WHAT IS
PUBLIC POLICY?
by
Antonio C. Antonio
September
18, 2013
In my
simple mind, I personally view Public Policy as a formal written form of
perceived Ethical Standards. Ethics is a branch of philosophy that
involves systematizing, defining and recommending concepts of right and wrong
conduct. The term “ethics” comes from the Greek word “ethos” which means
“character.” In Philosophy, Ethics is a study of the moral behavior of
humans and how they should act as they interact with society. Ethics is
defined as a set of concepts and principles that guide us in determining what
behavior helps or harms us. The general meaning of “ethics” is the
rational, optimal and appropriate decision made on the basis of common sense
(the feeling of right or wrong) or a set of moral principles of a particular
tradition, group or individual. Ethical Standards, however, are strongly
influenced by culture, background, religion, traditional beliefs, environment
and (even) economic conditions. Human reproduction, for example, is a
contentious issue in the Philippines because the population is predominantly
Catholic (whose hierarchy is adverse to the idea) while population control is a
mundane concern in western societies. Public Policy in the Philippines
that has something to do with reproductive health is largely influenced by religious
beliefs. Philippine Public Policy, therefore, is a simple reflection of
who we are as a people, a race and a nation.
In the
Philippines, the primary example of Public Policy is the Constitution… a Public
Policy Statement… the Fundamental Law of the land. This is the
“bible/commandment” by which subsequent legislated laws (Bills and Republic
Acts), implementing rules and regulations (IRRs), executive orders (EO),
governmental agencies guidelines, orders and memoranda, agreements and other
related policy statements are based and draw guidance. On the local
scene, Local Government Units (LGUs) are tasked to formulate local
community-centered ordinances that fit their respective localities and
constituency. I should mention that even non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) such as business enterprises (corporations) and profit and non-profit
foundations have their own Constitutions and By-Laws.
In our
political system/structure wherein there are three branches of government,
Public Policies are studied, conceptualized and drafted by the Executive Branch
while the Legislature (Congress: House of Representatives and Senate)
deliberate and pass them in their final form… from draft bills to laws.
The President, however, is the one who signs them into laws. The main
function of the Judiciary is to interpret the “constitutionality” of these laws
and have the power to declare then “unconstitutional.” Again, the
Constitution remains to be the “mother law” by which all other laws are judged
for their propriety.
THE MAIN
GOAL OF PUBLIC POLICY:
A process
by which Public Policy can be more responsive to the needs of the citizenry is
through the adoption of this methodology:
1. Create an atmosphere where a
“bottom-up” mechanism of issues and concerns from the citizenry is
institutionalized. People Empowerment is a Public Policy encouraged by
Pres. Fidel V. Ramos;
2. Gather, classify and make a
thorough and in-depth study of these issues and concerns and narrow them down
to legislative proposals;
3. Get Congress to deliberate on
these issues and concerns with the aim of coming up with the appropriate
legislative measure/bill to be signed into laws by the President;
4. Cascade these laws to the
appropriate government agency for the crafting of the IRR and other subsequent
(but related) instruments; and,
5. Honest-to-goodness implementation
of these laws to maximize their benefits for the citizenry.
The
purpose, objective and goal of Public Policy, therefore, is to be responsive to
the needs and wants of the people (present and future generations) whom
government is duty-bound to serve.
Most laws
or Public Policy often, through time, become irrelevant and non-applicable
because of the ever-changing order of governance and needs of the
citizenry. It is also the expectation of people that their government
have “oversight” functions. This way laws could be revised, updated and
upgraded to be more responsive to situational changes.
THE
PUBLIC POLICY PROCESS
There are
several stages involved in the crafting of Public Policy or the Public
Policy-Making process, such as: (1) agenda setting; (2) policy formulation; (3)
legitimization; (4) implementation; and (5) evaluation. The critical
participation of governmental institutions in these stages includes: (1) the
manner in which problems get conceptualized and brought to the government for
solution; (2) the formulation of alternatives by governmental institutions;
and, (3) the selection of policy solutions. It is also the role of
government to implement, evaluate and revise such Public Policy as they become
non-applicable and irrelevant.
