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Daily Bulletin 17 October 2013 1

Enhancing the Quality of Government:Government, Governability and Governance

SPECIAL SESSION 1

2013 EROPA Conference Tachikawa City, Tokyo, Japan 17 October

Handles of Public Sector Reform: Institutions,Values, Leadership, Citizen Engagement andCommunication

Dr. Alex Brillantes dedicated his presentation inmemory of Dr. Raul P. de Guzman who was one of the mainpillars of EROPA for overtwo decades. He alsoexpressed gratitude to DrsAkira Nakamura and PanSuk Kim who have steeredEROPA through the pastdecades. Dr. Brillantesdrew his presentation andevolving theoreticalframework from earlierworks together with MsMaricel Fernandez and Ms.Lizan Calina since 2008. In context, public sector reformshave been pursued over the past decades in Asia and thePhilippines in two major modalities: decentralization andreorganization. Although public sector reforms areconsidered as a New Public Management (NPM) paradigmin the study of public administration, they are not reallythat new in practice. For instance, reorganization orattempts to restructure the Philippine bureaucracy datesback to as early as 1898 as initiated by variousreorganization commissions. However, Philippinepresidents from 1992 to the present have anchored theirreorganization reform policies along the lines of NPM andgood governance. Such undertakings continue to pursuecommon principles of economy, efficiency andeffectiveness, equity, transparency, social growth,innovation and good governance.Countries in Asia havelikewise pursued decentralization as a major modality forpublic sector reform under NPM. Quoting de Guzman(1987), decentralization is “the systematic and rationaldispersal of power, authority and responsibility from thecenter to the periphery, from the top to the lower levels,or from the national to local government.” He also re-emphasized the rationales and principles ofdecentralization including efficiency in decision-making

processes, democratization, empowerment and citizens’participation, responsiveness, greater local autonomy,good governance, among others. Public administrationstudies and his own research and observations show thecontexts, institutional/policy designs as well as varyingdegrees of implementation – progress, advancement andimpact – of decentralization in Asia and the Philippines.The handles for public sector reforms are “institutions,processes and procedures, mindset and paradigmsaccompanied by leadership (political will) and citizenengagement.” He also added the need to “strategicallycommunicate these reforms to the public” for them towork. These are critical ingredients for public sectorreforms to work.

In order for the design and implementation of publicsector reforms to be successful, institutions, processes,mindsets and paradigms must be reformed. Thesereforms have to be reinforced by the enablingmechanisms of leadership (the duty bearers) and citizenengagement (claim holders); and are bound by acommon vision and have to be strategicallycommunicated to the public.

Competition and Cooperation ofGovernments in Globalization andDecentralization

In his discussion of competition and cooperation ofgovernments, Dr. Masahiro Horie felt it necessary to

discuss first whyglobalization anddecentralization matter intoday’s governments.According to him, the factorsto and effects ofglobalization are common tomany countries. Theexpansion of economicactivities, the continuousmovement of people, andthe introduction of new

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EROPA Conference 20132

The Quality of Governance in Indonesia:Between Two Regimes

Professor PrijonoTjiptoherijanto, University ofIndonesia, characterized thedifferent government systems thatruled Indonesia, from when itgained its independence in 1945 tothe present. Each regime,according to Dr. Tjiptoherijanto,features changes in the type of

leadership, level of political influence, dominance ofparties, bias or partiality and level of professionalism.

Professor Tjiptoherijanto also compared the so-called “New Order of Government in Indonesia” with theexisting government system run by President SusiloBambang Yudhoyono (SBY). The “new governmentorder” model focuses more on the economic aspect ofdevelopment. Prof. Tjiptoherijanto said that, “What wehave is economic, not development.” He moved tocriticize the “new government order” model as beingrepressive, and has led to widening income gaps amongthe citizens. This problem is worsened by the continuingculture of impunity. As Professor Tjiptoherijanto put it,“We have dentists in Jakarta, but we cannot open ourmouth.”

In contrast, upon the institution of reforms underSBY’s administration, government in Indonesia hasbecome more democratic. But Professor Tjiptoherijantowarned that this has somewhat weakened PresidentYudhoyono’s leadership. Dr. Francisco T. Duque III, oneof the spectators in the said session, disagreed with theprofessor’s idea, saying that since Pres. Yudhoyono cameto power, foreign direct investments have beenincreasing in Indonesia along with recent improvementsin social welfare and development. However,Tjiptoherijanto insisted that locally, people criticizePresident Yudhoyono for being slow in making decisions.

SPECIAL SESSION II

He then iterated that the challenge for the Indonesiangovernment is to be more decisive in policy formulationand implementation.

Researching Disaster Management andMachinery-of-Government Issues with MuchHelp from International PublicAdministration Study Networks: A PersonalReflection

As is shown in the title, thepresentation of Dr. Roger Wettenhallwas more of his personal reflectionsconcerning his profession and howhis involvement in different PublicAdministration Study Networks wasable to help him. He shared that hestarted as an ordinary civil servantwho opted to pursue university studies (on a part timestatus), and later finished higher degrees to become anacademic.

Wettenhall related that he has two major researchinterests which are disaster management and machinery-of-government issues (to include public privatepartnership, social enterprises). Through the years ofresearch on these issues, he was able to find help andsupport through the different benefits and entitlementshe gets from his membership in different internationalorganizations. His memberships to EROPA and the IASIAare worth citing. He found value from theseorganizations through their different activities such asconferences and membership in their respectivesubgroups (e.g. IASIA’s Technical Working Group; EROPA’sRevitalization Committee).

According to Wettenhall, networks benefit thecareers of their members. Members also become betterscholars and internationalists in the field of PublicAdministration. Thus, he persuaded the audience thatnetworks, including EROPA, deserve members’ fullsupport.

A1-2..... from p.15both successful and failed attempts of provincial divisionand municipal merger in the Philippines. Using aninstitutional approach, he considered a local governmentas an institution or set of rules that constrains action andtransactions within its jurisdiction. He then argued thatterritorial change is an outcome of the interplay ofinstitutional disequilibrium, policy stability, conformanceto rules, and, more importantly, a perfect coalition amongveto players. Moreover, he argued that perfect coalition isa function of the confluence of the policy entrepreneur,the united position of local elites, and social movement,through the mechanisms of advocacy, political

mobilization, cuing/mirroring, norm of reciprocity, aswell as bounded rationality at the individual levelanalysis. His conclusion highlighted the salience of bothformal and informal rules (i.e., norms), as well as that ofagency (policy entrepreneur) and structure (rules). Whenasked about the criteria of reform for merger anddivision, he responded that regardless of manner(merger or division), the Local Government Code and itsimplementing rules and regulations provide for thecriteria and requirements (particularly income and landarea or population) to create a new local government inthe Philippines. The definition of success and failure ofterritorial change, being that of attempt and not impact,was also clarified.


