PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN THE pHILIPPINES: HISTORY

The American Colonial Regime

The American takeover of the Philippines upon the pacification of the islands in 1902 was auspicious for the Philippines because 1the Americans introduced a civil government that was in marked contrast to that of Spain. 2The Americans established a political system in the Philippines patterned after the republican and democratic characteristics of the U.S government. Where the Spanish regime exerted efforts to deny ordinary Filipinos the right to an education and to speak the Castillian Language, the Americans introduced an extensive public educational system and even required the teaching of English. But one of the most important contrast was the separation of church and state.

Endriga provides the following critique:

Politically speaking, the contrast with the unlamented Spanish regime was glaring. The separation of church and state, the completely secular character of the latter, the political participation of the Filipinos in all levels of government were a world apart from the Spanish system where the power of the priests and the minimal participation of natives in government gave the Filipinos practically no experience in running their own affairs.

It was also during the period that 3public administration was professionalized. It is instructive to note here that the United States had just undergone a critical period of civil service reform after decades of dominance of patronage and spoils in its own bureaucracy. The spoil system was legitimized as a government policy during the presidency of Andrew Jackson in 1829, who sought to democratize positions in bureaucracy as part of what is now known as “Jacksonian Democracy” (Reyes 2003b). Jackson rationalized that the duties in the federal bureaucracy were simple and did not demand education or prior experience. He also argued that it was only proper that a sitting president and the political party in power must have the leeway to appoint federal jobs supporters, protégés or recommendees of the administration. Jackson believed that by doing so, he was making available to ordinary citizens the opportunity to serve in government. The result was a decline in the professional competence of those manning the bureaucracy and gained prominent attention and concern in 1881 with the assassination of President James Gareld by a disgruntled office seeker (Reyes, 2003b). The Pendleton Act of 1883 subsequently established a professionalized civil service in the American bureaucracy that ended over decades of the spoils system. This was soon followed by the Gilded Age in America, which saw increasing prosperity and modernity of American society. Thus, it was understandable that the Americans would institute a similar system in their newly acquired colony in 1900. This was an opportunity to discover whether the system they adopted for themselves would work in a different culture.4The American colonial regime, introduced a civil service system based on merit and fitness in the Philippines, characterized by professionalism and careerism, ensured of security of tenure and with appointments determined by open competitive examinations. 5Another important feature of the system was the adoption of political neutrality for career members of the civil service which secured them against involvement in partisan politics. It may be relevant to mention here that it was this latter issue that defined the Public Administration in America, commonly referred as the politics administration dichotomy. The neutrality of apolitical and career bureaucrats was contained in the provisions of the Pendleton Act of 1883 in the United States which established a professional civil service in America. 6Act No.5 also known as the Philippine Civil Service Act with the formal title of “An Act for the Establishment and Maintenance of an Efficient and Honest Civil Service in the Philippines,” is the law that established the Civil Service in the Philippines was one of the early pieces of

legislation enacted by the Philippine Commission 7passed on September 19, 1900, set the tone for the establishment of a professional bureaucracy in the Philippines based on merit and fitness. The Americans deemed this as the response to the graft-ridden bureaucracy of the Spanish period and made sure that the merit system would be upheld regardless of religious beliefs or political affiliations.

Another 8significant feature of the administrative system established by the American colonial regime was that it was open and made available to Filipinos. Unlike the Spanish system, which restricted Filipinos to almost inconsequential positions. 9The administrative system established by the Americans fostered broader Filipino participation in the civil service even if executive and policy-determining posts remained in the hands of the Americans.

Civil Service System

Characterized by:

Professionalism and careerism Ensured security of tenure And with appointments determined by open competitive examinations. Effective Efficient

Another important feature of the system

The adoption of political neutrality for career members of the civil service which secured them against involvement of partisan politics.

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN THE pHILIPPINES: HISTORY

The Japanese Interregnum(1942-1945)

World War II intervened and the Philippines were swept into the war in the Pacific with 10 the Japanese army invading the country in 1942. As a result, the commonwealth government and its leaders were forced into exile. 11The Japanese occupation of the Philippines disrupted and dislocated the political, economic and social life of the country. On gaining control of the islands, 12the Japanese Imperial government established a puppet-government and conscripted political leaders and bureaucrats alike who stayed in the country to render service to the new Japanese-sponsored government. The 3 years of Japanese occupation had a severe impact on the bureaucracy in the Philippines. The 13civil servant who manned the government during the truncated commonwealth period were forced to serve under pain of reprisals. The 14civil servants were coerced to serve and were forcibly drafted into the service which by and large resulted in a demoralized and demotivated administrative system.

