Dyna Mae Rose R.

Davin

Good governance is an indeterminate term used in the International Development Literature to describe
how public institutions conduct public affairs and manage public resources. Governance is the process of
decision making and the process by which decisions are implemented or not implemented. The term
good governance can apply to Corporate, International, National and Local. Local governance or to the
interactions between other sectors of society. The concept of good governance often emerges as a
model to compare an effective economies or political bodies with viable economies. The concept
centers on the responsibility of governments and governing bodies to meet the needs of the masses as
opposed to select groups in. Every country across the world always encounter issues, problems,
concerns and even challenges- may it be in Agricultural Aspect, Economical, Societal or Political. And
these things results to slowing down a particular country or nation’s progress and development.
Philippines, for instance, isn’t exempted. As a matter of fact, Philippines ranks as the 76 th of all countries
in the world in terms of Poverty garnering only 9,471 of its GDP. The Philippines’ economic freedom
score is 64.5, making its economy the 70th freest in the 2020 Index. Its overall score has increased by 0.7
point due primarily to a higher government integrity score. The Philippines is ranked 14th among 42
countries in the Asia–Pacific region, and its overall score is well above the regional and world averages.
Every six years, new leaders are being elected with their own platforms. And with the span of their
terminology, only a few of them (elected leaders) were successful to create a change where it gives
benefits to the country. While some of them, puts the country at stake. With that situation, you can
observe and quickly conclude that the success of a certain country only depends on 2 things: the leader
itself (of how good he/she rules the country) and its people or citizen (on how far they could commit or
submit themselves to the governing leader and how discipline and obedient they are to cooperate with
the elected president). Going back to the challenges faced by Philippines and why it ranks as 76 th of
those poorest country in the world, you can really identify and tell those factors or challenges there are
as you’ve got to live within this country or just by looking at its statistical data to whichever aspect. As
instructed above, now I am going to cite 5 main problems that are faced by the Philippines one in
Economical, Societal, Environmental, Social and Political (well in point of fact there are a lot to be
mentioned). This is for us to see every aspect of it and to focus on only one area. The following
problems are as follows:

Economical Challenge:

1. Poverty and corruption

The Philippines suffers from widespread corruption. Means of corruption include graft, bribery,
embezzlement, backdoor deals, nepotism, and patronage.
The causes of this issue are as follows:

Bribery
Cronyism
Electoral fraud
Influence peddling
Kleptocracy
Nepotism
Slush fund
The possible solution to Poverty and Corruption can be:

Punish the vote sellers and vote brokers

Corrupt voters give birth to corrupt politicians. In order to stop corruption, we have to start
eliminating it at its birth, that is, during elections.
Annual assessment of all public officials by the BIR
Majority of politicians in the Philippines are rich and generating income from businesses.
Therefore, the BIR should not only focus on examining small business owners and professionals,
but should also concentrate on investigating the politicians and the companies that are fully or
partially owned by them.
A more effective and efficient tax system
Solution #2 won’t be effective if our tax system will not be improved. To effectively and
efficiently collect taxes from taxpayers, especially from politicians, we have to upgrade our tax
system, make registrations/tax declarations/payments online, and eliminate unnecessary
regulations that only make our system more complicated. The BIR should not only invest in
human resources, but also on technology like what Singapore and other countries that have a
more efficient tax system are doing.
Regular surprise examination of all government offices
The Civil Service Commission is the agency mandated to promote and administer efficient and
effective personnel in the government. They should see to it that the Anti-Red Tape Law or RA
9485 is well enforced in all government offices.
Government employees can also commit corruption. If they don’t do their job to serve the
public well or if they don’t work for the hours the government is paying them, that’s already a
form of corruption. Thus, the CSC should ensure that all government personnel are doing their
job well and complying with the Anti-red tape law and other applicable laws in our country.
They should obey the no noon breaks policy, should work beyond 5pm when necessary, and
should not commit fixing or connive with fixers.
Improved integrity in our justice system
we have existing good laws in the Philippines. The problem is the low integrity of our justice
system. Our laws, themselves, suffer from injustice because they aren’t respected and protected
by the authorities that should be protecting them in the first place. Corrupt politicians and
government officials are not usually sent to jail.

To improve the integrity of our justice system, there should be a collaboration among the DOJ,
Office of the Ombudsman, PNP, NBI, courts, and the civil society to uphold justice in our
country. There should also be a more effective witness protection program to make sure that all
witnesses or whistle blowers, including their families will be safe and protected.
Reduce the number of government officials
if all else fails then the last solution to reduce corruption in the Philippines is simply to reduce
the number of government officials in our country. We have so many lawmakers. We have
around 292 congressmen, including party-list representatives. If our house of congress cannot
produce a good number of useful laws, then why not consider decreasing the congressional
seats to limit only to capable representatives?
We also have a lot of barangay officials across the nation, whom can only be used as brokers of
vote selling and buying during national elections. Although barangay officials can be helpful, as
 there are actually honest officials in this level, we have to consider whether barangay elections
can be beneficial in the national level.

Societal Challenge:

2. Overpopulation

Overpopulation is a major cause of most of the world’s problems. Whether it is a question of food
shortage, lack of drinking water or energy shortages, every country in the world is affected by it – or
will be. Over the last half century the population of the world has exploded. At the time of writing
there are seven billion people on the planet and this number is projected to grow in a short period
of time. Of all of the environmental challenges facing the planet today overpopulation is one that
sometimes slips under the radar. Issues like pollution, climate change and water shortages all seem
to take precedence, but overpopulation is one of the main contributors to many other
environmental issues. Overpopulation will place great demands on resources and land, leading to
widespread environmental issues in addition to impacting global economies and standards of living.
There are a number of factors that contribute to overpopulation. These are the leading causes:

Poverty

Poverty is believed to be the leading cause of overpopulation. A lack of educational resources, coupled
with high death rates leading to higher birth rates, result in impoverished areas seeing large booms in
population.