SIMULTANEOUS WORKSHOP SESSIONS

A1-1: GOVERNMENT (INSTITUTION)

Government Organizations Transparencyin Indonesia: Policy, Organization,and Implementation

Presented by Dr Anwar Sanusi, the paper recognizedthat one of Indonesia’s pressing challenges is the

decreasing public trust ingovernment. One of thebiggest problems is corruption,the country with a score of 32in the Corruption PerceptionIndex. This problem remainsdespite the efforts undertakenby the Indonesian governmentin recent years.

Given this situation,Indonesia aims to increasepeople’s trust in the

government through enhancing transparency in publicadministration. This is the rationale of the country foradopting a framework for bureaucratic reforms. As theaim is to increase public trust, the framework providesthat there is a need to clean the government, improvegovernment performance capacity and accountability, andimprove public services. In turn, these can be achievedthrough changing people’s mindset and culture. Theframework also provides for the need to have anevaluation and monitoring system and a mechanism forchange management.

Dr. Anwar elaborated on the concept of transparency.According to him, transparency comes in different formswhich include the following aspects: administrative,program, budget, policy, policymaking, public service andpublic information. Based on this study, administrativeand policy aspects are the most transparent in Indonesia,while transparency in policymaking and budget remainswanting. In addition, Dr. Anwar indicated that theirresearch showed that the Indonesian government(ministries) has a low overall score in terms oftransparency.

Do Regime Types Matter to the Success ofManagerialism? : The Case of PublicEducation

Dr. Naomi Aoki, in her paper on new publicmanagement, explored how managerial reforms in theeducation sector affect the academic competencies ofstudents, and to what extent do the regime types ofdifferent countries in turn affect managerial reforms. Theeconometrics model was used to assess theaforementioned variables. In her paper, Aoki argued that

the realization of reforms in new public management isinfluenced by political environment.

Dr. Aoki explained thatamong the new publicmanagement reforms beingimplemented around theworld, only two types workuniversally and arepolitically neutral:performance managementand management byobjectives. However, thecontexts by which they workare yet to be fully explored,especially in the discourse ofdifferent types of regimes (e.g. liberal democracy, illiberaldemocracy, and autocracy, among others). Dr. Aoki lookedinto the relationship between managerial reforms and thetypes of regime by conducting a study on the Programmefor International Student Assessment (PISA), which isbasically a survey on 15-year old students and schoolsfrom 72 countries. Results of the study showed thatperformance management and management based onobjectives are negatively associated with studentperformance (all remaining constant). This challenges thecommon belief that the government should adopt privatesector techniques to improve its performance.

Meanwhile, Dr. Aoki stated that managerial systems,practices and performance are nonetheless affected bythe type of regime, based on the following tendencies: 1)individual’s acceptance or rejection of authority; 2)commitment to the standards needed withoutreservation; and 3) the extent to which they are willing toparticipate.

Unintended Consequences of InstitutionalTransfer: Terroir and Cépage in PublicAdministration

In his paper, Mr. Shuntaro Iizukaassociated the transfer ofinstitutional frameworks to theprocess of winemaking where theproduct (wine) is dependent on therelationship of the terroir (theenvironment of winemaking) andthe cépage (the grapevine or thegrape variety). In PublicAdministration where transfer of

institutional frameworks and practices happen, it is also

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Harmonizing e-Government in the Philippinesthrough the Budget

The presentation of Dr. Erwin Alampay described thecurrent Philippine government strategy called the

Medium TermInformationTechnologyInitiative (MITHI)and how theapproach espousedby the Departmentof Budget andManagement(DBM) with theInformation andCommunicationTechnology Officecan address inter-operability acrosssectors and at thesame time make

more use of IT investments in government.Dr. Alampay recognizes that there is an existing

Design-Reality Gap composed of different systems andrestricted access or absence of inter-operability amongPhilippine government agencies. Moreover, he discussedinherent challenges to: integrate the organizational andtechnical processes of different but interrelatedadministrative units; technical standards perspectivedefining a more complex functional perspectiveassociated with the involved organizations, and overcomea myriad of issues that include the importance ofinformation integration and inter-operability in theconception and deployment of e-Government projects.

Lastly, he also mentioned problems brought about byinter-operability, not to mention the sustainability of theMITHI initiative should there be a change inadministration.

Innovation and Creativity of Public Services inthe Integrated Licensing Services Board ofBandung City

Dr. Dayat Hidayat discussed the ways by whichinformation and communication technology (ICT) is usedto augment the quality of licensing services delivered bythe Integrated Licensing Services Board (BPPT) inBandung, Indonesia. Dr. Hidayat earlier explained thatcitizen satisfaction is one of the most importantdeterminants of an effective public service deliverysystem. He asserted that the use of ICT could addresscitizen satisfaction and contribute to the performance of

B1-1: GOVERNABILITY (MANAGEMENT)

local governmentinstitutions in adecentralizedgovernment system.Dr. Hidayat gave anoverview of the BPPT,including its functions,main tasks and services.He iterated on the use ofinformation technology(IT) in the managementinformation system (MIS) implementation. He notedpositive changes in the BPPT after the implementation ofIT-based services: 1) revenues from licensing serviceshave increased; 2) behavior and performance of staff andpersonnel have improved; and 3) a system of checks andbalances was improved, with the citizens now able tomonitor the progress of the services that they avail fromBPPT. In conclusion, Dr. Hidayat hailed the BPPT as abreakthrough and stated that it should be further recog-nized as such. He recommended that appropriate infra-structures for ensuring transparency and promotion ofthe BPPT should be put in place.

The Role of Municipalities in the SocialSecurity and Tax Number System

This year, the Japanese government decided to adoptthe social security and tax number system in order to: (1)enhance social security to serve people who truly deserveit; (2) achieve equitable distribution of the financialburden that it associated with payment of taxes; and (3)

develop efficiencyin both collectionandadministration.

In his treatise,Tomohiro Nomuraproposes that theJapanese SocialSecurity and TaxNumber Systembe implementedvia thecooperation ofmunicipalities. Hebelieves that localofficials (i.e.mayors and

governors) will contribute to its success—depending ontheir respective competencies. He adds that the system

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C1-1: GOVERNANCE (POLICY ISSUES)

International University-CommunityCooperation for Environmental Sustainability

Dr. Victoria Valenzuela’s presentation is a sharing oftheir initiative that aims to address the capacity gaps atthe village level to promotesustainability concepts through thecollaboration with the provincialgovernment of Bulacan and industryassociations, coordination withBulacan Environment and NaturalResources Office, a cementcompany, and with a few industrieslike tanneries and paper company.Moreover, their initiative intends tooperationalize the concept of corporate socialresponsibility through the adoption of cleaner productioninnovations, which improve workplace safety andminimize risks. Their action also aims to enhance thecapacity of local institutions by learning to integrateeconomic progress, social development, andenvironmental protection. She then shared the concretesteps that they recently undertook: seminar-workshop onlean and clean manufacturing, visit to Angat River andwatershed, and study tour to a tannery industry inBulacan. Such activities helped developed camaraderieand teamwork among the 30 participants from privatesector, government and industry. To sustain their efforts,she proposed an plan of action: develop consensus, adoptcleaner production, introduce concepts of industrialtechnology, integrate the concept of environmentalsustainability, analyze regulations, and develop casestudies. She ended by stressing the importance ofcooperation and leadership at the national level. Sheinvited everyone to work for the promotion ofinternational university-community cooperation.

