A New Year is always a time for rethinking the old and imagining tomorrow. Perhaps now, more so than in recent years, with myriad challenges every Filipino— every citizen of the world faces, we look towards the future, uncertain.
The challenges wrought by the global financial crisis and how the world will respond to it will open and close doors. Energy. Technology. Food. Water. Climate. Whether the continued decentralization of power the world over would transpire or not and how well the methodology of State Capitalism as espoused by many powers like South Korea, Singapore, China, Russia would be successful, it wouldn’t be unimaginable to think that the geopolitical realities 10— years, even 15 years down the road would be unrecognizable.
Energy. Technology. Food. Water. Climate.
These are global challenges that domestically, the Republic must face head on. Is our people ready? Is our leadership ready? Whether Charter Change occurs or not, these are the growing and epic concerns that would challenge the next President of the Republic. The stark reality is that the nation is in a limited position to stand up against such epic concerns so long as politics, health care, problems with education and increased level of poverty and both unemployment and underemployment strikes the nation. And how well our massive global workforce— our biggest trade works for us going forward.
Sparks shared a link with me a few days ago on Bad Loans to Good Friends: Money Politics and the Developmental State in South Korea (pdf). It is an interesting piece on State Capitalism in South Korea and how corruption and politics has played a role in South Korean development.
Perhaps it is time we legitimized commission for every transaction, negotiated and carried out by our government’s agents?
Hope springs eternal but is hope for sissies?
Would it matter how we give every Filipino economic freedom, so long as the job gets done?
Popularity: 1% [?]
@cvj on January 6th, 2009 7:22 am
you said that school quality is higher when people complain, rich parents complain, complaints change practice.
for this to work, we need a responsive school. How do we know the school will be responsive? What is the mechanism for that?
you said there is some (anecdotal?) evidence that this works. Does Hirschman control for alternative stories that lead to the same result? For example, if quality does decrease (via scores) because rich kids leave, is it really coz of complaining? Maybe these guys left coz of some reason; namely school admin is not responsive to their needs, the rich kids that are good leave, lowering the average.
moreover (and admittedly this is a cheap shot) why is this reason THE MOST IMPORTANT reason for school quality, such that we sacrifice the benefits of competition to make it happen.
actually, under this plan, i have no doubt that the quality received by POOR STUDENTS will rise for many reasons, possibly from what u mentioned, or others, like better teachers previously from private school, or the entry of rich, good students with higher scores.
The problem is the quality given to rich/middle class kids, which will likely fall, for the reason i mentioned, as well as peer effects, etc.
To the extent that there are only poor students in a locality, then even if the argument is correct, nothing happens.
Their parents will complain; rightly so. But ur right — if this is a majority opinion rule thing, since there are more poor, the poor win, assuming no vote buying.
However, the majority opinion is NOT used for all societal decisions for various reasons, mostly ethical and political (rights). So we need a moral /political argument.
Moreover, a sufficiently creative administration/parents will resort to grouping kids by income again depending on where school funding comes from. If this segregates poor and rich again, that can affect average quality. (see the US case). Back to square one.
IF the goal is to raise quality for ALL kids, then we need to raise teacher quality for all, while respecting/taking advantage of differences in talent and skill.
IF complaining is the key (or at the very least useful), we need to empower all parents to demand changes, while preserving choice.
FINALLY, i echo DJBs comments that government involvement is justified on various grounds, and this reason doesn’t cut it (based on those grounds).
KG,
It is interesting to know that Bencard and Abe are Bicolanos too. :)
DJB,
Ateneo de Naga, University of Nueva Caceres, Colegio de Sta. Isabel and other private schools in my area require uniform from their students and the expense for uniform alone is more than my parents can afford, let alone the tuition fee you claim would be lowered if all students will go to private schools.
I said there is some deficit in public instruction, but I it is not rotten instruction as you would disdainfully claim. I learned my 3r’s from public schools and at the stature of any poor student like me, that is all what is needed. I learned my 3r’s and improved on them. The public school is there only to teach us the basic. It is the invividual’s yearning for sophistication and more knowledge that makes up for the difference. Right now, I don’t feel that my knowledge is inferior to that one educated in private schools.
It was my public school teacher, Mrs. Estiva who taught me English but I don’t feel any inferiority in my english composition compared to those privately educated. I learned my abc from my grade one public school teacher and they are the same alphabet being taught in private schools.
