concerns the polis'. The modern form of this definition is therefore 'what concerns
the state'. This view of politics is clearly evident in the everyday use of the term:
people are said to be in politics' when they hold public office, or to be 'entering
politics' when they seek to do so.

Politics and Governance in the Philippines

Politics - denotes a social activity which underlies the creation of maintenance and
amendment of social norms and rules. It is also the art and science of the
government concerning the realm of public affairs or the state.
Governance - is the exercise of power/authority by political leader for the well-being
of their country's citizens or subject. It also refers to the manner of
steering/governing and or directing and controlling a group of people or the state.

BASIC CONCEPT OF POLITICS

1. ORDER - is the central to the study of politics because it shows different

components of human society.

STRUCTURES OF ORDER

A. COMMUNITY is one of social order which refers to the association of

individual who shares a common identity.
B. GOVERNMENT - is the higher level of social order that exist primarily for the
maintenance and perpetuation of the community.
C. STATE is the largest social order today and in which the term politics
originally derived.
2. POWER - the main source of reign of the Government and the possession to
govern or rule the state.
3. JUSTICE - the process of legalizing and penalizing the abuse of political
power and power to rule. Justice is in effect if the government gives what
people need, protect and respect their rights, and put the common good over
and above the personal interest of the leaders.

TWO APPROACHES to the STUDY of POLITICS

• POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY - It is the traditional approach in which the

primary goal is to understand the essence or the truth about politics.
• POLITICAL SCIENCE It is the empirical/objective approach in which it
places little emphasis on abstract and normative question and concentrates
on a dispassionate and objective of the realities of politics.
The importance of studying governance includes the people, most specially
the citizens who will be aware of the need for good governance. Consequently, such
awareness should encourage them to take action. For the achievement of continued
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empowerment and sustainable development, they have to learn how to fight for
their rights through proper awareness on how the Philippine Governance works.

PROCESSES AND ACTORS IN GOVERNANCE

Decision-Making refers to the process by which a person or group of persons,

guided by socio-political structures, arriving at a decision involving their individual
and communal needs and wants.
Implementation - is the process that logically follows the decision.

Actors and Structures .

An actor is a sector or group or institution that participates in the process of

decision-making and implementation.
A structure - refers to an organization or mechanism that formally or informally
guides the decision-making process and sets into the motion the different actors and
apparatuses in the implementation process.

Informal Actors and Bad Governance - Their influence is felt more clearly in local
governments, such as organized crime syndicates and powerful families, and in rural
and urban areas. Most often than not, these actors are the cause of corruption, in
that legitimate government objectives are distorted by their illegal and private
interests. Worse, they manipulate government officials and agencies, and cause
widespread yet organized violence in the community. In urban and rural areas, for
example, the rich and powerful families control the economy by controlling the local
government officials. They bring about a controlled environment so that decisions.
must always favor them.

INDICATORS OF GOOD GOVERNANCE

1. Participation - is the active involvement of all affected and interested parties in the
decision-making process. Participation is one of the strengths of Philippine
governance. The 1987 Philippine Constitution contains provisions dealing with
relational and inter-sectoral governance. The Local Government Act of 1989 was
borne out of the need for decentralization in Philippine governance. As such, these
and other related legislations may be considered as normative standards for good
governance.

2. Rule of Law - in this indicator, democracy becomes essential. It demands that the
people and the civil society render habitual obedience to the law. It also demands
that the government acts within the limits of the powers and functions which are
prescribed by the law. In the Philippines however, this needs proper implementation
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and reformation particularly among the law making body. Despite being one of the
oldest democracies in the region, it ranked last among seven indexed Asian countries
according to the World Justice Project Rule of Law Index. Generally, the reasons for
ranking last are "lack of respect for law," "pervasive and systemic corruption in the
government," and "circumvention of the law." Lack of respect for law is generally
caused by distrust on the integrity of law enforcement agencies.

3. Effectiveness and Efficiency - this indicator requires that actors meet the needs of
the society for effective governance. This means that the valuable resources are
utilized, without wasting or underutilizing any of them. Enhancement and
standardization of the quality of public service delivery consistent with international
standards, professionalization of bureaucracy should be observed while efforts must
be made in order to attain effectiveness and efficiency in Philippine governance. The
Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007 (ARTA), for instance, was passed to require the setting up
of Citizen's Charter for a simplified procedure and to facilitate governmental
transactions. Also, many government departments and agencies pursued a
rationalization program to check excessive and redundant staffing.

4. Transparency - this indicator means that people are open to information

regarding decision-making process and the implementation of the same. In legal
terms, it means that information on matters of public concern are made available to
the citizens or those who will be directly affected. It also means that transactions
involving public interests must be fully disclosed and made accessible to the people.
Efforts were made in pursuit of transparency in Philippine governance and as far as
the government sector is concerned, the current administration, consistent with its
drive of curbing corruption, promotes honesty and integrity in public service. has
currently passed the Freedom of Information Bill and other related legislations, as
well as intensified people's engagement in local governance. Transparency in budget
and disbursements are, however, still far from being substantially implemented.