Top-Down Policy Process for theDecentralization of Adult SocialCare: Legacy and Innovation in the NationalCare Insurance System in Japan

Ms. Kyoko Ohta discussedhow the system on adult socialcare was designed by thecentral government andimplemented by localgovernments in Japan. This hasbeen a policy response toJapan’s aging society socialproblem, which will ensue asthe “2025 crisis” with more

Japanese – including the so called ‘baby-boomers’ –belonging to over 75 years old bracket. The system

reformed Shochi – state subsidy and measures bymunicipalities for the care of the elderly in the 1950s – tolong-term care insurance to “localization” policy. Centralgovernment introduced a new “localization” policy ofelderly care, and it was not a graduate shift. The newlocalization policy covers combining finance(municipalities as insurer), services (supply-side),systems, workforce and demand side pursuing a sharedprinciple. However, Ms. Ohta argued the “localization” isactually not shared. Under this policy, the Ministry ofWelfare promotes community general support followingan ideal set-up – team approach, care team, protectionmeasure, community general support and center’smanagement council, among others. Ms. Ohta sharedsome practices and innovations in selected localgovernments on small-size multi-function care facility(day care), community integrated care, and home careservices in old houses. She also identified key factorsthat affect performance including the importance of localleaders – and their linkages with the central government– as a key factor in the success of the program. Theleaders are asked to become members of the advisorycommittee for the central government. Other factorsinclude demographics, political, institutional, andfinancial factors. Although there may be some competingforces that affect implementation of the localizationpolicy for elderly care like multiple actors and functions,the potential and success of the top-down process tolocalization may be attributed to the bureaucraticcharacter of Japan. Ms Ohto concluded by noting thatstate bureaucracy is very strong in Japan, but flexible topersuasion, and encourage interest groups and policyactors.

Key Factors Affecting the Success of OrganicAgriculture in Thai Communities: Three CaseStudies in Ubonratchathanee and SrisaketProvinces

Using case studies, Prof. Pasupha Chinvarasopakexamined the success factors of organic agriculture,despite the very slow adoption rate in Thailand, which islower than the average in Asian countries. In herframework, she introduced the key concepts of policyimplementation, social capital, and sufficiency economyphilosophy, a model of which was shown by highlightingthe interacting concepts of sufficiency, reasonablenessand self-immunity. With this model, she proposed a newtheory in agriculture. Key findings of her cases includethe following: reduced cost, increased income (but debtremains), benefits of organic farming (better seed,environment, health, self reliance, etc.), increased grouppower (knowledge sharing, helping one another in farm

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Proliferation of Autonomous RegionsDillemma in Decentralized Indonesia:Participation, Budget Constraint, andPerformance of Newly Formed LocalGovernment

Mr. Adi Suryanto’spresentation revolvedaround the proliferation ofautonomous regions inIndonesia – creation ofmore but smaller regions –with the adoption of itsdecentralization law in1999. Data showedsignificant increase ofautonomous regions from346 to 539 (1999-2013). In particular, he looked into theimplications of the phenomenon to the overall financialhealth of the regions, and the performance of newlyformed regions. The formation of regions is anchored onthe democratization paradigm of decentralization, which“widens the space for political actors to participate in thepolitical process as well as opens up civic participation toinitiate territorial change.” Moreover, there are hopes andpromises for improved regional performance. The newregions provide rationales for their creation--the need toaccelerate regional development, improve governmentservice delivery, and optimize local resourcemanagement, among others--within the context ofdecentralization. However, Mr. Suryanto argued that thisphenomenon poses serious threat to macroeconomicstability and provide a burden to national governmentbudget due to increase in intergovernmental fiscaltransfers. The proliferation of autonomous regionsweakens central government control – or oversight – overlocal governments, and does not guarantee better servicedelivery and local conditions under the new localgovernments. It also resulted in the decline of theGeneral Allocation Funds (GAF) for other regions, therebyaffecting their capacity to delivery services. Although GAFhas been increasing over the years, Mr. Suryanto arguedthat on the average GAF has decreased in real terms using2000 constant prices from 2001 to 2008. On the other hand,newly formed regions are spending less on operationalexpenditure items (personnel, goods and services) thanthe older regions. With the creation of new regions, theaggregate operating expenditure sharply increased from44.8% to 65.5% of the total expenditure. All these wouldcontribute to the performance of the new regions, whichwill likely not stimulate their development. He alsopresented social and economic indicators in the regionssuch as poverty levels, human development index andeconomic growth across regions in an attempt to relatethe proliferation of autonomous regions. In conclusion,

Mr. Suryanto noted that this phenomenon has become amajor policy issue of decentralization practice inIndonesia. He recommended to further study the use ofsocial indicators and service standards to deliver services.There is also a need to determine the optimal size andnumber of regions that may be established to promoteeconomic and allocative efficiency and ease financialburden to central government; merger of localgovernment should likewise be considered and/orpursued.

Regionalization – The New Sunrise

Prof. Forum Dave and Ms.Miraj Shah presented their paperentitled “Regionalization – TheNew Sunrise.” Ms. Shah startedpresentation by locating thewhole discourse ofregionalization within the contextof the economic theories onpublic goods and fiscal federalismto maximize social benefits andwelfare. She then discussed decentralization as keyapproaches to growth and development, particularlydevolution and the shift of accountability for subnationaldevelopment to local level institutions. In pursuingregionalization as an approach or “the approach” todevelopment, Ms. Shah emphasized the significance ofgeographical or topographic conditions in the design andstrategies for regional development. The paper cited thestate of Uttara-Khand in India and its regions in theHimalayas, where about 90% of its land areas is in themountains. The region’s topography constrains itsinfrastructure development. Prof. Dave for her partprovided the recommendations of the paper. She notedthat the state government should help regionalgovernments develop their regional development plans.Decentralization should likewise be adopted to ensurelocal conditions and cultural diversities. A uniqueregional model and investments are desirable to suit thegeographical location, which include high prioritieseducation and tourism infrastructure development inlower region, and eco-tourism, religious places, andlivelihood such as animal husbandry, small scaleindustries, and dairy products in the greater Himalayas.

