Bang! To Boom: Assessing The Effectiveness Of Retired Military Officials Elected In The Government

Abstract

The military plays a very significant yet crucial role in society and in politics. From defending the country's territorial integrity against foreign aggressors and maintaining internal security, some military men have occupied key government positions either by presidential appointment or through elections. By winning the elections, these military men can now affect the quality of public service we have and the policymaking process. Therefore, it is only reasonable to know whether or not these military men can really promote and administer positive change for the betterment of our public service. Hence, this study titled Bang! To Boom: Assessing the Effectiveness of Retired Military Officials Elected in the Government was conducted to assess the performance effectiveness of elected retired military officials (ERMOs) in terms of their development orientation and manifestation of governance in comparison to elected non­ military officials (ENMOs). Specifically the study assessed the development orientation of ERMOs and ENMOs based on their change orientation, action propensity, commitment to economic development, concern for conflict avoidance, and selflessness; evaluated the manifestation of governance among the ERMOs and the ENMOs along the aspects of accountability, participation, predictability and transparency; identified if there is a significant relationship between the development orientation and manifestation of governance of the ERMOs and ENMOs; determined if there is a significant difference between ERMOs and ENMOs' development orientation and manifestation of governance of the; and, identified the ERMOs' areas of improvement.

The descriptive-correlation method of research was employed and a survey questionnaire was also used as the primary gathering tool. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequency counts, percentages, means and average weighted means. The Pearson Product Moment of Correlation Analysis and T-test was also used to measure the strength of the relationship between variables.

The respondents of the study consisted of two groups: the local government unit staffs and the voting public under selected ERMOs - Mayor Teodoro A Ramos ofLGU Sta. Maria, Pangasinan, a retired technical sergeant of AFP, and Mayor Ricardo V. Revita of LGU Rosales, Pangasinan, a retired colonel of PNP, and for the comparator group, the staffs and the voting public under selected ENMOs - LGU Natividad's Mayor Rodrigo L. Rafael and LGU San Nicolas' Mayor Leoncio S. Saldivar III.

Results showed that ERMOs are more development oriented than ENMOs. In addition, ERMOs' governance was more manifested than that of ENMOs except in the area of "accountability" and "participatory", wherein a lower rating was given by the staffs and the voters, respectively. Consequently, significant relationship was observed between the sub-indicators of development orientation and manifestation of governance. Finally, results showed that while staffs' assessment bear no significant difference between the level of effectiveness ofERMOs and ENMOs, voters' assessment showed a significant difference on the ERMOs' concern for development, accountability, and predictability as compared to that of the ENMOs.

In conclusion, ERMOs exhibit a development orientation and governance that would improve the public service and the policymaking processes as a whole. Performance-wise, retired military officers are better public servants than our civilian leaders.