5. Responsiveness - means that institutions and processes serve all stakeholders in a

timely and appropriate manner. It also means that actors and structures of
governance easily give genuine expression to the will or desire of the people. Some
of the important efforts made to attain responsive governance in the Philippines are
decentralization, creation of citizen's charter in all frontline agencies (as required by
ARTA), and gender sensitivity programs. First, through decentralization, local
governments, which are more proximate to their constituents, serve more promptly
the people, who in turn become more involved in decision-making. Second, every
government agency now has it Citizen's Charter, which provides time frames for
every step in attaining frontline services. Agencies now must also respond to written
queries sent by the stakeholders or interested parties within a period of ten days,
otherwise there will be delayed service. However, this aspect of governance still
remains to be one of the causes for the decline of public's confidence in the public
sector. Although the ARTA has been passed, there is still so much delay in public
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service delivery. The failure of the government agencies to explain the charters to the
stakeholders is one of the main reasons why there is still delay.

6. Equity and Inclusiveness - means that all the members of the society, especially
the most vulnerable ones or the grassroots level, must be taken into consideration in
policy-making. Social equity, as an example, refers to a kind of justice that gives more
opportunity to the less fortunate members of the society. The Philippine
Government has done extensive efforts in promoting equity and inclusiveness. The
Constitution makes it as one of its state policies the promotion of social justice.
Pursuant to this, the Congress has enacted social legislations like the Comprehensive
Agrarian Reform Law which aims at freeing the farmer tenants from the bondage of
the soil.

7. Consensus Oriented Governance is consensus oriented when decisions are

made after taking into consideration the different viewpoints of the actors of the
society. Among the things done by the Philippines in promoting a consensus oriented
governance are: (1) creation of a wide-based of representation in the Congress; (2) a
two-tiered legislature or bicameralism which subjects legislation to the evaluation of
national and district legislators; and (3) necessity of public hearings or consultations
of various governmental policies and actions.

8. Accountability - means answer ability or responsibility for one's action. It is based

on the principle that every person or group is responsible for their actions most
especially when their acts affect public interest. Accountability comes in various
forms: political, hierarchical, and managerial accountability. Political accountability
refers to the accountability of public officials to the people they represent.
Hierarchical accountability refers to the ordered accountability of the various
agencies and their respective officers and personnel in relation to their program
objectives. Managerial accountability refers to employee accountability based on
organization and individual performance.

The Philippines for instance, in the recent years had endeavoured to comply
with the requirements of accountability. It had taken action to initiate political
accountability so as to hold answerable erring public officials involved in graft and
corruption and for acts contrary to the mandate of the constitution. It had also
strengthened parliamentary scrutiny through legislative investigations and creation
of special committees exercising oversight functions. The Office of the Ombudsman,
considered as the public watchdog, has become consistently active in investigating
and prosecuting graft and plunders cases. Citizen's Charter, as required by ARTA, was
also an important tool in promoting professional public service values.

CURRENT STATE OF GOVERNANCE IN THE PHILIPPINES

The Philippines is plagued by bad governance. Based on the six dimensions

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of governance in the Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI), it ranks in the lower

half of the percentile. In 2010-2011, the Philippines ranked only 85th in the Global
Competitive Index (GCI), lagging behind most of its Southeast Asian neighbors. The
decline of trust on the actors of governance and the consequential poor economic
condition were brought about by the systemic corruption among and between public
officials and private organizations. In 2013, it ranked 94th among 177 countries in the
Corruption Perception Index. Among the key institutions in the Philippines perceived
to be most corrupt based on the Global Corruption Index are "political parties,"
"judiciary," "police," "public officials and civil servants," and "legislature." This means
all branches of the Philippine government are now challenged.
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POLITICS
• Gr. politika or affairs of the cities (polis)
• set of activities that are associated with decision making in groups
• power relations between individual
• distribution resources or status
• is the exercise of power, the science of government, the making of collective
decisions, the allocation of scarce resources, and the practice of manlagement and
leadership.

IS POLITICS GOOD OR BAD?

CHARACTERISTICS OF POLITICS (Shievely, 2013)

1. Politics always involves the making of collective decisions for group of people.
2. Those decisions are made by some members of the group exercising power over
other members of the group.

VALUES OF POLITICS
1. Politics helps you to know your rights.
2. Politics clarifies what you yourself believe.
3. Politics is a living, breathing subject.
4. Politics helps you to understand our nation's parties.
5. Politics prepares you for adult life

IS POLITICS GOOD OR BAD?

a. In your own understanding, what is politics?

b. How important is politics?

GOVERNANCE
• L. Gubernare, Gr. Kubernaein "to steer"
• manner of steering or governing,
• directing or controlling a group of people or a state
• the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are
implemented (or not implemented.)
• directly related to politics since politics is the art of governance
• exercise of power or authority by political leaders for the well-being of the citizens
• its complexity includes the promulgation of policies that affect directly human and
institutions; economic and social development
• there' a great deal in managing the proper utilization of the resources

CHARACTERISTICS OF GOOD GOVERNANCE

1. Participation- everyone can directly or indirectly partake in governmental
processes.
2. Rule of Law- there's impartiality of the legal framework and full protection of
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human rights and dignities.

3. Transparency- information is freely accessible.
4. Responsiveness- service to all stakeholders with a reasonable timeframe.
5. Consensus-oriented- there's a general agreement or unanimity of views or
opinions and in facts.
6. Effectiveness and Efficiency-result-oriented and best performance within the
available resources.

GOVERMENT
group of people with the authority to govern a country or a state
• the people is the government