good pa, bad pa (examples of good and bad philippine government agencies and practices)

7/31/2019 Good PA, Bad PA (Examples of Good and Bad Philippine Government Agencies and Practices)

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'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)


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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 mutli-

sectoral 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


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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


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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.

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