FINAL EXAMINATION IN PHILIPPINE ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEM

Francis Joseph M. Reyes 06-01588, MPA Student

I. ESSAY

1. Definition of Philippine Administrative System with respect to:

A. PAS as a discipline

Philippine Administrative System is a discipline as far as it being a field of study is concerned. It

is the study of the society it governs, public policies responsive to social needs, managerial practice of
institutions attuned to effectiveness and efficiency and human requisites of citizenry.

B. PAS Components

The Philippine Administrative System is composed of network of organizations with specific

rules, goals, structure, resources and programs. This includes the internal process of and the interaction
between and among public organizations, which are constituted to implement, help formulate, monitor
or assess public policies.

C. PAS Structure

The structure is composed of constitutional bodies, constitutionally created/ mandated special

bodies, executive department, legislative branch, judicial branch, GOCCs, chartered institutions and
LGUs.

D. Application of 3 C’s

Under the principle of co-equal, co-important and coordinate powers among the three
branches, the officers entrusted with each other these powers are not permitted to encroach upon the
powers confided to the others. If one department goes beyond the limits set by the Constitution, its act
are null and void. The adoption of this principle was motivated by the belief that arbitrary rule would
result if the same person or body were to exercise all the powers of the government.

The three co-equal departments are established by the Constitution in as balanced positions as
possible. To maintain its balance and if it is upset, each department is given certain powers with which
to check the others. The following are cases where check and balance is being manifested:

1. the lawmaking power of the Congress is checked by the President through its veto power,
which in turn maybe overturn by the legislature
2. the Congress may refuse to give its concurrence to an amnesty proclaimed by the President
and the Senate to a treaty he has concluded
3. the President may nullify a conviction in a criminal case by pardoning the offender
4. the Congress may limit the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and that of inferior courts and
even abolish the latter tribunals
 5. the Judiciary in general has the power to declare invalid an act done by the Congress, the
President and his subordinates, or the Constitutional Commissions.

2. Decentralization is when there's no single source/post of power. It is distributed to prevent

anybody from taking complete control. Devolution specifically means distribution of power to a lower-
level authority, unlike delegation, where it could be to an authority which is at par with whoever is
delegating the task/powers. Deconcentration is often considered to be the weakest form of
decentralization and is used most frequently in unitary states-- redistributes decision making authority
and financial and management responsibilities among different levels of the central government. Our
office is the Office of Civil Defense, one of the bureaus of the Department of National Defense. OCD is
the secretariat of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

The Office of Civil Defense (OCD), as the implementing arm of the National Disaster Risk
Reduction and Management Council, shall have the primary mission of administering a comprehensive
national civil defense and disaster risk reduction and management program by providing leadership in
the continuous development of strategic and systematic approaches as well as measures to reduce the
vulnerabilities and risks to hazards and manage the consequences of disasters. Every LGUs has their own
LDRRMCs this is applying the concept of deconcentration. They have their own secretariat which is the
Local DRRM officer which applies the concept of devolution. Moreover, several DRRM projects are
funded by NGOs and CSOs such as massive flood control projects, early warning systems and forecasting
like Project NOAH which is funded by USAID applies the concept of Private-Public Partnership.

3. An administrative body/agency is any government authority, other than a court and a legislature
that affects the state and its citizens through rule-making, adjudication, and implementation. Its
functions are primarily executive but it exercises some form of legislative and judicial powers.

An administrative agency is a general term that covers any government authority that can act
as: an executive body that serves public interests, which is the reason (rationale) for its existence; it shall
not represent any private interests, a quasi-legislative body that establishes and prescribes rules and
regulations to implement the law; it shall not have absolute discretion to determine or change the law
and a quasi-judicial body that conducts hearings and decides on cases; it shall not have inherent powers
of a pure judicial court, and its proceedings shall not be bound by all the rules applicable to proceedings
in court.

An administrative agency may be created by executive order; as in EO 100, s. 1986 that created
PIA; legislation; as in RA 10844 that created DICT and constitutional provision; as in Article 9 that created
CSC, COMELEC and COA. An agency is wholly within the power of the law that created it, that prescribes
its powers and functions. It may also be abolished in the same manner it is created if such abolition is
justified by the law.