Involved
in the Public Policy-making process are agencies in the government structure…
examples of which are:
1. The National Economic Development
Authority (NEDA) for socio-economic policies;
2. The National Security Council
(NSC) for national security and defense concerns;
3. The Legislative Executive
Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) for general legislative agendas; and,
4. Local-level agencies such as the
Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) for concerns affecting basic services
within Metro Manila.
While the
last three agencies mentioned do perform certain stages of the Public
Policy-making process, none of them have a more defined and extensive mandate
and a more permanent structure than the NEDA. Economics, being the
backbone of Philippine society, also has influential effects on other facets of
the Filipino life… culture and tradition.
NEDA is
the highest policymaking body responsible for all aspects of the development
program. The NEDA Board is headed by the President with a select number of
Cabinet Secretaries and other executive staff officers as members. On the
other hand, the NEDA Secretariat is the research arm of the NEDA Board.
It provides technical support on matters involving policy development,
policy formulation, implementation and evaluation. The NEDA Director-General
heads the Secretariat, and is concurrently the Cabinet Secretary for
Socio-Economic Planning.
Raw
issues and concerns from the citizenry are filtered to come up with an agenda
which is normally set after evaluating certain indicators and statistics fed by
other government agencies such as the National Statistics Office (NSO),
National Statistics and Coordination Board (NSCB), Population Commission
(POPCOM), Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) and all the other
departments. This agenda would take into consideration the following: (a)
the actual performance during the preceding year; (b) new developments and
emerging issues in the local and international economies; and, (c) shifts in
the policy emphasis of the administration. To ensure agreement in policy
formulation, the NEDA Board is assisted by six inter-agency committees, each
responsible for specific areas within the development program… one of which is
the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) which serves as the link
between planning and budgeting to guarantee conformity of the national budget
with the development plan.
In
formulating the Public Policy, NEDA utilizes several methodologies classified
in the following categories: (a) Econometric Models; (b) Input-Output analysis;
(c) Accounting Frameworks; and Project Evaluation and prioritization
techniques. These tools have significantly increased the policy analysis
and forecasting capabilities of the NEDA as policy research and analysis are
the foundations in the policy formulation processes.
The
policy issues covered by the NEDA are:
1. Social development which includes
education and manpower development, social welfare and community development,
health and nutrition, and housing;
2. Investment which includes
evaluation and approval of public sector projects;
3. Infrastructure development;
4. Trade and tariff matters; and,
5. The generation and use of
official external assistance.
WHO CAN
IMPLEMENT PUBLIC POLICY?
Public
Policy implementation is the duty and responsibility of the Executive Branch of
Government. As soon as a Bill is enacted into law by the President, such
Law is referred to the concerned Department for implementation.
Subsequent IRRs and other such instructional orders are then crafted on the
Department-level and cascaded to regional, provincial, city and municipal
agencies (including the LGUs) for detailed implementation. The only time
the implementation of a Law is stopped is when the Supreme Court (Judiciary)
declares it “unconstitutional.”
The
numerous political scandals and issues that have been exposed --- the
Fertilizer/Jocjoc Bolante scam, the ZTE-NBN scam and PDAF (Priority Development
Assistance Fund)/Napoles scam (to name a few) --- there has been a renewed
interest in political matters and governance by Civil Society. The
almost-weekly rallies and demonstrations lately is a testament to the growing
awareness of the populace. Although the implementation of Public Policy
rests squarely on the shoulders of government (the Executive Branch in
particular), Civil Society has taken a more pro-active role. This will
have a significant effect in the implementation of Public Policy. With
Civil Society vigilantly watching, Government will have to “come clean” this
time. In effect… Civil Society has (somehow and somewhat) dipped its hand
in the actual implementation of Public Policies. Personally, I find this
situation/condition ideal and should be encouraged. Let’s just hope it is
sustainable.
Just my
little thoughts…
REFERENCES:
No comments:
Post a Comment