Aiming for a Creative, Human-Oriented,Maritime and Garden City

Takamatsu City Mayor Hideto Ohnishi highlighted theneed to transform the city in response to an aging society,where the elderly people are projected to comprisealmost half of the population in 2055. Accordingly, the

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Performance Management and HumanResource Development – The Experience ofOECD countries and its implication for Asiaand the Pacific

Prof. Bunzo Hirai of Asia University in Japan discussedin his paper the significance of performance management

and evaluation inimproving thecompetencies of staff andpersonnel. He particularlylooked into the 1)performance appraisal formanagers; 2) performanceenhancement by providingperformance-basedincentives; 3) implicationsof performancemanagement on humanresource development; and4) improving competencies

of managers in choosing the right personnel.Professor Hirai delved into the two perspectives of

performance appraisal: performance of the organization,on one hand, and that of the individual career official, onthe other. In view of these perspectives, Hirai said that toimprove organizational performance, the systems thatmake the institution work effectively, as well as themeans by which organization personnel contribute to theorganization’s goals should be considered. He mentionedseveral management theories that he deemed applicablewith human resource development initiatives in OECDcountries. These theories, according to Professor Hirai,give an idea of how personnel performance is evaluatedor assessed.

Meanwhile, Professor Hirai voiced out his concernson performance appraisal in OECD countries. He notedthat financial incentives, i.e. performance-related pay(PRP), can only do much to encourage employees toperform better in the workplace. Rather, Prof. Hiraiemphasized that other factors such as opportunities forcareer development, have more impact on theemployees’ performance. Based on the documentedinsights and experiences from the Network onPerformance and Employment of the OECD PublicGovernance Committee, Prof. Hirai concluded thatperformance appraisal and management in the OECDregion has yielded positive outcomes. Meanwhile, hesuggested that in order for these initiatives to becomeeffective, institutions must pay attention to goal andobjective setting.

Effective Public Administration andGovernance of the Local Government as aStrategy for Tourism Development: The Case

of the LocalGovernment Unit ofNaga City, Philippines

Dr. Malu C. Barcillano ofthe Ateneo de NagaUniversity, Philippinesdiscussed the role of publicadministration andgovernance in improvingtourism. Citing the case ofNaga City, Philippines, Dr.Barcillano explained that

tourism industries significantly contribute to economicgrowth and development. She related that the tourismdevelopment approach adopted by the city governmentallows it, as well as other institutions and citizens, to bemore actively engaged in related tourism projects and beaccountable to the said programs.

Dr. Barcillano then described, based on theexperiences of Naga City, the ways by which localgovernment institutions effectively mobilize and manageresources and operations to promote tourismdevelopment. She indicated that local governments servea two-fold function: first, in the implementation ofgovernment programs, and second, in the enactment ofmarketing strategies. Dr. Barcillano concluded herpresentation by lauding the initiatives of the city toimprove governance practices and tourismdevelopment.

Human ResourceDevelopment in CivilService: The Case of Nepal

Mr. Durga Nidhi Sharma of theMinistry of GeneralAdministration in Nepalhighlighted the opportunities andchallenges of the Government ofNepal in implementing initiatives for human resourcedevelopment. He discussed the various laws, policies andthe overall context under which key actors andinstitutions work together to build capacities of civilservants. According to Mr. Sharma, human resourcedevelopment in Nepal has four main aspects: 1) personaldevelopment; 2) professional development;




Problems and Prospects of Public-PrivatePartnership

In his presentation, Dr. Pratyush Mani Tripathi plottedthe differences between traditional procurement andpublic-privatepartnership (PPP). Asindicated in the nameconcept itself, PPP allowsprivate participation ingovernment projects interms of projectmanagement, servicedelivery, financing, andrisk sharing. He opinedthat the public sector actsas a facilitator andenabler in a PPParrangement. Tripathi’sreport indicated that PPPcan be adopted in many sectors that require infrastructuresuch as power, transport, urban, education and health.

He discussed the rationale of PPP that includesavailability of private sector financing, increasing value formoney through efficiency gains (speedierimplementation), benefit from private sector efficiency,augmenting government resources, customer serviceorientation, and improving access to service delivery.Similarly, it provides the private sector with businessopportunities. The core of PPP is indeed partnership and awin-win agreement of both public and private sectors is asharp focus.

Despite the benefits of PPP, there remain problemsthat hinder its realization. An umbrella problem would bethe global financial crisis which would result in morespecific problems of financing and economic slowdown.There are also other challenges including complexity, thepossibility of higher user charges, and the non-suitabilityof some projects under the PPP framework, amongothers.

Actualizing Public Private Partnership (PPP):A Unique Brand of Governance

The private sector hasalways been touted asgovernments’ partner indevelopment and progress.Moreover, there has been anemerging trend of public-private partnerships (PPP)—those that involve localgovernments. This ishighlighted by the fact thatunder the Local Government

Code of 1991, local government units can exist asmunicipal corporations—hence have the power andability to enter into contracts vis-à-vis agreements withthe private sector. This is further petrified by theprovisions of RA 7718 otherwise known as the Build-Operate-Transfer law.

In her presentation, Dr. April Teodosio narrowed downon the success of one growth area in the country via therealization of PPP in infrastructure development includingnon-traditional infrastructure sectors. The LGU concernedrevealed that PPP could best exist and operate whenthere is a prevailing competitive and healthy businessclimate back-to-back with good governance initiatives inplace.

Armed with investor confidence, she shows how PPPcan be an enabler in encouraging increased capital inflowthat in turn translate to better economic forecasts for localgovernments.

What Can Improve Local Public Services?:An Empirical Analysis of the Philippines

Presented by Dr. Kenichi Nishimura, this paper lookedat the case of the Philippines in terms of governancestyles in the Philippines. A survey of 300 respondents

(mayors and municipal/city planning anddevelopmentcoordinators) wasconducted to explore thisinquiry. Nishimurareported that Philippinemayors have generallytwo styles of governance:efficient governance withstrong leadership; andconstituent participatorygovernance.

Dr. Nishimura’s presentation provided that majority ofmayors give importance to political will as a factor in goodlocal governance. They also subscribe to the idea ofpeople’s participation as evidenced by their focus andattendance to the selection of NGOs / POs as part of thelocal development council. Mayors are also more intomeeting with NGOs than with business groups. Nishimuraalso noted that many of the mayors are concerned withstaff development.

While positive findings were laid out in thepresentation, negative observations were also made.Among these are the prevalence of “political families” inlocal governments and the process of “knowing” theNGOs and POs for the mayors to impose a certain degreeof control over them.




Decentralization in the Philippinesafter 21 Years

Dr. Remigio Ed. Ocenar assessed the achievements ofdecentralization, particularly on the delivery of basicservices, and how these are supported by fiscal transfers.He started off by providing a background of the localgovernment structure and the legal framework for localautonomy. In assessing the basic service delivery,agriculture, one of the oldest devolved function, hasimproved under the devolved set-up. However, it is besetwith lingering problems of capacity building, funds, andvertical coordination. Similarly, health, albeit theexpansion of facilities, is pestered with issues ofcorruption and lack of personnel, among others.Education, he mentioned, was not a devolved function,while environment is only partially devolved. He notedthat public works service has been receiving about 50percent of the development funds. Trade, industry andtourism, which are national and local concerns, have madesignificant progress, particularly the establishment ofone-stop shops. Good practices have also been observed,documented and promoted in the areas of local finance,people’s participation and inter-local cooperation.Despite these successes, challenges abound. Accordingly,he proposes a local government reform agenda that willfocus on reforming local structures and functions,strengthening local finance, enhancing corporate powers,improving national-local relations, reforming leadershipterms, and continuing studies and debate on localgovernance. When asked about the driving force behinddecentralization, Dr. Ocenar noted that a series ofdecentralization efforts and policies had been introducedeven before the new decentralization law was enacted in1991.

