Political Interference in the Philippine Civil Service

Abstract

Philippine civil servants staff the country's executive agencies, the secretariats of the legislature, the five commissions, the judiciary, local government, and the organs of the Autonomous Muslim Region of Mindanao. They number some 1.3 million (1) of which some 18 000 are noncareer political appointees. (2) In spite of its faults, which are many, the civil service is essential to the life of the Philippines. Without it, the organs of government, inefficient though they may often be, would cease to function. Yet relatively little academic analysis has been directed at the Philippine civil service. Empirical data and field studies are fragmented, poorly disseminated, and often remain unpublished. Also, notwithstanding valuable contributions made by individual scholars, the conceptual basis of its study is narrow and uncertain when looked at in the round, and is heavily conditioned by a public administration approach. (3) This is concerned primarily with the delivery of services to the people through`cooperative human action' (de Guzman, 2003, page 4), whether in the public bureaucracy, the private sector, or nongovernmental organizations. Thus, the Philippine bureaucracy is viewed as only one amongst many sets of activities and organizations (public, private,

Local political business cycles: Evidence from Philippine municipalities

“…This is despite the fact that the 1991 Local Government Code established municipal councils and gave them decision-making powers. Mayors control both how budgets are spent and hiring decisions in the local bureaucracy (Hodder, 2009;Hutchcroft, 2012). As incumbent mayors are known to exert significant control over the local economy, they are likely to be held responsible for local economic performance.…”

Local Government Capacity Development: A Case Study of a South African District Municipality

“…Actions and omissions associated with political elitism negatively impact on service delivery, the literature suggests. Political elitism characterised by pursuance of narrow personal interests and resultant workplace employee stress typifies local government environment (Hodder, 2009;Ngwenya & Botha, 2014). A stressful workplace impacts on service delivery and has a bearing on how employees perceive human resources management (Dzansi et al, 2016).…”

“…The influence of political elites in the appointment of under-qualified staff and employees steeped in personal value interests are disablers of capacity development of service delivery structures and programmes. Actions and omissions associated with political elitism negatively impact on the human resource management practices characterised by pursuance of narrow personal interests (Hodder, 2009). Political interference as a disabler lowers the morale, heightens stress among workers and has a bearing on employee performance in relation to service delivery (Dzansi et al, 2016;Ngwenya & Botha, 2014).…”

Do Politicianss Relatives Get Better Jobs? Evidence from Municipal Elections

“…There is evidence that local Filipino politicians act as employment brokers in both the public and private sectors (Sidel, 1999). In the public sector, Hodder (2009) argues that they use their hiring power over the large number of staff that was transferred from national agencies to municipalities as part of the decentralization process. For example, he quotes a lawyer from the Civil Service Commission as explaining, "We can even go so far as saying that you cannot be appointed in local government if you do not know the appointing authority or, at least, if you do not have any [political] recommendation....And even once in place, the civil servant's position is not secure: when the new mayor [comes], he just tells them 'resign or I'll file a case against you'.…”