PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN THE PHILIPPINES: HISTORY

The American Colonial Regime

The American takeover of the Philippines upon the pacification of the islands in 1902 was
auspicious for the Philippines because 1the Americans introduced a civil government that was in
marked contrast to that of Spain. 2The Americans established a political system in the
Philippines patterned after the republican and democratic characteristics of the U.S
government. Where the Spanish regime exerted efforts to deny ordinary Filipinos the right to an
education and to speak the Castillian Language, the Americans introduced an extensive public
educational system and even required the teaching of English. But one of the most important
contrast was the separation of church and state.
Endriga provides the following critique:
Politically speaking, the contrast with the unlamented Spanish regime was glaring. The
separation of church and state, the completely secular character of the latter, the political
participation of the Filipinos in all levels of government were a world apart from the Spanish
system where the power of the priests and the minimal participation of natives in government
gave the Filipinos practically no experience in running their own affairs.
It was also during the period that 3public administration was professionalized. It is instructive to
note here that the United States had just undergone a critical period of civil service reform after
decades of dominance of patronage and spoils in its own bureaucracy. The spoil system was
legitimized as a government policy during the presidency of Andrew Jackson in 1829, who
sought to democratize positions in bureaucracy as part of what is now known as Jacksonian
Democracy (Reyes 2003b). Jackson rationalized that the duties in the federal bureaucracy were
simple and did not demand education or prior experience. He also argued that it was only proper
that a sitting president and the political party in power must have the leeway to appoint federal
jobs supporters, protgs or recommendees of the administration. Jackson believed that by doing
so, he was making available to ordinary citizens the opportunity to serve in government. The
result was a decline in the professional competence of those manning the bureaucracy and gained
prominent attention and concern in 1881 with the assassination of President James Gareld by a
disgruntled office seeker (Reyes, 2003b). The Pendleton Act of 1883 subsequently established a
professionalized civil service in the American bureaucracy that ended over decades of the spoils
system. This was soon followed by the Gilded Age in America, which saw increasing prosperity
and modernity of American society. Thus, it was understandable that the Americans would
institute a similar system in their newly acquired colony in 1900. This was an opportunity to
discover whether the system they adopted for themselves would work in a different culture.
4

The American colonial regime, introduced a civil service system based on merit and fitness in
the Philippines, characterized by professionalism and careerism, ensured of security of tenure
and with appointments determined by open competitive examinations. 5Another important
feature of the system was the adoption of political neutrality for career members of the civil
service which secured them against involvement in partisan politics. It may be relevant to
mention here that it was this latter issue that defined the Public Administration in America,
commonly referred as the politics administration dichotomy. The neutrality of apolitical and
career bureaucrats was contained in the provisions of the Pendleton Act of 1883 in the United
States which established a professional civil service in America.
6

Act No.5 also known as the Philippine Civil Service Act with the formal title of An Act for the
Establishment and Maintenance of an Efficient and Honest Civil Service in the Philippines, is
the law that established the Civil Service in the Philippines was one of the early pieces of

legislation enacted by the Philippine Commission 7passed on September 19, 1900, set the tone
for the establishment of a professional bureaucracy in the Philippines based on merit and fitness.
The Americans deemed this as the response to the graft-ridden bureaucracy of the Spanish period
and made sure that the merit system would be upheld regardless of religious beliefs or political
affiliations.
Another 8significant feature of the administrative system established by the American colonial
regime was that it was open and made available to Filipinos. Unlike the Spanish system, which
restricted Filipinos to almost inconsequential positions. 9The administrative system established
by the Americans fostered broader Filipino participation in the civil service even if executive and
policy-determining posts remained in the hands of the Americans.

Civil Service System

Characterized by:

Professionalism and careerism

Ensured security of tenure
And with appointments determined by open competitive examinations.
Effective
Efficient

Another important feature of the system

The adoption of political neutrality for career members of the civil service
which secured them against involvement of partisan politics.