You are also correct in the suggestion that we remove the discetionary funds of GMA and channel them to public education instead of the pork barrels funds of Congress. :)
As regards
jcc,
every person who goes through the public school system belongs to a “cohort” currently numbering about 20 million. Of this number, it so happens that a certain person, currently designating him or herself as “JCC” on this blog, got an education through that public school system.
Well I am forced to agree, it cannot possibly be THAT rotten if it produced you. Indeed it produced many great men and women.
But we must be hard nosed about this. Of the COHORT to which you belonged, how many DID get an education from the public school system. How many ended up being tricycle drivers or GROs?
i think we can all agree that as a nation we need to rethink education and its place for future Filipinos.
@cocoy
i do believe that it would increase the cost of doing business (your plan)
Assuming it can be implemented, the only way it would NOT increase it, is if literally everyone is on the take, AND if no one wanted to increase their take once it is legalized.
To the extent that some people don’t ask for bribes, they would be encouraged to do so under a legal environment.
kung baga, if its legal to ask for money, even the people who aren’t on the take (the honest) would join in and insist on these payments.
Second, there is a tendency to ask for more money when the threat of punishment is taken away. So the people asking for money NOW will probably want more when its legalized.
given human nature there is that possibility. which is why i think hand in hand, the judiciary and the police ought to be cleaned up to. even if it means professionalizing their wages.
if you’re given a decent living, the ideal thought is that they’ll not want to take under the table deals.
it wouldn’t be a bribe anymore if it is legal. it would be part of the benefit for being an employee of the government.
and yes, call me a cynic— to a degree most people are already on the take. this is just leveling the playing field.
Unfinnished business:
About the proposal of DJB to eliminate public school system.
I said I read about Africa, let me paste some excerpts and the link.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4489434.stm
Free education fails to deliver?
With free primary education now offered in a number of African countries, have standards of education dropped?
According to UNESCO, the average number of children per teacher in Malawi is 63.
When free primary education was introduced during the 1990s, the number of students doubled.
However UNESCO says that funding per pupil fell significantly, suggesting a decline in the quality of education provided.
Is it enough for a child just to be in school? Who is benefiting from increased access to schooling? What support do teachers have? Is it possible to teach 63 children successfully?
Unfinished pala
GabbyD, in every locality there are the ‘malakas’ to whom the authorities listen to. The ‘malakas; can be the rich and the powerful but they can also be the Middle Class parents getting together, against their school administrators. By forcing their kids to attend the same schools as the rest, then their interests can be aligned with those of the poorer and voiceless parents.
(I take it that these rich or middle class parents will avail of loopholes, such as sending their kids abroad, or getting tutors after school but not all of them can do that and there will still be collateral benefits).
BTW, here in Singapore, most of the children are enrolled in the public school system.
I blogged about the Abaya vs Ebdane case and because finally the World Bank stepped in our procurement mess.
http://karl-garcia.blogspot.com/2009/01/wb-steps-in-our-procurement-mess.html
That was the first day I read about it in the newspapers.
Ngayon, I heard that a senate investigation will happen because it is already the world bank who noticed.
Well, that is politics.
That is why I was biased against legalizing commissions, because my dad was one of the petitioners in the Abaya vs Ebdane case.
Cocoy,
I will just copy my conversations with Gabby D about procurement here.
Offtopic discusssion ito nung nagusap kami sa:
http://www.filipinovoices.com/the-impact-of-financial-crisis-to-ofws-global-deployment.
(ang layo sa procuremnet ano?)
(Nick, bawas bawasan ko na itong bad habit na ito)
GabbyD on December 20th, 2008 2:34 pm
@Karl
medyo off-topic…
I’m interested in procurement. you mentioned the procurement laws in RP. how do parties rig the bidding system?
Karl Garcia on December 20th, 2008 6:34 pm
Gabby,
( I deleted parts of my comment about ofws 01/19/09).
OK to your question.
DISCLOSURE:
My father was one of the petitioners in the Abaya vs. Ebdane case in the SC so I will try to be objective as possible.
Let us eliminate connivance and collusion as much as possible.
Before the procurement law was filed.
The usual style is the lowest bidder wins, but what happens is the winner makes some ammendments(sic) and adjustments called extra work and change orders.
And that makes it another story and makes the process a farce.
