By Felizar Mortillero
The
Philippines being one of the smallest countries in the world is
ironically a big government. The Philippines has forty two thousand
twenty seven barangays (42,027), while the United States of America
being the model of probably all of the governments and countries of
the world has nothing, the Philippines has eighty two (82) provinces
while the United States has only fifty (50) states, the Philippines
has seventeen (17) administrative regions while America has nothing.
There is also overlapping of functions in the Cabinet of the
Philippine President which makes the government and Philippine
bureaucracy bigger and more complicated. These facts make the
Philippines a very costly country and government with regard to its
maintenance and operation.
I am not against the existence of the Barangay Political Entities and the process of election of its officials because the barangays form part of our tradition as Filipinos, as we all know the barangay system of governance dates back to the time of the ten Bornean datus who arrived to the Philippines in the early stage of our history and that is a reality which we Filipinos cannot deface. What I am against is the Internal Revenue Allotment being given and allotted to the barangays since these government funds are not properly used by barangay officials and are subject to abuse and corruption. Before the advent of the Local Government Code of 1991 which provides for the Internal Revenue Allotment for barangays, the corruption in Philippine Government's hierarchy was only limited to the municipality level but now, corruption has already reached the grassroots level and that is the barangay level. The money involved here is not peanuts, we are talking about tens if not hundreds of billions of pesos here in the maintenance of barangays alone every year sans corruption. In connection with this, I am recommending that the lowest political entity of the Philippines the BARANGAY remain for it forms part of our political tradition but further recommend that the Internal Revenue Allotment shall not be released to the barangays anymore for it forms as a milking cow of many corrupt barangay officials and to save money in favor of the coffers of the Philippine Government.
The Sangguniang Kabataang Barangay Councils which are under the umbrella of the barangays also make the bureaucracy of the Philippines more wider, it do not make the youth productive but instead trains the youth to be traditional politicians and worst become corrupt leaders in the future. This Sangguniang Kabataang Barangay has a funding which can be abused by its officials and its projects are only limited mostly to the promotion of basketball tournaments and the establishment of basketball courts. We should also bear in our minds that our model governments and countries like USA, Russia, Canada, Japan, Germany etc. do not have Sangguniang Kabataang Barangay Councils or its counterparts. Sadly this is the reality which should be corrected by finally phasing out the same. In relation to this, I still believe that our young people can still hone and develop their leadership skills, become good community leaders in the future and become good citizens of our motherland by becoming active in student politics for I further believe that the same is the proper training ground for the youth politically and not the Sangguniang Kabataang Barangay.
For all I know the United States of America has no administrative regions since the administrative functions of the government controlled agencies are all focused in the states, in congruence to this I recommend that the Republic of the Philippines shall do the same. All of the administrative regions' functions shall be focused to the Philippine provincial offices of government agencies only so as to avoid the expansion of bureaucracy, limit corruption to the provincial level alone and save money in the maintenance of government offices.
I also recommend that the creation of provinces in the name of traditional politics or gerrymandering be stopped. Just imagine along the creation of new provinces, another set of government officials shall be elected, another set of provincial administrative offices shall be created and another set of another appointive provincial officials shall be installed, hence millions if not billions of pesos shall be set aside in the maintenance of the newly created offices and salaries alone of such officials and provincial offices aside from corruption. In connection to this we Filipinos must bear in mind that the United States as a superpower has only fifty states, it is a country which is so big but so easy to govern because of her limited bureaucracy. This particular stand of mine is also applicable to the probable creation of new cities and municipalities and the maintenance of the same since it would further add burden to the government monetarily.
As far as I have observed there is also overlapping of powers in the Cabinet of the Philippine President, if this can be corrected, the Philippines can have so much savings out of Cabinet positions and other sub-offices under it which has to be eliminated. In conjunction to this the Philippine Cabinet needs to be streamlined. The position of the Peace Adviser on Peace Process which has a Secretary rank can be relegated to one of the sub-offices of the Department of National Defense since it is related to defense and peace, the Office of the Chairman of the Metro Manila Development Authority which has also a Secretary rank can be under the umbrella of the Department of the Public Works of Highways since the same positions have synonymous functions, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Environment of Natural Resources can be fused since both departments have similarities, the National Economic and Development Authority or NEDA has the features of that of the Department of Trade and Industry, thus need to be united, the Office of the National Treasurer and Department of Budget and Management can also be coalesced for the same positions have more or less the same functions, even the Department of Agrarian Reform and the Department of Housing have the same purpose and that is to give land and homes to the poor which is related to social justice. There are also presidential advisers which have Cabinet ranks which I feel need to be eliminated because of overlapping of functions and for purposes of economizing on the part of government.
The savings of the government in downsizing the same may go to the improvement of the basic services and other governmental projects by the same to the people like health, national defense, transportation, communication, education, agriculture, science, sports, social work, infrastructure etc.etc. The other part of the gargantuan savings of the government through its shrinking would go to the sizable salary increases of government employees especially the government doctors, nurses, midwives, public attorneys, prosecutors, judges, engineers, scientists, teachers, accountants etc. etc., thus preventing them from going abroad to seek greener pastures which would avert cases of possible broken homes or families. These probable good things and happenings would eventually make the Filipino citizenry a better one and would make the Philippines a great country and a better nation.
