Integration Paper PPA

Introduction
“Is there a Philippine public administration?” does the past provide a satisfactory answer
to the question? And the greater involvement of civil society and people’s organization in
policymaking. Civil Society and people organization have become the mainstream in
policymaking, requiring policies to be presented to the legislature and social forces for deliberation
and revision.
Body
One side of the early struggle was to come to grips with the ‘identity crisis of the
public administration as a discipline. Raul P. de Guzman and Onofre D. Corpuz, two prominent
scholars of the discipline addressed the question ‘Is there a Philippine Public Administration?’
with a deep sense of passion and commitment to reflect on what distinguishes public
administration in the Philippines from public administration in other nations. Public administration
in this sense was taken as a field of study, as a profession, and as processes in the management if
the bureaucracy and of public affairs. The former proceeded to identify the inherent traits and
unique behavioural features of Philippines bureaucracy that make it distinctively Filipino, the latter
responded with a sharp critique on the ;issue of the scope of the government’ and of the major
Philippine institutions that shape the public administration of any country identified these
institutions as those of education, politics, and government. The Ahistorical Nature of Philippine
Public Administration may be left hanging or what Waldo would present as “the work of the day”.
A student of Public Administration may not be familiar with the establishment of the civil service
in the Philippines, the Filipinization of the bureaucracy during the American period, or to extend
the issue a bit farther back, the thoughts and contributions of Jose Rizal, Apolinario Mabini, or
other prominent figures and statesmen in the Philippines. Corpuz (1986/2003), stated in his 1986
essay: “Philippine education is weakest in history and science. History would tell how the
ancestors fared; it is the story of how the people became or failed to become what they wanted to
be; it is the door to the past”. Philippine Public Administration has been patently and perversely
ahistorical and has gravely neglected its responsibilities of the distinctiveness of our historical pas,
and which helped shape and build Philippine Public Administration, the discipline and the practice,
the institutions, and dynamics today. This is not an offense of the efforts and work of Public
Administration scholars in the Philippines; it is instead an invitations to tread other grounds that
have been somewhat overlooked or neglected in the frenzied efforts to respond to the ‘work of the
day’. Philippine public administration and a Philippine Public Administration that is endowed with
its own distinctive history even with the influences of the colonial eras. Reyes study is divided into
three parts. First part, the development of the study of the administration history in American
Public Administration (Reyes, 2015). Dwight Waldo, concerned ‘the study of public
administration in the United States has been, in the whole and until recently, strongly ‘anti’ or
‘unhistorical’, and ‘the discipline was born of the conviction that historical as well as legal studies
of government are narrow, bookish, and sterile’ (Waldo, 1956). E. N. Gladden, pioneered of the
study of administrative history in American Administration, remarked that much of modern
administrative discussion have been ‘parochial and apparently unaware of what happened in the
past’ and that there is a crying need for an Institute of Administrative History’ (Gladden, 1953).
Augustine J. N. Duganne contends that it was not so much an administrative history if the US but
rather descriptions of the structures of federal government and of the governments of the 33 states
of the USA (Raadschelders, Administrative History if the United States: development and state of
the art, 2000). Administrative history in American Public Administration today explore a wide
range of subjects that are not limited to American Public Administration but includes a whole
gamut of concerns, such as the legacies of ancient civilization to modern Public Administration,
the influence if the Middle Ages on present bureaucracies practices, and comparative studies of
the growth of administrative systems and the evolutions if civil service institutions. The
comparative and international interest in the administrative history if the Western world has been
growing in the past two decades (Raadschelders, 2003). The four different American
administrative traditon and its distinguish philosophies, ideas, thoughts, and their contribution.
Hamiltonian tradition, a top-down governmentand a strong executive equipped with suffient
executive powers and flexibility to confront the struggles of the then fledgling American republic.
