Social Equity in the Philippines: A Continuing -But Elusive – Promise *

Alex B. Brillantes Jr, **Marivic Raquiza and Ma Pia Lorenzo

* Paper presented at the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA)

Annual Conference, Mayflower Hotel, Washington DC, 10 March

** Professor and former Dean University of the Philippines National College

of Public Administration and Governance. Also former Commissioner,

Commission on Higher Education. abbrillantes@up.edu.ph

We thank Professor Morgen Johansen of the University of Hawaii for the

opportunity to be part of this project

STUDY of PA in the Philippines

• The study of public administration heavily influenced by American public administration • establishment of the Institute of Public Administration at the

University of the Philippines in 1952. • PA recognized among the major social sciences in the country • various universities networked through the Philippine Society for

Public Administration and the Association of Schools of Public Administration of the Philippines

“Is There a Philippine Public Administration” c. 1986, 2006

• 1986: debate was to indigenize and localize Philippine PA: IS THERE A

PHILIPPINE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

• 2006: 20 years later, question was revisited. we argued that the

more fundamental question is “FOR WHOM IS PUBLIC

ADMINSTRATION?

IS THERE A PHILIPPINE PA?FOR WHOM IS PHILPPINE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION?• Brillantes and Fernandez: the homegrown movement called Gawad

Kalinga (which means “to give care”) was an example of a uniquely Philippine governance (civil society taking the lead here, in partnership with government and business sectors) approach that bore distinctive traits of Philippine public administration with a very distinct social equity character

“5Es and an A” of PA

FOR WHOM IS PA: Brillantes and Calina (2018): “5 Es and an A”

• In addition to the classic 3 Es of PA • ECONOMY • EFFICIENCY• EFFECTIVENESS

• PA should include 2 Es and an A• Equity• Ethics and Accountability

Philippines in Recent Times

• The Philippine has emerged as the one of the economic darlings, with its upward Gross Domestic Product (GDP) trend.

• “One of the world’s fastest economies (World Bank, 2018)”

• “A roaring economy (Straits Times, 2017)”

• “A rising tiger (Bloomberg, 2017)”

• With a GDP growth rate that is more than 6%

Philippines in Recent Times

• The principle of social equity emphasizes that economic growth is certainly not enough.• The benefits of growth should be redistributive and must also include

other facets of development such as positive trends in education, health, and employment.

Philippines in Recent TimesThe poorest are the following:• farmers (34.3%)• fishermen (34.0%)• children (31.4%)• self-employed and unpaid family workers (25.0%)• women (22.5%)• youth (19.4%)• migrant and formal sector workers (13.4%) • senior citizens (13.2%)• individuals living in urban areas (11.5%)• Other marginalized groups in the Philippines are the

indigenous peoples (numbering around 7.8 million) and the Filipino Muslims who account for around 5 million (Africa et al. 2017, p. 17).

Addressing inequity throughfiscal policy

I. Pantawid Pamilya Program (a conditional cash transfer program)

II. Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) (current tax reform program )

Conditional Cash Transfer Program

• The conditional cash transfer program: a social assistance program that first appeared in Mexico in 1997, and then in Brazil in 2003, with a view to reducing poverty and improving education and health outcomes. • When the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program was first

introduced in the Philippines, it was well received.

Conditional Cash Transfer Program

• It has ‘survived’ three administrations—under GMA (2007-2010), Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III (2010-2016) and Rodrigo Roa Duterte(2016-present).

• Enjoys massive funding which has served as the basis to expand its coverage (in terms of the number of beneficiaries) and benefits

Conditional Cash Transfer Program

• Although showing some positive effects, the findings of the two impact evaluations of Pantawid Pamilya in 2011 and 2014 revealed that poverty reduction among household beneficiaries was not one of them. • It would seem unrealistic to have expected the reduction of poverty

among Pantawid beneficiaries in the short to medium term (Raquiza2018) given that the size of the cash grant was much too small to make a dent on household beneficiary incomes.

2018 Philippine Tax Reform System:Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN)• A country’s taxation system aims not only to raise revenue to finance

government programs but also serves to redistribute income and wealth in order to benefit the public good. • Social equity is enhanced if a tax system is deemed to be progressive,

meaning that those who have more, pay more, and vice versa.

2018 Philippine Tax Reform System

• “Indirect taxes such as value-added taxes are considered to be regressive and direct taxes on income and wealth to be progressive, although much depends on the actual details of individual taxes” (Jianand Lee 2017, pp. 3-4).

• These two assumptions set the stage for a brief analysis of TRAIN. (Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion)

2018 Philippine Tax Reform System

• Eight months into the implementation of TRAIN, from a base of 3.2% in end-2017, the inflation rate skyrocketed to an average of 6.7% in September 2018, hitting its highest point in nine years, affecting food costs, among others, especially basic food items consumed by the poor like rice, fish and vegetables (Panti 2018).

2018 Philippine Tax Reform System

• Despite the DOF observation that the rich utilize the majority of fuel consumption, relative to income, it is the poor who are disproportionately burdened by the oil price hike. • While TRAIN may have succeeded in generating additional revenue to

fund important public programs, such as the government’s ambitious infrastructure scheme, it did so in a manner that also disproportionately burdened the poor, thereby undermining the social equity principle in the country’s tax system

Gawad Kalinga: An Indigenous PA model for social equity?• A movement that emanated from the Philippines that endeavors to

end poverty by restoring the dignity of the poor

• Borne out of the desire to rehabilitate juvenile gang members and out-of-school youth in Bagong Silang, Caloocan City, back in 1994

• Formally established in 2003 as the Gawad Kalinga Community Development Foundation, Inc. (GK)

• It has now expanded to 2,000 organized GK communities, positively influencing 60,000 families.

Gawad Kalinga

• With its mobilization of its partners and volunteers, GK demonstrates that the issue of social equity goes beyond economics and statistics. • Values based• Citizen engagement based • padugo: or to bleed for the cause, which is exhibited by the generous

service that the staff members, volunteers and partners deliver to the communities

Gawad Kalinga

• GK may be an indigenous model promoting sustained social equity, uplifting the lives of people usually termed ‘marginalized’. • By building upon the inherently Filipino values and culture, Gawad

Kalinga expresses social equity as a moral force that inspires all sectors. • Walang Iwanan• Una sa serbisyo, huli sa benepisyo• Towards entrepreneurship

Conclusion

• Formal government programs to bring about social equity (CCT, TRAIN) continues to be elusive. • But GK may be an emerging local model: a movement • Public administration should be focused on helping the

disadvantaged, disenfranchised and marginalized sectors of society. • Hence, public administration is more than the traditional three Es

(efficiency, economy and effectiveness). Public administration must also include equity, ethics and accountability.

Conclusion• Social equity continues to be elusive, a goal that should have been

more easily attainable given the high economic growth rates. • Indeed, the imperative for inclusive development that ensures

redistribution and social equity becomes increasingly urgent. • the attainment of social equity, together with the improvement of the

quality of life of the people—at least in the Philippine context—should be an ultimate goal of public administration. • In this morning’s Elliot Richardson Lecture, our speaker said: PA is not just

about efficiency, but also commitment to public good. FOR WHOM indeed in PA ?

• The people are indeed the public in public administration.