In the present procurement law, the beef is you only have an IRR or implementing rules for locally funded projects but not for foreign funded projects because the contract price is dictated by the foreign financial institutions and add to that the project cost gets bloated because the consultants price is almost the same as the project.
But set that aside,
The price adjustment issues was somehow addressed by the so called ABC or approved budget for a contract.
Now the ABC is used as a ceiling,the abc is published and the internet made it impossible for contractors to hoard newspapers(as if anyone can do that joke only)but somehow locally funded project can still be rigged or lutong macao.
There are many steps to prevent collusion by making it transparent,but there are many ways to skin a cat,unfortunately.
Like the ABC was intended for more savings for the government no matter who bags the project,but somehow that is not enough.
Some are still complaining that the prices are to low that if they bid at the lowest price nearest, the approved project cost,the project won’t be completed or quality would be compromised.
What you see on the highways if you travel by road is what you get gabby.
Hey,
do you happen to drive along the road and see an alternate of good roads and rough roads; That could be a result of what I said or the project
let say a 100 kilometer project sliced into ten projects,because that too happens.
I hope even that is only the highway part of the procurement, i hope I was able to answer it objectively enough.
GabbyD on December 20th, 2008 7:20 pm
@Karl
thanks. i am still very much confused how rigging works in practice. as you say:
“Now the ABC is used as a ceiling,the abc is published and the internet made it impossible for contractors to hoard newspapers(as if anyone can do that joke only)but somehow locally funded project can STILL be rigged or lutong macao.” [EMPHASIS mine]
as for foreign funded projects, i read on pcij that the reason they win is that the bidding blocks domestic competition by imposing unreasonable expectations on the contractor’s level of experience. Naturally, a domestic contractor is unlikely to have the same experience as a larger MNC. It works as a barrier to entry….
As for the quality level, i DON”T get that also. Quality is easily observable and CAN be contracted on.
anyway, off-topic ‘to, so next time na lang. ty…
Ok Gabby,I hope one day one will write something about procurement.
I asked the cat before about procurement and i learned a lot, during our off topic conversations.
here is a link for you :
http://www.senate.gov.ph/publications/PB%202008-05%20-%20Plugging%20the%20Loopholes.pdf
PS
on my bias opinion:
keyword: approved budgeted cost.
hint:
Budget Bicam and its non disclosure to the public.
Nagstart nga pala ito dahil me nabaggit ko ang procurement habang kausap ko si leytenian:
KG on December 20th, 2008 11:51 am
Leytenian,
It is true it is all about gaming the system.here is a true story…
one of the authors of the legislation for procurement,knows everything about the procurement system , and he supposedly had all bases covered when that bill was passed,but when it his turn to deal with the line agencies and the politicos,and the rest of the chain gang, wala ganuna pa din.
The biggest locally funded project in pinas is the marikina infanta road, you know who got it.
It was AC de Luna , FGS bagman or collector.
(edit: E.C de Luna,alleged FG bagman 01/19/09;
did not include the rest of my comment after the word collector)
………
leytenian on December 20th, 2008 1:11 pm
KG,
gaming the system may exist in different countries in the world. In the US when rule of law exist, anyone who is caught can go to jail. It is not a sound strategy for long term wealth and healthy future. Ex: Madoff. He knows that FCC regulators are weak, took advantage- game the system. But look at what happen to him. The time he invested to become rich is just gone in a heartbeat with bad publicity and big time penalty.
If only he had MANAGED his company according to establish rules without gaming the system, he could have save himself from big trouble.
Yes, gaming the system is quiet common in our country. It is a result of the weakness of the law, padrino system, bribes, political dynasty and all those types of corruptions. Such risks are often times ignored and thus transferred to the people.These Risks are MANAGEABLE. But how do you MANAGE those risks?
Gaming the system is often used for personal gains that are supposed to be for the people. I am hoping that this Luna guy will do his job to MANAGE the project according to its purpose.
When democracy do not exist in a country, many will game the system because there’s no penalty. It has been a game that many pinoys are playing.
only in da pilipins. Lastly , Democracy is Manageable.
I don’t do gaming the system Karl. My life is worth living. If I will go home and manage, no thanks, unless those RISKS are MANAGED.
IF you are talking the Luna contract as gaming the system, it is his style of MANAGEMENT. only in da pilipins. OK