Jeffersonian tradition, a bottom-up government where powers are restrained so as to secure
strong individual liberty. Madisonian tradition, focused on the balance of power and ‘hewed to
a pragmatic middle position between Hamilton and Jefferson, and which today are enshrined in
such enduring principles as the seperation of powers among the co-equal branches of the
government, and their checks and balances. Wilsonian tradition, concentrate administrative
power in hierarchically structured organizations which was made to reconile a stronger federal
government which did not undermine democracy (Kettl, 2002). Second part, is ‘what is
administrative history?, Caldwell identified ‘as the study of origins and evolution of administrative
ideas, institutions, and practices’ (Caldwell, 1955). Raadschelders also defined administrative
history ‘as the study of structures and processes in and ideas about government as they have
existed or have been desired in the past and the actual and ideal place of public functionaries
therein’. He also proposes to distinguish between two types of administrative history. First type,
administrative history in the broad sense, it is concerned with the interaction between the
government and society at large as well as the processes of state making and nation building.
While the second type, administrative history proper is concerned with the study of stuctures
and processes in and ideas about government as they have existed or have been desired in the past
and the actual and ideal place (Raadschelders, 2003). The study of administrative history is not
simply retelling historical events that shaped administrative thought and institutions, but providing
an analytical critique of how these influenced the practices of the present. It can be construed
tentatively as the study and chronicling of the rise and decline of administrative and bureacratic
institutions of societies and communities in the past, including, but not limited to, their structures,
practices and processes, policies and activities, the eras, evolution and perods of growth and
development, the contexts or milieus, as well as the administrative ideas, p-hilosophies, and
principles that were developed (Reyes, 2015). Fesler provide an example of administrative history
in the Middle Ages in which the Order of the Knights Templar and their policies of storing money,
jewelry, and other valuables of the monarch and those of the nobility could have brought about the
birth of modern treasury and served as the precursor of modern banking practices today (Fesler,
1982). The third part, focuses on the Administrative history in the Philippines, it is obvious that
there are no systematic initiatives yet among scholars of the discipline in th Philippines to develop
a study of administrative history and it remains embryonic. There is smattering of collection in the
current crop of the literature on Public Administration that deals with the bureaucracy, the civil
service, and public management. With the exception such as Apolinario Mabini, he expressed
administrative philosophies and principles that advocated the concepts of merit and fitness in the
bureacracy long before a civil system was put in place in the Philippines. In his Article 22, he
stated that ‘all the offices in the governemnt that were not elective were to be filled by competitive
examinations, and no holder of an office could be removed except for cause’ and he also devised
a system for elections which emphasized local government because he firmly believed that ‘the
strength of democracy rested on a municipal basis’. Mabini’s system of local government gave
the people a relatively greater amount of participation in government than could ever have been
dreamt of during the Spanish regime, but Mabini imprint on administrative thought on Philippine
Public Administration remains unrecognized (Majul, 1998). Graciano Lopez Jaena, wrote ‘the
rapid turn-over of civil service personnel is another prolific source of corruption and confusion in
the Philippines’ (Veneracion, 1988). Claro M. Recto, President of the 1935 Constitutional
Convention, in his speech he stated that ‘we have laid down rules for our system of public service
with a view to insuring its integrity and efficacy’ (Reyes, 2015). Nestor N. Pilar, after a centuries
still uncertain about the identity of public administration as a practice, still the question “Is there
a Philippine public administration?” have no definite answer. Curricular Program in all
academic levels: undergraduate (baccalaureate level), and graduate (Master of Public
Administration MPA and Doctor of Public Administration PhDs), it is indeed true that there was
a strong American flavour to the early curriculum, the University of the Philippines having
collaborated with the University of Michigan to establish the Institute of Public Administration
(IPA) in 1952 under the Bell Mission. Their early works initially focused on government
reorganization, personnel administration, and fiscal administration. IPA grew into CPA (College
of Public Administration), expanded into local government administration, which spawned the
Local Government Center/ Center for Local and Regional Governance, and into executive
development which similarly led to the establishment of the now-defunct Philippine Executive