I believe that my foregoing positions with regard to lessening our Philippine Government's bureaucracy would be fruitful since the government in my concept and vision would probably save money from probable corruption and further maintenance of newly created and extended offices, and would even swiftly and speedily serve the people. In relation to this I wish and pray that this proposition of mine be given even a speck of weight and credence by the people or any government authority for the greater glory of our country known otherwise as the Pearl of the Orient Seas, the Philippines.
I am not against the existence of the Barangay Political Entities and the process of election of its officials because the barangays form part of our tradition as Filipinos, as we all know the barangay system of governance dates back to the time of the ten Bornean datus who arrived to the Philippines in the early stage of our history and that is a reality which we Filipinos cannot deface. What I am against is the Internal Revenue Allotment being given and allotted to the barangays since these government funds are not properly used by barangay officials and are subject to abuse and corruption. Before the advent of the Local Government Code of 1991 which provides for the Internal Revenue Allotment for barangays, the corruption in Philippine Government's hierarchy was only limited to the municipality level but now, corruption has already reached the grassroots level and that is the barangay level. The money involved here is not peanuts, we are talking about tens if not hundreds of billions of pesos here in the maintenance of barangays alone every year sans corruption. In connection with this, I am recommending that the lowest political entity of the Philippines the BARANGAY remain for it forms part of our political tradition but further recommend that the Internal Revenue Allotment shall not be released to the barangays anymore for it forms as a milking cow of many corrupt barangay officials and to save money in favor of the coffers of the Philippine Government.
The Sangguniang Kabataang Barangay Councils which are under the umbrella of the barangays also make the bureaucracy of the Philippines more wider, it do not make the youth productive but instead trains the youth to be traditional politicians and worst become corrupt leaders in the future. This Sangguniang Kabataang Barangay has a funding which can be abused by its officials and its projects are only limited mostly to the promotion of basketball tournaments and the establishment of basketball courts. We should also bear in our minds that our model governments and countries like USA, Russia, Canada, Japan, Germany etc. do not have Sangguniang Kabataang Barangay Councils or its counterparts. Sadly this is the reality which should be corrected by finally phasing out the same. In relation to this, I still believe that our young people can still hone and develop their leadership skills, become good community leaders in the future and become good citizens of our motherland by becoming active in student politics for I further believe that the same is the proper training ground for the youth politically and not the Sangguniang Kabataang Barangay.
For all I know the United States of America has no administrative regions since the administrative functions of the government controlled agencies are all focused in the states, in congruence to this I recommend that the Republic of the Philippines shall do the same. All of the administrative regions' functions shall be focused to the Philippine provincial offices of government agencies only so as to avoid the expansion of bureaucracy, limit corruption to the provincial level alone and save money in the maintenance of government offices.
I also recommend that the creation of provinces in the name of traditional politics or gerrymandering be stopped. Just imagine along the creation of new provinces, another set of government officials shall be elected, another set of provincial administrative offices shall be created and another set of another appointive provincial officials shall be installed, hence millions if not billions of pesos shall be set aside in the maintenance of the newly created offices and salaries alone of such officials and provincial offices aside from corruption. In connection to this we Filipinos must bear in mind that the United States as a superpower has only fifty states, it is a country which is so big but so easy to govern because of her limited bureaucracy. This particular stand of mine is also applicable to the probable creation of new cities and municipalities and the maintenance of the same since it would further add burden to the government monetarily.
As far as I have observed there is also overlapping of powers in the Cabinet of the Philippine President, if this can be corrected, the Philippines can have so much savings out of Cabinet positions and other sub-offices under it which has to be eliminated. In conjunction to this the Philippine Cabinet needs to be streamlined. The position of the Peace Adviser on Peace Process which has a Secretary rank can be relegated to one of the sub-offices of the Department of National Defense since it is related to defense and peace, the Office of the Chairman of the Metro Manila Development Authority which has also a Secretary rank can be under the umbrella of the Department of the Public Works of Highways since the same positions have synonymous functions, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Environment of Natural Resources can be fused since both departments have similarities, the National Economic and Development Authority or NEDA has the features of that of the Department of Trade and Industry, thus need to be united, the Office of the National Treasurer and Department of Budget and Management can also be coalesced for the same positions have more or less the same functions, even the Department of Agrarian Reform and the Department of Housing have the same purpose and that is to give land and homes to the poor which is related to social justice. There are also presidential advisers which have Cabinet ranks which I feel need to be eliminated because of overlapping of functions and for purposes of economizing on the part of government.
The savings of the government in downsizing the same may go to the improvement of the basic services and other governmental projects by the same to the people like health, national defense, transportation, communication, education, agriculture, science, sports, social work, infrastructure etc.etc. The other part of the gargantuan savings of the government through its shrinking would go to the sizable salary increases of government employees especially the government doctors, nurses, midwives, public attorneys, prosecutors, judges, engineers, scientists, teachers, accountants etc. etc., thus preventing them from going abroad to seek greener pastures which would avert cases of possible broken homes or families. These probable good things and happenings would eventually make the Filipino citizenry a better one and would make the Philippines a great country and a better nation.
I believe that my foregoing positions with regard to lessening our Philippine Government's bureaucracy would be fruitful since the government in my concept and vision would probably save money from probable corruption and further maintenance of newly created and extended offices, and would even swiftly and speedily serve the people. In relation to this I wish and pray that this proposition of mine be given even a speck of weight and credence by the people or any government authority for the greater glory of our country known otherwise as the Pearl of the Orient Seas, the Philippines.
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