Bureaucracy of the Philippines

In the bureaucracy of a government known as one of the most corrupt in the world, there are Ed San Pedros as there are also lowly employees who remain devoted to their work and end their service with just enough retirement pay to last in their twilight years. They watch in quiet indignation as many of their superiors, from top executives, department secretaries, and generals, to local officials loot the government treasury without remorse. Many promising career personnel, proven for their competence and meritorious service, are passed over in promotion as a new administration takes over and puts its political appointees in key positions. Loyalty to political patrons comes first in their placement within the bureaucracy. Then they claim authorship to "accomplishments" even if these are a product of labor by low-salaried career men and civil service employees.It came as no surprise when Karina C. David, immediate past commissioner of the civil service, recently criticized Mrs. Arroyo for abusing her prerogative on government appointments. Of some 6,000 executive or managerial positions in government, David said, 3,500 were appointed by the president 60 percent of them non-eligible. The office of the president (OP) alone has 53 presidential assistants, all of them political appointees with many holding redundant positions.Appointments were made apparently not on professionalism and public service but for political reasons or on loyalty to the president. For this reason alone, 4,000 career eligibles were passed over by the non-career presidential appointees.The Arroyo bureaucracy is "bloated with excess officials" and agencies topping the list are the departments of agrarian reform, national defense, environment and natural resources, and interior and local government. In these departments, the number of undersecretaries and assistant secretaries exceeds the limit of five. In fact in many national government agencies (NGAs), bureau and regional directors keep their...