Weak political system in Phl hinders full econ dev’t, governance experts say

The weak political system in the Philippines has been blocking the country’s full development, according to governance experts.

In a recent forum organized by think tank Stratbase ADR Institute (ADRi), experts from the academe, the private sector and civil society groups cited the need for deep government reforms to strengthen the weak political system that has been stalling the country’s development and competitiveness.

“We have focused so much on personalities, we have lost substance and are wasting too much time in personal attacks instead of debating on critical issues that would create much needed jobs and boost the country’s competitiveness in the ASEAN economy,” said ADRi president Dindo Manhit.

Danilo Reyes, a professor at the University of the Philippines’ National College of Public Administration and Governance, said the country needs to tackle the issue of globalization, which has been transforming international arrangements and relationships in the world.

He said with the Asean regional integration, the country needs to conduct and pursue more research in understanding the nature of international bureaucracies and Asean connectivity.

Management Association of the Philippines governor-in-charge for National Issues Committee Gregorio Navarro said the Philippines needs to improve on a lot of areas to compete effectively in Asean.

Navarro said in the latest Corporate Governance Watch Asia, the Philippines ranked very low among 10 Asean countries in terms of corporate governance, particularly in the rule of law.

“Out of the highest possible rating of 100 points, we have 15, I think in the rule of law. We don’t lack laws, rules and regulations, we just don’t know how to implement them,” Navarro said.

Navarro said Brunei, considered the best in the region in terms of facilitating tax payments, has a 20 percent income tax rate. The number of taxes in Brunei is about 27 with a total tax rate of about 16.1 percent and takes about 96 hours in a year to comply with taxes.

In comparison, the Philippines has a 30 percent income tax rate with 36 other taxes and a total tax rate of 44.5 percent. The country targets to reduce the number of hours spent on complying with taxes to 193.

Meanwhile, Ramon Casiple, chairman of Consortium for Electoral Reforms, said the patronage system basically poisons the entire political structure or framework in the country.

“Every time they change president, the new president has the authority to appoint something like 17,500 positions. That is only in the Philippines wherein like the President can appoint up-to the sixth level of bureaucracy down to the provincial head of the national agency. Of course, that shows a very strong President. But it also reinforces what I call the patronage system,” he said.

Casiple said governance as a whole is tightly related to the patronage system because of the appointments and also because of the policies that would favor dynasties, families and politics.”

“You have to de-link that two. The marriage of politics and governance is a disaster. Unless that is addressed, all the well-meaning reforms I think would go into nothing,” he said.

Casiple cited the need to have a political mechanism to enhance the vision for national unity. “That mechanism actually is the political party--a genuine political party that talks to other political parties on the basis of programs, platforms, ideas and come up with a national agenda. You will have differences definitely but it is the differences of ideas, not personalities,” he said.

“Unless that political question is addressed, I fear that the Philippines, that would mean the government or even the private sector would not be prepared for Asean integration or for global competitiveness for that matter,” he said.