Trend of Dual Representative System Uniqueto Japan: Multilayered Check-and-BalanceSystem

Prof. Shunsuke Kimura’s presentation dealt with therecent controversies concerning the dual representativesystem in Japanese local governments. According toKimura, there is a constitutional provision for this systemwhere check-and-balance is a primary concern. Therewere cases where conflicts arise out of misunderstandingand opposite perspectives of the executive and the localcouncil. This is because the two systems of representationassert different ways of thinking as reported by Kimura.

Recent events have made things more difficult wherecheck-and-balance has been taken to the sidelines asdecisions were repeatedly made by the executiveindependently (without consulting the council). This is inthe area of appointing the deputy mayor where the mayor

(executive) can use his discretion. While this is allowed inthe current policy, some have viewed this as a form ofabuse of discretion. In some cases, chief executives havealso refused to convene the assembly despite therequirements of the latter’s chairman. Such issues havebeen in the limelight and conflict between the executiveand the local council became a burning issue in localadministration.

These issues prompted for the amendment of theLocal Autonomy Law (LAL) in 2012. The new policy nowindicates that discretion is taken away in terms of theappointment of vice governor or vice mayor. Kimura’spresentation also provided that “when the assembly doesnot approve decisions independently made by the chiefexecutives on bylaws and budgets, the chief executivemust take necessary measures and report them to thecouncil.”

Deconcentration in Local PublicAdministration: An Investigation of LowerSecondary School Education in VientianeCapital, Lao PDR

The different styles of administrative decentralizationformed the backdrop of Prof. Thomas Jones’ presentation.He showed how the Laotian governance style hasdeveloped, from centralized in 1975 to decentralized in1986 and re-centralized in 1991 to partially decentralizedin 2000. His presentation focused on the education sector,particularly the lower secondary school (LSS) level, thehighest level of compulsory education. Through semi-structured interviews of 22 school principals, he foundthree major findings. First, there are more schoolprincipals in urban than in rural areas. Second, in the areaof decision-making power, 64 percent of respondents saidthat the power of LSS resides with the province, ratherthan with the district. Third, one-third of the respondentsacknowledged the district’s responsibility for appointingprincipals, while two-thirds were unaware of the transferof responsibility from the province since 2009.Accordingly, he stressed the potential of the district toplay a more hands-on role, which was undermined by lackof awareness, as well as noted that policy needs to beimplemented with continuity and relevance. Thedisconnect between domestic political apparatus and thedonor agencies is also a problem. He then recommendedto promote and finetune the policy as well as to providemore capacity building opportunities at the district level.When asked about the benefits for international donorsto encourage deconcentration, he felt that it isparadoxical for the donors to push this agenda despite thelack of key elements to make decentralization achievable.




Efforts Towards Reconstruction

On behalf of Mayor Masanori Yamamoto, Vice MayorIchiro Nagoshi revisited the experience of Miyako Citywhen it was struck by the March 2011 earthquake andtsunami which resulted in fatalities, financial losses, anddestruction of houses. Showing photos of the city takenbefore, during and after the disaster, Vice Mayor Nagoshiexpressed how saddening that situation was.

Despite such tragic event, Vice Mayor Nagoshishowed how the city remains strong to rebuild itself andbe back on track. According to its Basic ReconstructionPlan for the period of 2011 to 2019, Miyako City is in theprocess of promoting reconstruction projects andcommunity rebuilding. The city’s community rebuildingplans for its districts were spearheaded by the residentsthemselves. Vice Mayor Nagoshi shared that opinions ofresidents were highly valued in the process, which meansthat citizens are in the heart of the city’s governance. Healso shared an article authored by a first grader in juniorhigh school expressing hope for Miyako, which means thateven at young age, citizens of the city have positiveperspective.

The specific efforts in Miyako City’s reconstructioninclude building of houses in safe areas to ensure a safecommunity, reconstructing basic infrastructure in order tobring back people’s lives to normal, and thereconstruction of the economy and industry. Again, ViceMayor Nagoshi emphasized the role of citizenparticipation in this endeavour.

The Roles of Community and Communal Lawin Disaster Management in the Philippines:The Case of Dagupan City

Taking off from his another paper on disastermanagement, Dr. Ebinezer Florano discussed the concepts

of community and communal law,and community-led disastermanagement and, through a casestudy, how the same were applied(or are being applied) in thePhilippines. To be able to lookdeeper into this subject, he alsoexplored under what conditionscommunity involvement result ineffective disaster management.

The case showcased in the presentation is that ofbarangay (village) Mangin in Dagupan City of the provinceof Pangasinan. Dr. Florano called the barangay a “modelcommunity for disaster risk reduction and management”after having won national awards and receivedinternational citations. According to Dr. Florano, impactsof climate change such as rising sea levels, disturbance in

climatic patterns, stronger typhoons and surges, flooding,and water shortage/drought have been felt in DagupanCity and barangay Mangin is the most vulnerable fromamong the city’s villages. This was one of the reasons whythe village was a recipient of the Project PROMISE(Program for Hydro-Meteorological Disaster Mitigation inSecondary Cities in Asia) implemented by the Center forDisaster Preparedness (CDP) in partnership with thecommunity under a grant from the USAID.

Dr. Florano listed the accomplishments of the projectin terms of both quantifiable and non-quantifiableindicators. The former include 0% casualty, 100%compliance to evacuation efforts, 100% communityparticipation, and 100% efficiency of the early warningsystem, while the latter includes minimal dependence onthe city for assistance, increased capacity, increasedability for program sustainability, and fast flow ofcommunication in an actual evacuation.

The presentation concluded that co-management haseffectively taken place in this case under the conditions ofdisaster awareness, strong community bonding, andstrong adherence to participatory governance. Whilesaying that co-management lasted only during the actualproject, Dr. Florano noted that it was alright because thevillage has already learned how to sustain the program.He also cited the roles of other stakeholders in theprocess, but the larger credit was given to the CDP and thecommunity.

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Promoting Gender-Responsive Budgetin Development Programs

Dr. Ambar Widaningrumfeatured in her presentation thegender issues that affect socialwelfare and basic human rights inIndonesia, as well as theinstallation of a gender-responsivebudget for development. Citingdata on gender-related economicand social vulnerabilities in

Indonesia, Dr. Widaningrum pointed out that most womenin Indonesia suffer from poverty, poor access to credit,low wage rates, low employment opportunities, and lackof active participation in the community and labor sector.Women also bear the burden of maternal mortality andmalnutrition, with progress in the aforementioned areasbeing generally slow.