Acaddemy. The MPA curriculum metamorphosed into several varieties: MPA Plan A (an
academic stream that require a thesis, MPA Plan B (a professional stream with specializations in
organization studies, fiscal administration, and policy and program administration, that require a
comprehensive examination, and MPA Plan C (an administrator stream that neither require a thesis
nor a comprehensive exam, but the defense of a ‘star’ paper. Meanwhile, the doctoral curriculum
dwelt on national development, with focal points on the administrative theory, political, economic,
and social development. Public administration appeared to exhibit robustness along several
measures, including enrolment; however, one must take another look at the current trends, as
enrolment in PA graduate and undergraduate programs may have been overtaken by that in nursing
and caregiving programs. Contents of Teaching Materials Written by Filipinos or the
Filipinization of textbooks. From the Classical scientific management, the Management
Imperative, the contents reflect the blend of Western PA principles as applied in Philippine
government reorganizations efforts under the Government Survey and Reorganization
Commission (GSRC) in the 1950s. The consultants to the GSRC initiative included Kroeger and
Associates, and Booz Allen Hamilton. At that time classical scientific management was believe to
be the answer to incompetence, red tape, and corruption in the Philippine government. The formula
for administrative effacay consisted of the importance of bureaucracy in the classical approach.
Administrative reforms such as management process, dynamics of leadership, strengthening the
role of the bureau director as administrator. New Public Administration, the political and social
setting. Public Administration scholars are invited to consider their understanding of the field to
include social and cultural foundations, politics and development, civil rights, and attitude and
behaviour. Also political institutions as political parties, interest groups, Congress, the Presidency,
the Judiciary, the bureaucracy, local government, and foreign policy, and the link between national
development and public policy. New Public Management, Public Policy and Public Choice, a
tripartite approach as regards the state, the market, and the community. Redefining the scope of
the study of PA and introduces NPM concerned with reengineering or reconstructing the functions
of government. Comprising the field of public policy and its implementation, local governance,
organization studies, fiscal administration, and voluntary sector management. Perhaps the most
remarkable piece of evidence to prove the “Philippine” in PPA is the complete “Filipinization” of
the textbooks. Through varies media, PA can get continuing updates and influence from external
environment, but PPA cannot be purely Philippine but will continue to be curious blend of
elements and components emanating from its internal and external environment. Between the
1950s and 1970s, the environment shifted from relative peace and a sense of stability, to a
turbulent, rapid changing, and temporary one. Therefore ‘one cannot use yesterday’s tools for
today’s problems’. The structure use earlier were monolithic and bureaucratic, but the new
temporary environment needed flexible , self-terminating organizations, therefore search for and
design alternatives to bureaucracy, like task forces and project teams (Pilar, 2015). Romeo B.
Ocampo reflects in his article the key public administration concepts and post-war challenges that
led to shifts from traditional public administration to development administration, public policy,
New Public administration, New public Management, governance, digital-era governance, and
governmentality (Ocampo, 2015). The article “Reinventing Philippine Governance for
Globalization” argues that the Philippines has the legal framework, appropriate offices, many
organizational innovations, regulatory mechanisms, and effective practices in people’s
participation to deal with globalization and corruption but that this formal readiness does not
always translate into institutional effectiveness (Carino, Briones, Florano, & Follosco, 2015).
Domingo and Reyes provide an overview of the Philippine bureaucracy, the problems that beset
it, and the efforts that have been adopted to make it perform better. The study examines
performance management initiatives during first decade of the 20th century in the areas of financial
management, the new government accounting system, public expenditure management,
procurement reforms, and human resource management (Domingo & Reyes, 2015). Lastly,
Ledivina B. Carino ends the chapter with her article consisting a synthesis of studies of regulation
of six industries and two local government as well as alternative regulatory mechanisms. The case
involve the regulation of the electric power industry and the issues surrounding reform measures
instituted; the privatization of the water service; the deregulation of the telecommunications
industry; the development and regulation of Philippine ports; the case of regulatory capture
involving top official of two countries; local regulatory governance; and a study of ethical trading
and regulatory mechanisms implemented by the private sector and civil society to complement
areas regulations (Carino, 2015).
