Thursday, March 5, 2009

Government’s Bureaucratic Bottleneck

Antonio V. Osmena
SUNSTAR Davao
February 26, 2009


A GOVERNMENT bureau is created as a response to a specific problem.

In its early stages, a vigorous, small agency with dynamic leadership makes progress. But as it grows, its effectiveness and sense of mission decline.

Eventually the agency can become so large, complex and rigid that it chokes on all the highly specialized rules and regulations it has created.

More energy and money are then used to keep the agency operating, while it puts out less useful work and, sometimes, creates more problems than solving any.

As an example, many government regulations are necessary to protect the environment and consumers from abuse by a private industry.

However, most observers agree that the number and complexity of government regulations can and should be reduced.

Government officials know that most industries which are being regulated have teams of lawyers that will go through laws
and regulations to find even the tiniest loophole that will allow these industries to circumvent the intention of the law.

Most of the blame for overregulation lies with Congress. Because of bureaucratic overspecialization, government has become an enormous organism composed of separate cells of experts, often remote from the people, unable to see the overall picture, competing rather than cooperating with one another, and incapable of dealing with the multiplicity of
interlocking problems that characterize society today.

Another problem is that an overspecialized bureau becomes more concerned with its own survival than with its mission. Some are even taken over by the groups they are supposed to regulate.

To illustrate, the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 under chapter 11 Institutional Mechanism established under Section 4 of the National Solid Waste Management Commission.

The commission is composed of 14 members from the government sector, including the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of Science and Technology, Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Health, Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Agriculture, the Metro Manila Development Authority, league of governors, league of city mayors, league of municipal mayors, league of barangay councils, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, the Philippine Information Agency and three private sector representatives.

The private sector representatives include a member of the recycling industry and the manufacturing or packaging industry.

The commission also includes the establishment of a National Ecology Center.

The act also established the Provincial Solid Waste Management Board and City and Municipal Solid Management Board.

A multi-purpose cooperative and association will also undertake activities to promote the implementation of projects in every local government unit (LGU).

The law is very comprehensive and was approved and signed by President Arroyo on Jan. 26, 2001.
But until today, not much has been done to implement it, specifically the provincial solid waste management boards, city and municipal solid waste management boards.

Observers are also concerned about the Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004, which was approved and signed by Arroyo on March 2, 2004 but still needs to be effectively implemented and gradually devolved to the LGUs.

Observers have pointed out that most attempts at bureaucratic reforms are ineffective, temporary or both.

New reforms which have been suggested to address bureaucracy include (1) providing more effective protection and higher rewards for “whistleblowers” who expose fraud and waste in government, (2) enacting and strictly enforcing sunset laws, under which government agencies and programs are evaluated periodically and eliminated unless they can be shown to be necessary, effective and efficient, (3) turning more of the national tax revenues directly to the LGUs, (4) streamlining the procedures for dismissal, (5) overhauling the evaluation and merit raise system and (6) giving LGUs more authority over spending of national grants.

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