With the rice shortage problem and the associated high inflation still fresh in our minds, we have been bombarded once again with a series of unfortunate events. First, the water crisis occurred surprisingly this month after official pronouncement of adequate supply in the main reservoirs. Consequently, many areas in Metro Manila and Rizal experienced limited to no water supply, with some areas having people line up for hours to get water from tankers. While the private concessioner, Manila Water, had claimed responsibility for this incident and promised to solve this crisis at the quickest possible time, the coming summer does not provide much assurance to the thousands of people affected.
Second, the budget impasse that was caused by the members of Congress incorporating additional items to a budget already ratified by the two houses of Congress. As a result, a reenactment of last year’s budget was enforced. According to the economic managers, the previous budget falls short of the needed funds for the current government programs, thereby reducing economic growth this year. Most affected will be the government workers and officials whose salaries and bonuses are not part of the old budget.
Finally, the Philippines officially withdrew its membership to the International Criminal Court due to the failure of the Supreme Court to contest the move initiated by the Executive Branch last year. President Duterte’s decision to withdraw from the ICC comes in the wake of his violent anti-illegal drug campaign. For human-rights advocates, this was “an act of desperation” on the part of the President to evade any trace of accountability. As a result, the culture of impunity is strengthened, leaving many vulnerable households to possible atrocious crimes by the state without any resort to justice.
The central question is whether these events are avoidable. In the case of the water crisis, the problem could have been evaded had the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, the state regulator, heeded the previous warnings of Manila Water regarding the diminishing water supply in the face of escalating urban population. This shows an incapacity of the state to provide systematic direction to the society and economy in the presence of a viable, legitimate and highly popular political regime.
The budget impasse is another form of governance disaster that stems from the inability to coordinate and cooperate. Unlike the water issue, this goes beyond the design of programs but could have been evaded if the rule of law matters. According to Sen. Panfilo Lacson, corruption is the motivation behind this issue as the members of Congress included additional items in the budget to increase their pork barrel, thus violating the laws imposed by the Supreme Court.
Unlike these two cases, the ICC issue represents a policy failure in the sense that this does not reach posited goals of social justice, and that the unintended negative consequences of the program are sufficiently great. Since the state itself has ordered the crackdown on drug users, which include a number of politicians, the social and political disruptions can go unmitigated.
Without the ICC Resolution, the options of seeking justice is summarily reduced, especially for affected households with very scarce resources. Even if the justice system is “robust” and “functional,” as claimed by Presidential Spokesman Salvador S. Panelo, this judicial system is beneficial only to higher income classes. The problem could have been avoided if ICC had been faced squarely and been allowed to conduct its investigations. Any democratic country with a tradition for transparency and fairness should not fear these examinations. Any form of blockage—such as the invented claim that the ICC Resolution was not publicly announced—is only seen as an admission of guilt, making a confrontation with the ICC inevitable despite the country’s withdrawal from the Statute.
But are not these events independent of one another? Surely, one can argue that these are coincidences and are to be expected from any government advocating reform. Unfortunately, the frequency of these failures has increased over time, making these not mere chances but a permanent feature in newspapers. Moreover, governance failures reflect policy failures. For example, the abuse of power by rogue policemen (a governance failure) would not have happened without an ill-conceived drug war policy. As policy catastrophes remain, so would governance letdowns. Given the lack of foresight in preempting these failures, one wonders about this administration’s capability to manage the government and economy. Worse, the continuation of these failures places doubts on its ability to protect the welfare of its citizens.
If there is a connection, what then is the source of these failures? In cases of policy failure, policy-makers should seek alternatives to alter the situation, instead of insisting that the proposed policy is the only way. Especially in situations in which the public sector historically has been the dominant actor, policy failures should produce significant searches for new alternatives.
The problem can be the absence of proficient, independent minded players who can “learn by doing,” i.e., effectively encourage, or force, integration of programs and policies, or perhaps control public spending on multiple programs. Seemingly what would be required is a strong center within the government that could assume principled position on issues, regardless of its political consequences. Likewise, this version of government failure will require more analytically capable players as checks and balances to slow, as well as facilitate the actions of the government.
The presence of these players is crucial, especially with a President who thinks the solution to violence is even more violence. After all, political will is only as good as a well-crafted policy and an effective governance system.
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Leonardo A. Lanzona Jr. is professor of economics at the Ateneo de Manila University and a senior fellow of Eagle Watch, the school’s macroeconomic research and forecasting unit.