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN THE PHILIPPINES: HISTORY

The Japanese Interregnum
(1942-1945)
World War II intervened and the Philippines were swept into the war in the Pacific with 10 the
Japanese army invading the country in 1942. As a result, the commonwealth government and its
leaders were forced into exile. 11The Japanese occupation of the Philippines disrupted and
dislocated the political, economic and social life of the country. On gaining control of the
islands, 12the Japanese Imperial government established a puppet-government and conscripted
political leaders and bureaucrats alike who stayed in the country to render service to the new
Japanese-sponsored government. The 3 years of Japanese occupation had a severe impact on the
bureaucracy in the Philippines. The 13civil servant who manned the government during the
truncated commonwealth period were forced to serve under pain of reprisals. The 14civil servants
were coerced to serve and were forcibly drafted into the service which by and large resulted in a
demoralized and demotivated administrative system.
For these civil servants and for the rest of the populace, the government and its administrative
machinery was the instrument of a hated regime and acts of sabotage to undermine the
Japanese-sponsored republic were regarded as a patriotic act (Corpuz, 1957:220). Thus, such
acts of administrative delay and obstruction, and countless ways of less-than-full compliance
with administrative orders, came to be habitually indulged in, and were condoned as moral and
patriotic (Corpuz, 1957: 221). Those who chose to perform their duties eciently were
considered as collaborators and traitors, which made it more convenient for the politically
astute to go through the motions and rituals of administrative activity while secretly committing
covert acts of sabotage. The war years exacted severe repercussions on the countrys institutions
and left the country in ruins. Manila emerged as the most devastated capital city in the world,
next to Warsaw in Poland, according to the assessment of Senator Millard Tydings of the U.S.
Congress. By the 15end of the war, the Philippines was a ravaged nation, and the people
experienced widespread poverty. Its hospitals, ports, banks, libraries, buildings, and other
structures and facilities were in shambles, particularly those located in the urban areas (Reyes,
2003a: 51; Shalom, 1986: 33; Steinberg et al., 1971: 373, as cited in Abueva, 1988: 47).The end
of the war brought about unemployment, food shortages, inflation, and internal conflict and
strife, as the country was enmeshed in a campaign to seek out and punish collaborators and
supporters of the hated Japanese-sponsored government. Unrest in the countryside grew,
especially in the Northern provinces, as a growing Communist movement, remnants of the
resistance to the Japanese, began to gather strength, taking advantage of the confusion and
upheaval besetting Philippine society. 16The bureaucracy, like the society that enveloped it, was
severely traumatized by the war, and the work ethic that was supposed to have been implanted
during the American regime was soon eroded. While 17the American regime promoted and
instilled professionalism, responsibility, and commitment to public service in the bureaucracy,
the war truncated the full flowering and internalization of these values. It seemed that the
18
habits and practices of negative bureaucratic behaviour that were shaped during the Japanese
interregnum continued and rendered an administrative system almost incapable of addressing the
multiple and complex problems brought about by the war. Following the war, faced with low
income that did not measure up to living standards, it was not dicult for civil servants to
commit misfeasance and other corrupt acts. Moreover, exposes of big-time graft and corruption
cases among unscrupulous political leaders, including presidents, practically dominated the
newspaper headlines. It was therefore understandable that civil servants would be prone to
follow the example of their leaders, who would on occasions, enlist or involve the bureaucracy in
the commission of corrupt dealings.

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN THE PHILIPPINES: HISTORY

Time line

Event

MAY 1, 1898

August 14, 1898

December 10,
1989

1898-1901

March 2, 1901
Philippine
Organic Act of
July 1902
Philippine
Autonomy Act

1932

1942-1945

July 4, 1946

1ST battle of the Spanish-American War that took place in the

Philippines
The Americans were led by U.S Navy Admiral George Dewey in
participation of Emilio Aguinaldo while the Admiral Patricio
Montojo led the Spanish Quadron
At this point the U.S defeated the Spanish quadron.
End of the 333 years of Spain colonization in the Philippines.
The Philippines was ceded to the U.S by Spain in 1898 after a
payment of US$ 20 million to Spain in accordance with the "Treaty
of Paris" ending the Spanish-American War.
The U.S established Military Government in the Philippines with
General Meritt acting as military governor.
The U.S military commander governed the Philippines under the
authority of the U.S president as Commander in Chief of the United
States Armed Forces.
American-Style school system was introduced, initially with
soldiers as teachers
Civil criminal courts were re-established including a supreme court
and local governments were established in towns and provinces.
The first local election was conducted by General Harold W.
Lawton on May 7, 1899 in Baliuag Bulacan.
Civil government was established by the Americans through the so
called Spooner Amendment Act of 1901
William Howard Taft as the first American Governor-General.
It was approved, ratified and confirmed McKinleys Executive
order establishing the Philippine Commission
New organic act (or constitution) for the Philippines.
The law stated the right of the Filipinos to attain freedom in the
near future.
The Hare-Hawes Cutting Act was passed by the congress provided
for complete independence of the islands in 1945 after 10 years of
self-government under U.S supervision.
The Philippines were swept into the war in the Pacific with the
Japanese army invading the country in 1942.
The Common Wealth Government and its leaders were forced into
exile.
The Japanese occupation of the Philippines disrupted and dislocated
the political, economic, and social life of the country.
The Japanese imperial government established a puppet
government and conscripted political leaders and bureaucrats who
stayed in the country to render service to the new Japanesesponsored government.
The U.S grant the Philippines its independence.