For these civil servants and for the rest of the populace, the government and its administrative machinery “was the instrument of a hated regime” and acts of sabotage to undermine the Japanese-sponsored republic were regarded as a patriotic act (Corpuz, 1957:220). Thus, such “acts of administrative delay and obstruction,” and “countless ways of less-than-full compliance with administrative orders, came to be habitually indulged in, and were condoned as moral and patriotic” (Corpuz, 1957: 221). Those who chose to perform their duties efficiently were considered as “collaborators” and “traitors,” which made it more convenient for the politically astute to go through the motions and rituals of administrative activity while secretly committing covert acts of sabotage. The war years exacted severe repercussions on the country’s institutions and left the country in ruins. Manila emerged as the most devastated capital city in the world, next to Warsaw in Poland, according to the assessment of Senator Millard Tydings of the U.S. Congress. By the 15end of the war, the Philippines was a ravaged nation, and the people experienced widespread poverty. Its hospitals, ports, banks, libraries, buildings, and other structures and facilities were in shambles, particularly those located in the urban areas (Reyes, 2003a: 51; Shalom, 1986: 33; Steinberg et al., 1971: 373, as cited in Abueva, 1988: 47).The end of the war brought about unemployment, food shortages, inflation, and internal conflict and strife, as the country was enmeshed in a campaign to seek out and punish collaborators and supporters of the hated Japanese-sponsored government. Unrest in the countryside grew, especially in the Northern provinces, as a growing Communist movement, remnants of the resistance to the Japanese, began to gather strength, taking advantage of the confusion and upheaval besetting Philippine society. 16The bureaucracy, like the society that enveloped it, was severely traumatized by the war, and the work ethic that was supposed to have been implanted during the American regime was soon eroded. While 17the American regime promoted and instilled professionalism, responsibility, and commitment to public service in the bureaucracy, the war truncated the full flowering and internalization of these values. It seemed that the 18habits and practices of negative bureaucratic behaviour that were shaped during the Japanese interregnum continued and rendered an administrative system almost incapable of addressing the multiple and complex problems brought about by the war. Following the war, faced with low income that did not measure up to living standards, it was not difficult for civil servants to commit misfeasance and other corrupt acts. Moreover, exposes of big-time graft and corruption cases among unscrupulous political leaders, including presidents, practically dominated the newspaper headlines. It was therefore understandable that civil servants would be prone to follow the example of their leaders, who would on occasions, enlist or involve the bureaucracy in the commission of corrupt dealings.

Time line Event

MAY 1, 1898 1ST battle of the Spanish-American War that took place in the

Philippines The Americans were led by U.S Navy Admiral George Dewey in

participation of Emilio Aguinaldo while the Admiral Patricio Montojo led the Spanish Quadron

At this point the U.S defeated the Spanish quadron.August 14, 1898 End of the 333 years of Spain colonization in the Philippines.

December 10, 1989

The Philippines was ceded to the U.S by Spain in 1898 after a payment of US$ 20 million to Spain in accordance with the "Treaty of Paris" ending the Spanish-American War.

The U.S established Military Government in the Philippines with General Meritt acting as military governor.

1898-1901

The U.S military commander governed the Philippines under the authority of the U.S president as Commander in Chief of the United States Armed Forces.

American-Style school system was introduced, initially with soldiers as teachers

Civil criminal courts were re-established including a supreme court and local governments were established in towns and provinces.

The first local election was conducted by General Harold W. Lawton on May 7, 1899 in Baliuag Bulacan.

March 2, 1901 Civil government was established by the Americans through the so

called Spooner Amendment Act of 1901 William Howard Taft as the first American Governor-General.

Philippine Organic Act of

July 1902

It was approved, ratified and confirmed McKinley’s Executive order establishing the Philippine Commission

Philippine Autonomy Act

New organic act (or constitution) for the Philippines. The law stated the right of the Filipinos to attain freedom in the

near future.

1932 The Hare-Hawes Cutting Act was passed by the congress provided

for complete independence of the islands in 1945 after 10 years of self-government under U.S supervision.

1942-1945

The Philippines were swept into the war in the Pacific with the Japanese army invading the country in 1942.

The Common Wealth Government and its leaders were forced into exile.

The Japanese occupation of the Philippines disrupted and dislocated the political, economic, and social life of the country.

The Japanese imperial government established a puppet government and conscripted political leaders and bureaucrats who stayed in the country to render service to the new Japanese-sponsored government.

July 4, 1946 The U.S grant the Philippines its independence.