The Office of Civil Defense was empowered by Republic Act 10121 also known as Philippine
Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010. The Office was created by previous issuances
since the Commonwealth period such as EO 335 which created the Civilian Emergency Administration
(CEA).
4. Employees in the government take part in the budgeting process by formulating their own Project
Procurement Management Plan (PPNP). They list down all their needed goods and services per division.
This will be transferred in a form template given by GPPB called the PPNP. Then the BAC Secretariat will
collate all PPNPs to Annual Plan and Budget (APB). This will be the basis of the Bids and Awards
Committee to conduct the procurement process. Mode of procurement is reflected in the APB. The
Budget and the Accounting Office work hand in hand to determine the budgetary requirement, source
of funding for the ABCs and other rudimentary works for financial matters. Employees as the end users
always act as the initiator and final recipient of the procurement process.

II. Situational Analysis

1. PRRD endorsed to the Congress for another year of extension of the Martial in Mindanao. The
extension of the martial law is to address the continuing terror threat in the said region
particularly from the remaining members of the Maute terror group and also to ensure the
safety and security of the on-going rehabilitation of the war-stricken Marawi City. Under the
1987 Constitution, martial law may be declared for 60 days. Before its expiration on July 22,
Congress - upon the recommendation of the President - extended martial law in Mindanao to
December 31, 2017. Just recently, Martial Law in Mindanao was extended again for another
year as approved by the congress. Under the Constitution, Congress, in a joint vote, may revoke
or extend the martial law declaration while any citizen may challenge the proclamation before
the Supreme Court on the ground of lack of sufficient factual basis. No abuse of power was
committed since the Congress of approved the extension. It is now the mandate of SC to
determine the legality of the Martial Law extension.
2. The POWER of appointment is vested in the President by the Constitution. Under this provision,
there are two kinds of presidential appointments: appointments made during the session of
Congress or the so-called regular appointments or nominations, and appointments made during
the recess of Congress which are also known as ad interim appointments. In the case of DENR
Sec. Roy Cimatu after the differed appointment of Gina Lopez, the second paragraph of Article
VII, Sec. 16, of the 1987 Constitution also empowers the President to issue appointments while
Congress is not in session. Such appointments are called ad interim appointments, and it goes
through the following stages: appointment and confirmation. An ad interim appointment is
permanent in nature and takes effect immediately. Thus, one who was issued an ad interim
appointment may immediately enter upon the discharge of his functions. An ad interim
appointment ceases to be valid upon disapproval by the Commission on Appointments or, if not
confirmed, until the next adjournment of Congress.
3. By definition, bureaucracy is an organisational structure that is characterised by many rules,
standardised processes, procedures and requirements, number of desks, meticulous division of
labour and responsibility, clear hierarchies and professional, almost impersonal interactions
between employees. Mr. X is an example of an ideal employee. The Office of Civil Defense as a
government institution follows the bureaucratic pattern. Red tape and political interventions are
 just few of the factors affecting Philippine bureaucracy. Moreover, typical Filipino attitude of
padrino/kakilala system, procrastination, chismisan and the likes weakens the bureaucracy.

4. According to Section 8 of Republic Act No. 6713, otherwise known as the Code of Conduct and
Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees: “Public officials and employees have an
obligation to accomplish and submit declarations under oath of, and the public has the right to
know, their assets, liabilities, net worth and financial and business interests including those of
their spouses and of unmarried children under eighteen (18) years of age living in their
households.” All assets be it co-owned, or receive through inheritance is not exempted to be
reflected in the SALN. The Supreme Court (SC) second division, in a January 2011 decision, ruled
there is intent to deceive when "the accumulated wealth becomes manifestly disproportionate
to the employee’s income or other sources of income and the public officer/employee fails to
properly account or explain his other sources of income."
5. The problem with the Philippine government institutions is that they are putting wrong
employee in a position. The idiomatic expression “putting a square peg in a round hole” means a
person who does not fit in or is not comfortable with others or in a particular situation;
someone who is unsuited to a certain task, position, situation, or group of people. This has been
prevalent in the Philippines because of the “padrino and palakasan” system. People often land
in the job not based on merit but sometimes because of “kapit”. It has been a cliché in that “it is
not what you know, but whom you know”. The Office of Civil Defense as a bureau of
Department of National Defense is employing retired uniformed official to key positions in the
organization. This doesn’t mean that they are not qualified nor underperform. Experience wise
these people best fit their positions.