Dr. Widaningrum asserted that these problems needto be quickly addressed, with the exercise of efforts,commitment and strong political will to attain basic rightsparticularly of women and other gender minorities.Drawing from the role of budget policy in addressingsocio-economic problems, Dr. Widaningrum argued thatgender budgeting may help empower both men andwomen as partners and beneficiaries of development.She said that the gender-specific budget does not providefor a separate allocation for women; rather it promotes agender-equitable budget where both men and womenreap the benefits of development. Governmentinstitutions, non-government organizations, civil society,and other concerned stakeholders, should be committedto contributing to a gender-specific budget.

Searching for a New Mode of CivicGovernance in the Post-NPM Era

In his presentation on new public management, Dr.Osamu Koike explored the prospects of using the civicgovernance model to improvepublic service delivery after theemergence of new publicmanagement in Japan. Heposited that while market-oriented new publicmanagement scheme canimprove citizen satisfaction interms of the quality of publicservice delivery, it mayadversely affect the performance of local governmentinstitutions. He said that a new form of governance shouldbe able to address the needs of local governments,particularly in the field of environmental conservation.

In his study, Dr. Koike looked into the case of the rural

landscape or “satoyama” conservation program inKanagawa to determine the feasibility of civic governanceas either a complement or supplement to market-based,post-NPM governance. Dr. Koike described thearrangements and collaboration between farmers,prefectural governments, action groups and otherstakeholders, working together for the conservation ofthe satoyama landscapes. Gauging from the results of theevaluation study conducted on 14 satoyama conversationareas, Dr. Koike argued that community-basedenvironmental conservation is still a relevant form ofgovernance even in the market-based public managementarea. He recommended that community-responsivepolicy measures should be formulated for conservation ofthe landscapes.

Public-Private Partnerships and GovernanceChallenges in Thai Municipalities:Perspectives of Chief Administrators (palatthesaban)

Dr. Ploy Suebvises presentationtalked about the public-privatepartnership (PPP) in Thailand as anew public management approachto improve service delivery. Shedrew the perspective of localadministration in policy design andimplementation of PPP in thecountry. PPP in Thailand hasundergone many types of reformssince early 1990s in view of the shifting role of thegovernment and transferring of its service provisionfunction to the private sector. The institutional frameworkfor PPP and its various modalities are supported by thePrivate Participation in Undertaking Act B.E. 1993; andrevised under the new Private Participation inUndertaking Act B.E. 2025. Over the years, there has beenan increasing involvement of the private sector in theprovision of utilities such as energy, telecommunications,and water, among others, not only to improve efficiencybut also to share the risks and improve collaboration withthe private sector. Recent developments in Thailand lookat opportunities for increased PPP undertaking at the localgovernment level. The study examined the governanceconcepts, contributing success factors, identifiedproblems and documented perspectives from localgovernment administrators on PPP. Dr. Suebvisesemphasized and elaborated the following contributingfactors for the success of PPP in Thailand: congruence ofobjectives, commitment, communication and trust,flexibility, transparency and good leadership. On theother hand, while the problems in PPP implementationpertain to conflicting goals, different organizational



will be beneficial to other local governments as well sincerelevant information can be accessed between and amongthem. He shares the role allotment among administrativeorganizations in this system and clarifies whymunicipalities play a big role in its success.

In the course of the discussion, Dr. Andy Al Fatihinquired if there is a pre-requisite whether it can beintroduced now and whether it can be applied in thenational level.

According to Mr. Nomura, people are now starting tounderstand its importance. He revealed that ten yearsago, the people were not able to comprehend thenetwork system. However, today times have changed andpeople better appreciate and understand its offerings andsignificance to their lives.

Although he confirmed that the system was originallyenvisioned to serve local governments, nationalgovernment agencies can also use the network system inorder to improve efficiency. He believes that it can beapplied throughout Japan.

Implementation of Management InformationSystem for Integrated Sub-District ServiceAdministration (SIMPATEN), The Need orOpportunity

Dr. Etin Indrayani lookedinto the implementation ofthe Management InformationSystem for Integrated Sub-District ServiceAdministration (SIMPATEN),which aims to improvelicensing services in theSragen district in Indonesia.Dr. Indrayani presented theorganizational structure andprocedures in the sub-districtgovernments, and the role of

the sub-districts as prime movers of bureaucratic reform.She iterated that the management innovation or “paten”is mandated by the Ministry of Home Affairs to simplifyand make more efficient the administrative procedures insub-district government institutions. She asserted thatincorporating information and communicationstechnology (ICT) into the “Paten,” thus creating“SIMPATEN,” translates to efficiency in publicmanagement.

Three sub-districts, namely: Ngerampal, Gemolongand Plupuh, served as study sites for Dr. Indrayani’s study.She found that there is a conflict in operations betweenthe new management information system and the oldsystem of SIMPATEN. Dr. Indrayani urged the need toimprove budget allocation to support both the old and thenew systems. She also noted that staff complement

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work, increased negotiating power, easy access tosupport, and creation of a friendly working environment),increased support systems in the areas of knowledge,certification, tools and equipment, and market. Sheargued that the key to success is through the leader, whoserves as a role model as well as organizes the group.Group links is important as well, which is consistent withsocial capital theory. However, tight relationships willmake it difficult for groups to expand. The organic stepfollows the new theory in sufficiency economyphilosophy by the King of Thailand, which is in accord withthe Buddhist philosophy. She concluded that, despite thepower, groups need support in every aspect. She addedthat organic agricultural policy can be an alternativepolicy, should be tailored to groups, and be supported byother players, particularly the government. When askedabout the role of the government, she said that thegovernment provides training and education on the shiftfrom chemical to organic, as well as site visits todemonstration areas; however, the government does notsupport much in terms of marketing. When asked aboutthe initiatives to increase domestic consumption, shestated that in rural areas, organic produce are available atflea markets at a cheaper price.

Political Economy of Local RoadsDevelopment: The Case of Eastern SamarProvince

Mr. Jose Tiu Sonco’s paperframes that policy design andimplementation ofintergovernmental fiscal transfersto the efficiency, effectiveness,and accountability of local roadsdevelopment (LRD) under adecentralized regime. Local roadsare critical rural infrastructuresthat remain un-developed – poor

network and uneven investments – in the Philippines.Since the enactment of the decentralization law in 1991 orthe Local Government Code (LGC), the nationalgovernment has transferred the function, responsibilityand delivery of LRDs – construction, maintenance andrehabilitation – to local governments at various tiers. Theintergovernmental fiscal relations have changed; localgovernments are expected to finance LRDs from theirlocal revenues and the internal revenue allotment. Otherfiscal transfers come in the form of ad-hoc grants throughthe “pork barrel” of the district representatives andsenators, and special purpose funds from the office of thepresident. National government agencies design ruraldevelopment programs that offer LRDs; however,problems on targeting, delivery, management andaccountability are a challenge. Mr. Tiu Sonco located his

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(continued on page 14)(continued on page 13)


should be augmented, and that the sub-districtgovernments should implement capacity-buildinginitiatives for the personnel implementing SIMPATEN.Lastly, Dr. Indrayani suggested that the local governmentshould work with academic institutions and privatecompanies for the implementation of SIMPATEN, and thatcitizen awareness, participation and education should bebroadened to raise competencies of citizens andinstitutions using SIMPATEN. She stated that theexperience of the Sragen district can be replicated inother districts in Indonesia.