For instance, a greater involvement of civil society and people’s organization in
policymaking was the highly debateable proposed divorce bill. Indeed, the prevalence of divorce
among Filipinos was pointed to as one of the obstacles to Spanish efforts to introduce the Catholic
sacrament of matrimony to the Philippines. During the precolonial period, divorce was practiced
by some ancestral tribes in the Philippines, particularly among the Tagbanwans of Palawan, the
Gadangs of Nueva Viscaya, the Sagadans and Igorots of the Cordilleras, and the Manobos,
B’laans, and Moslems of the Visayas and Mindanao islands (House of Representatives, Republic
of the Philippines 2010). During this period, economic sanctions were imposed on the spouse who
caused the separation, or, in the absence of a clear cause, on the spouse who initiated the divorce
or separation. For instance, when a husband separated from his wife because she had had an
adulterous relationship, the wife was required to pay a fine, in addition to returning the dowry.
However, the dowry was not returned in cases where the wife left her husband due to the latter’s
fault. There are two types of union in the Philippines: formal or legal marriage and consensual
union. Previous research usually combines ‘currently married’ and ‘living with a man as married’.
Filipinos who are divorced and separated in the Philippines has been increasing over time, despite
the lack of a divorce law in the country. This increasing trend of marital dissolution is also
substantiated by administrative data on annulment and nullity cases filed at the Office of the
Solicitor General. Despite the high economic and social cost of pursuing annulment and nullity
cases in the Philippines, the number of Filipino couples that resorted to these legal avenues more
than doubled between 2001 and 2014 (Abalos, 2017). On the 23rd of May 2024, the Philippine
House of Representative approved a bill that legalizes divorce in a limited range of circumstances,
six years after a similar law stalled in the Senate. The Absolute Divorce Bill, which lays out a
number of instances in which divorce is permissible. (Strangio, 2024). House Bill No. 9349was
approved on the last day for the 19th Congress second regular session with 126 lawmakers voting
in the affirmative, 109 in the negative, and 20 abstentions. The following considered grounds for
absolute divorce are; grossly abusive conduct directed against the petitioner, a common child, or
a child of petitioner, moral pressure to compel the petitioner to change religious or political
affiliation, attempt to corrupt or induce the petitioner to engage in prostitution, final judgement
sentencing more than six years imprisonment, drug addiction or habitual alcoholism,
homosexuality of the respondents, marital infidelity (Lalu, 2024). The Catholic Church CBCP
(Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippine), has long opposed the introduction of divorce
legislation. The church leaders urged the government to prioritize programs that strengthen family
and marital bonds rather than passing divorce bill. A society that values strong stable families is a
prosperous society. Bishop Uy argues that divorce undermines social cohesion by eroding the
foundations of family unity, leading to increased social fragmentation, poverty, moral values, and
other societal issues. CBCP Committee on Public Affairs stated that a divorce law is unnecessary
in the Philippines existing legal remedies are available for troubled marriage in the country
(Mujica, 2024).
Conclusion
There is indeed a Philippine Public Administration through the presented article discussing
the various perspective of Public Administration as a field of study and as a practice in the
Philippines. Danilo R. Reyes concludes that administrative history can be a specialized subfield of
Public Administration in the Philippines that can help us to understand the present (Reyes, 2015)
Nestor N. Pilar, in his article argues that like its American counterpart, the study and practice of
public administration has expanded and there have been as describe as the paradigmatic shifts from
Classical to New Public Administration to New Public Management. The Philippines has likewise
taken the lead in establishing public administration organizations in the country and the region and
in joining other international organizations (Pilar, 2015).

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