A continuing criticism of the Philippines and our government is that we suffer from a lack of strong institutions. It is clear why that condemnation is valid when we examine the operations and achievements of some government departments.
One of the most important and vital government institutions is the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), or perhaps it should be called the “Department of Total Chaos.”
The DOTC is the department that ordinary Filipinos must engage almost on a daily basis. The DOTC-attached agencies number about 20, ranging from the Land Transportation Office, the Philippine Ports Authority, to the Toll Regulatory Board, the Manila International Airport Authority, and everything in between.
“The Department of Transportation and Communications is the primary policy, planning, programming, coordinating, implementing and administrative entity of the Executive branch of the government on the promotion, development and regulation of a dependable and coordinated network of transportation and communications systems.” If people or goods move in the Philippines, the DOTC, by its own mandate, is responsible.
How well is it fulfilling the public’s expectations? The nation’s road network outside of the major population areas and surroundings is incomplete and is more suited to a time when carabaos pulled carts. The airport system has been obsolete for more than a decade. Our sea transportation may be one of the most dangerous and costly on the planet. The Philippine National Railways is actually the “Philippine National Train” when it works at all.
The DOTC has a 2015 budget of approximately P60 billion, and it employs thousands of people. That budget is about the same as the revenues of major property-development company Megaworld Corp. or shopping mall retailer SM Prime Holdings. Those two private corporations are managed by people who have years of experience in managing progressively larger entities within their particular industries.
For the past two DOTC secretaries, responsible for an organization that is at least as large as Megaworld and SM Prime Holdings, each of them holds a primary profession as “politician.”
However, most—not all—of the previous DOTC secretaries were, indeed, “politicians” who came to the DOTC with extensive records of “public service.” We are not criticizing the performance of any of the men and women who held the DOTC top post because that is not our point, nor is it useful.
Consider: The board of directors, looking for a new president or CEO of a major corporation, would probably not consider the application of someone whose work experience was as a three-term representative who might also have held an important and critical position as advisor to the President.
In countries where the institutions are strong and the bureaucracy functions at a high level of responsibility and effectiveness, a Cabinet secretary can be effective as a caretaker to insure that the vision of the administration is carried out. But in the Philippines, the position must be more than a figurehead, as critical and well-informed decisions must be made.
The qualifications and subsequent performance of past DOTC secretaries are themselves indictment of our political patronage system, something the nation cannot afford to perpetuate.
Image credits: Jimbo Albano