Local Government Enterprises asa Public Service Dilemma

According to Dr. Tomi Setiawan, policy reforms inpublic service are also responses to the pressures ofglobalization and global competition. By looking at thecase of the Municipality of Bandung, he examined theviability of local government enterprise as an alternativeto public service provider. However, he found that thechange from local market agencies to local governmententerprise has not been significant in the area ofinstitutional arrangement, particularly on structures,tasks, technology and human resources. While thechanges have instilled new values of professionalism,time discipline and improved work ethic, morale andemployee relations, the structure has becomecentralized, which resulted in low participation, anddelayed responses to problems. Moreover, only half ofthe markets were viable, and turnover of traditionalmarket declined by at most 30 percent. He noted that, ingeneral, local government enterprise has not optimizedpublic service, contrary to the underlying intent of thepolicy reform. In conclusion, a local enterprise-publicservice dilemma in the local government has emerged, heremarked.

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capacity, among others. In conclusion, she suggested thedesign of a new law or policy to streamline proceduresand guidelines on PPP particularly on encouraging privatesector participation, improving accountability andincreasing citizens’ engagement.

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Palabay is first EROPA Outstanding YoungPractitioner

From left-right: Dr. Francisco T. Duque III, Chairman of the Civil ServiceCommission, Philippines; Dr. Orlando S. Mercado, EROPA Secretary-General; Mr. Arnel G. Palabay, EROPA OYP Awardee; and Mr. Morio

Sakamoto, President of the Local Autonomy College.

The first ever EROPA Outstanding Young PractitionerAward was given to Mr. Arnel G. Palabay, supervisingeconomic development specialist at the NationalEconomic and Development Authority (NEDA) RegionalOffice I, in a short ceremony on 16 October 2013 at LocalAutonomy College, Tachikawa City, Tokyo, Japan.

Before the official awarding, Dr. Orlando S. Mercado,EROPA Secretary-General, gave the audience an overviewof the Outstanding Young Practitioner Award andencouraged individuals and institutions to identifypossible nominees for the said award.

Mr. Morio Sakamoto, President of Local AutonomyCollege and the incoming Chairman of the EROPAExecutive Council, joined Dr. Francisco T. Duque III,Chairman of the Civil Service Commission, Philippines,and Dr. Mercado in presenting a plaque of recognition toMr. Palabay.

Mr. Palabay developed computer programs thatautomated personnel records at NEDA Regional Office I inthe Philippines. Through the electronic informationsystems developed by Palabay, personnel management inNEDA Regional Office I became more efficient in terms ofcost and performance.

Mr. Palabay was recognized by the Philippine CivilService Commission in 2010 for his outstandingachievements in public service.

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presentation within the context of rural poverty,infrastructure investments, and decentralization. Hereferred to seminal works of respected academics(economics and political science) on the mixed impact ofdecentralization in the Philippines thus far. Thedecentralization law of the Philippines as currentlydesigned has been unable to correct fiscal imbalancesbetween tiers of local governments, which resulted in theuneven performance of local governments. The evidencesuggested that Eastern Samar’s critical constraints to localroads development are: 1) low levels of investment onrural infrastructure and poor local roads network as aresult of national policy design and low levels of localrevenues; 2) high vulnerability to and costs of corruptionas a result of poor and lack of accountability; 3) poorinstitutional and organizational capacity of the localgovernment; and 4) lack of citizens/ civil societyengagement. He pointed out the inadequate financingand poor quality of local roads particularly at theprovincial and municipal levels, which require nationalinstitutional and policy (re) design and are affected/influenced by political and decision-making dynamics. Healso advanced that the evidenced-based analyses of theimpact of decentralization in the Philippines andelsewhere should combine both macro and by tier of localgovernments to capture its real effects and policy issues,thereby providing policy options at the appropriateinstitutional level (i.e. national or sub-national). Thepitfalls of decentralization including its impactmeasurement should likewise be recognized, which arepart of the handles of fiscal decentralization in general,and intergovernmental fiscal transfer in particular. Hetherefore argued the need to map, measure and (re)design intergovernmental fiscal transfers for local roadsdevelopment, rural infrastructure as well as other localservice delivery functions.At the subnational level, thereis a very wide opportunity for improvement by leveraginglocal roads development with other major investmentssuch as national roads and tourism development. There isa need to conduct a comprehensive assessment anddevelopment plan for local roads at the provincial,municipal and barangay levels; and to promotecollaboration between the province and municipalities,and central-local governments. At the national level, it isimportant to revisit fiscal decentralization policy tofinance rural infrastructure including local roadsdevelopment and improve financial allocation, utilizationand accountability for inclusive growth and development;and to address fiscal gap for local roads developmentthrough a design of an intergovernmental fiscal transferinstrument, primarily for provinces and municipalitieswith clear resource pool, allocation and administration,funds flow and accountability mechanism. He ended hispresentation by advancing a framework for localgovernance reform and sub-national strategy tostrengthen local governance institutions through localroads investment.

C1-1..... from p.123) performance management; and 4) organization

development.Mr. Sharma explained the constitutional and legal

provisions that mandate civil service in Nepal, and thefunctions carried out by agencies such as the Public ServiceCommission (PSC) and the Ministry of GeneralAdministration (MOGA) in carrying out these policies. Mr.Sharma noted some of the major hindrances to the successof human resource development in Nepalese civil service,which include lack of balanced scope of HRD efforts,weaknesses in HRD policies and programs, missing linkagesand coordination among existing HRD programs andinstitutions, and poor capacities of individual personnel aswell as institutions. Mr. Sharma iterated that thegovernment is conducting initiatives to review recruitmentapproaches, enhance training, and develop capacities ofvarious HRD institutions. Sharma recommended that thegovernment needs to have a holistic human resourcedevelopment plan that not only consolidates policy andlegal framework, but also connects human resourcedevelopment with other human resource functions.

China’s Energy Saving Practices in its 11th FiveYear Plan (FYP): A Transition ManagementPerspective

Mr. Dawei Liu of the University of Tokyo focused on thePeople’s Republic of China’s energy saving and emissionreduction policy in line with its 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2011). China was determined to develop stringent energy-saving goals for itseconomic activities.

