The Congruence between PGMA's Urban Poor Policies and Needs of Constituents: A Critical Analysis

Abstract

The researcher thought of this topic at a time when it became apparent that the country is at an impasse. The situation is not progressing, despite or maybe because of the political players and the political context. The government remains ineffective, and the poor remains poor, if they did not become poorer. This observation of the status quo was compared with two scenarios, with which few events would necessarily follow: Scenario one. If the government were effective, there would be popular support for its policies, resulting to development, because it would necessarily follow that people would exert effort to meet government goals, and at the same time, opposition would not be able to muster enough anti forces to do something. Scenario two. If the government were ineffective, the people would not support its policies, leading to either inaction or the search for alternatives of the people, which would cater to their needs and could also include the absence of political participation. It is clear than the government is ineffective with its policies, as found by the paper. Therefore it seems illogical why no one is successfully challenging the ineffectiveness of the government. Wouldn't it be logical to think that if the government is ineffective, there would be resentment from the people, contributing to a strong anti-PGMA force, either leading to a change in policies or a change of president in power. The main goal of this thesis is to find out what contributes to this plateau of inaction, what the turning point in justice is, and in under what conditions will make people mobilize and at what level of suffering. At the end of the day, effectiveness draws popular support, maintenance of power, and development. Ineffectiveness draws otherwise. The study provides an analysis of a current Philippine Situation, so as to determine the flaws of the prevailing system of governance. Needs as perceived by the urban poor and the government are analyzed to determine their congruence with one another. Government policies are analyzed vis-a-vis national economic policies, to measure the effectiveness of the government itself Public policies, the role of the government and how it responds to its constituents, what people want and expect from the government, specifically PGMA's administration, are studied for this thesis. The researcher recognizes the role of government in providing services to the urban poor, and sees it as the most encompassing in scope and with the most ability to alleviate the problems of the urban poor. The researcher conducted interviews in the Blumentritt railway area, so as to derive firsthand information on the views and perception of the urban poor with regard to governance and government policies. The researcher also attempted to look at the policy making and implementation of the Philippine government through key informant interviews. Unfortunately, such efforts were almost futile. Repetitive rescheduling and faxing, even visits to government offices, did not produce favorable results. The researcher even found herself probed and questioned quite rudely by supposedly esteemed government employees. For the rest of the literature, the researcher opted to resort to government documents readily available for public consumption. Information was derived not only from government archives, but from independently-published journals and newspapers. The researcher learned, through interviews with the urban poor from the Blumentritt, that the urban poor believe that the government isn't exerting enough effort, if exerting any, to respond to their needs. They believe that the government knows what the urban poor needs are, but because of self-preservation and political agenda, policies targeted for the urban poor's well-being are not given focus by the government, in terms of policy-making and implementation. This is the perspective of the urban poor. The researcher also learned, through an interview with a government official from the National Economic and Development Authority, that government efforts result to no avail because of internal inefficiencies, i.e. mistargeting and undercoverage, as well as problems of funding. The government official concedes that there is a problem of corruption, yet has asserted that not all branches of government are corrupt and that there are those who actively try to look after the well-being of the urban poor. It is realized that PGMA's public policies for the urban poor cease to be effective, as national economic policies contradict the goals of domestic urban poor policies, defeating the latter's purpose and effect It is also concluded that the goals set by government are not of long-term benefits, but for short-term alone, only proving to be detrimental for the welfare of the urban poor later on. This is supported by the views of an economics professor of the University of the Philippines Manila. The researcher is a believer of social justice and equity, and strives to the promotion of the welfare of the masses. She advocates such ideals in her own way, as a student leader. It is therefore of much value to her to find a way to improve the current situation of the urban poor through public policies.