To understandchanges in socio-technical systems, Liuelaborated on a multi-level perspective: 1)landscape (macro-level), 2) regime (meso-level), and niche (microlevel). 3) Developmentsoccur on all levelscausing an interactionresulting in a transition.

PR China identifieda transition vision for the 11th Five Year Plan; it strategicallyidentified energy conservation and eco-friendly Chinesesociety as a goal. The Chinese government targeted 20%reduction in energy intensity. A transition arena wasestablished in search of transition paths.

Possible paths for energy conservation are thefollowing fields: 1) industry, 2) building construction, 3)transportation and 4) industrial structure optimization.

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important to consider the terroir and the cépage. Iizukaargued that the socio-political environment (terroir) of therecipient has to have affinity with the substance (cépage)of the transferred framework. Otherwise, the twoelements may produce unintended consequences.

Iizuka examined Japan’s Independent AdministrativeAgency (IAA) with the aim of analyzing the unintendedconsequences of institutional transfer through New PublicManagement (NPM) reform. His presentation showed thatthere were unintended consequences of NPM in the IAAwhich are observed in the areas of managementdiscretion and in terms of the “de facto versus de jure”autonomy of the agency.

The presentation concluded that a method,framework or policy may only be effective depending oncontext which means that its effectiveness in one countryor institution may not work in another.

A1-1...... from p.3urban community structurehas to be redesigned andredeveloped to build acompact city that will featurean eco-friendly transportationsystem and shopping areas,and will expect the elderly toenjoy going outside. Likewise,a compact city also envisions asustainable community, wherepeople want to stay, investorsare coming, taxes are stable and public service maintainedor improved. Mayor Ohnishi noted that efforts torevitalize the central district have been ongoing,particularly the adoption of a city ordinance to make thecity a beautiful community through landscaping,promotion of green projects, environmental cleaning, anddesignation of smoking areas, among others. Thelandscaping policy of the city aims to revitalize theRitsurin Garden by regulating outdoor advertisements topreserve the scenic points. Towards the promotion of acreative city, the bureau targets the industry, culture andarts, tourism, sports and international exchange. Heintroduced several tourism resources and sightseeingspots in the area; the aji stone, pine tree bonsai andKagaw lacquerware that dominate the city’s traditionalarts and cratfs. Cultural events, such as Setouchi Triennaleand Takamatsu International Piano Competition, areefforts to promote a creative city. He also shared a futureimage of nursing care or a regional comprehensive caresystem that will be established to complement the effortsto revitalize the community. In summary, he highlightedthe need to promote decentralization, change regionalcommunity, and create a community focused on creativityand cooperation.

How to Change Subnational Territories: Casesof Provincial Division and Municipal Mergerin the Philippines

To introduce his topic,Mr. Michael Tumanut of theUniversity of the Philippineshighlighted the recentsignificant increase in thenumber of first-tieradministrative units inselected Asian and Africancountries. He then notedthat decentralization hasbeen invoked by manypolicymakers to justify theirpreference to change

territories. His presentation examined the causes andmechanisms of territorial change using several cases of

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ASIAN REVIEW OF PUBLICADMINISTRATION (ARPA)

The Asian Review of Public Administration (ARPA) isthe flagship journalof the EasternRegionalOrganization forPublicAdministration. Firstpublished in 1989,the ARPA haspublished papers andarticles discussingissues on publicadministration,governance and otherrelated fields.

SUBSCRIPTION RATES:

Single copy

Foreign subscribers: USD 16.00Filipino subscribers: PhP 350.00

Subscription (per year)

Foreign subscribers: USD 30.00Filipino subscribers: PhP 600.00

To avail a copy or subscribe to the Asian Review ofPublic Administration journal, please contact theEROPA Secretariat ([email protected]).


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technologies are among these. Globalization presentscommon concerns, issues and interests, as wellchallenges, opportunities and benefits. This means thatgovernments and countries are interrelated and aremoving in a space that is shared by everyone.

While globalization rings the bell in every corner ofthe globe, decentralization also speaks for its importance.According to Horie, decentralization is necessary due tothe increasing demand for government responsivenesswhich the central or national government cannot answeralone. The continuously changing roles andresponsibilities of local governments also mean lesscontrol and intervention from the central government,thus making the first more autonomous at least indecision making.

Both globalization and decentralization encouragecompetition. Where globalization drives competitionbetween and among national governments,decentralization stimulates competition between andamong local governments. Nonetheless, there is also aroom for cooperation between and among them. As anexample, Horie cited that Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe havesimilar interests and features, an indication ofcooperation in terms of tourism, culture and industrialpromotion. In the case of disaster management, Horiealso noted the significance of cooperation inreconstruction and rehabilitation work.

Horie noted that it is important to understandcompetition of the national government with othergovernments. He also emphasized the need for mutualunderstanding and cooperation. He also recommendedthat national governments must be aware of others’perspective of them. Finally, he also suggested thatleaders should be sensitive while being sensible, andresponsive at the same time responsible.

Special Session 1.... from p.1

An Inappropriate Esprit de Corps (A Reviewon Some State Institutional Policy IssuesTowards Corruption Eradication in Indonesia)

Emphasizing that division of work, authority andresponsibility, unity of command, unity of direction,subordination of individual to general interest,remuneration, centralization, scale of hierarchy, order,equity, stability of tenure, initiative and esprit de corps(Henri Fayol) translate to the general principles ofadministration, Dr. Andy Al Fatih argues that as a matter ofpublic policy, the spirit can also awaken the commitmentof an organization or a country (Indonesia in this case) toprotect the interest of organization members and theorganization itself. However, the commitment toorganization is not necessarily absolute.

Al Fatih continued that the policy to keep esprit decorps among the members of an organization ought to beused for the purpose of the good reputation and thehonor of an organization. If embracing esprit de corps isfor the sake of personal gain or interest of the membersof the organization, it is misleading then.

One of the extra-ordinary policies made in Indonesiareform era is the establishment of a CorruptionEradication Commission (CEC). This institution has anextremely huge power to stymie corruption, collusion andnepotism. The CEC can serve the country effectively incombating shenanigans in government. However,numerous interest groups affected by its operations pushfor the Central government to eliminate this body. Forthe author, it is an inappropriate esprit de corps andmajority of the Indonesian people are against moves toabolish the CEC.

NEW PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION PUBLICATIONS

Local Government in the Philippines: A Book ofReadings (Vol. 4), published by the Center for LocalRegional Governance (CLRG), NCPAG, University of thePhilippines

Internet Governance for Sustainable Human,Economic and Social Development (The SeventhInternet Governance Forum), published by the UnitedNations Public Administration Network (freedownloadable PDF file at www.unpan.org)

The Asian Review of Public Administration (ARPA),Volume 24 (forthcoming), 2013, published by theEastern Regional Organization for PublicAdministration (EROPA).

enhancing the quality of government: government ... · philippine government agencies. moreover, he...

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