Poor Contraceptive Use

Though the availability of contraceptives is widespread in developed countries, poor planning on both
partners’ parts can lead to unexpected pregnancies. This issue is exacerbated in underdeveloped areas.
A study by the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that this usage figure drops to 43% in countries
that are blighted by issues like poverty, which leads to higher birth rates.

Child Labor

As distressing as it may be to hear, child labor is still used extensively in many parts of the world. UNICEF
estimates that approximately 150 million children are currently working, primarily in countries that have
few child labor laws. This can result in children being seen as a source of income by impoverished
families. Furthermore, children who begin work too young also lose the educational opportunities they
should be granted, particularly when it comes to birth control.

Reduced Mortality Rates

Improvement in medical technology has led to lower mortality rates for many serious diseases.
Particularly dangerous viruses and ailments such as polio, smallpox and measles have been practically
eradicated by such advances. While this is positive news in many ways, it also means that people are
living longer than ever before. This “delay” in the cycle of life and death has led to birth rates
outstripping death rates by over two to one in modern times.

Fertility Treatment
Though it only plays a minor role in comparison to the other causes of overpopulation, improved fertility
treatments have made it possible for more people to have children. The number of women using various
fertility treatments has been on the rise since their inception. Now most have the option of conceiving
children, even if they may not have been able to do so without such treatments.

Immigration

Unchecked immigration into countries may lead to overpopulation to the point where those countries
no longer have the required resources for their population. This is particularly problematic in countries
where immigration numbers far exceed emigration numbers. In some cases, immigrants may be
attempting to escape overpopulation in their own countries, only to contribute to the same issues in the
countries they move to. However, data also exists to show the immigration can bolster economies.

Below are the proposed solutions:

Better Sex Education

A lack of sex education – or poorly-implemented education – has led to overpopulation issues in many
countries. The issue is so pronounced that the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is calling for
improvements to be made, particularly in poorer areas of the world. Better education will help people
understand more about the potential consequences of having sex as they relate to child birth. It will also
do away with many of the myths that surround the sexual act and introduce scientifically-proven
methods of birth control.

Access to Contraceptives

Access to birth control must go hand-in-hand with better sex education. After all, without it people
cannot put what they have learned into practice. The World Health Organization (WHO) states that 225
million women who are living in the developing countries would prefer to postpone giving birth but are
not using any form of contraception.

Changes in Policy

Many nations offer rewards, whether in the form of financial incentives or increased benefits, to those
who have more children. This may lead to some couples having more children than they otherwise
would if they needed to worry about the financial consequences. This is a difficult issue to confront.
China’s “One-Child’ policy was recently abandoned, in part, because of the restrictions it placed on
freedom, and it is likely that similar policies would be seen as equally restrictive.

Education on the Subject

While a number of organizations exist to provide schools with curricula and teaching materials to cover
the subject of overpopulation, it is still a subject that is not covered in schools as well as it should be.
This education should extend beyond talking about sex and into the global consequences of
overpopulation. Dialog about the subject needs to be more open, with sites like debate.org offering
useful resources that allow the issue to be confronted rationally.

Environmental Challenge:

3. Environmental Issues

The Philippines are prone to natural disasters, particularly typhoons, floods, landslides, volcanic
eruptions, earthquakes, and tsunamis, lying as it does astride the typhoon belt, in the active volcanic
region known as the “Pacific Ring of Fire,” and in the geologically unstable region between the Pacific
and Eurasian tectonic plates. The Philippines also suffers major human-caused environmental
degradation aggravated by a high annual population growth rate, including loss of agricultural lands,
deforestation, soil erosion, air and water pollution, improper disposal of solid and toxic wastes, loss of
coral reefs, mismanagement and abuse of coastal resources, and overfishing.

Climate Change
recent scientific studies reveal that human activities have contributed significantly to the
increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that causes climate change. The Philippines
is a hotspot for climate change disasters particularly the risk for agriculture and food
security due to extreme El Nino and severe tropical cyclones. The spread of infectious
diseases are influenced by fluctuations in climate variables, temperature, relative humidity
and rainfall. Sever super typhoons like Reming that pummeled the Bicol region in 2006
destroyed at least $90-million worth of agricultural products and infrastructure.

Decline of Natural Resources and Biodiversity

The Philippines is suffering from degradation of the natural environment. It has fifty major rivers
now polluted due to abuse and neglect. Approximately two-thirds of the country's original
mangroves have been lost. A hundred years ago, the Philippines had close to 22 million hectares
of old growth forest. At the start of 2000, we had less than 600,000 hectares of old-growth
forest left. In one century, we had cut down close to 97 percent of our original forest. A study by
the Environmental Scientists for Social Change (ESSC) reveals that we have systematically cut
this forest down and that we have not stopped its destruction and that of its core biodiversity.

Alarming Waste Problem

The Philippines is looming with garbage problems despite the passage of the Ecological Solid Waste

Management Act or the Republic Act (RA) 9003. 2007 first quarter data from the National Solid Waste
Management Commission shows that there are 677 open dumpsites, 343 controlled dumps, and 21
landfills in the country. An additional 307 dump sites are subject for closure or rehabilitation plans but
without definite schedules for enforcement. About 215 additional landfills are being proposed to be set
up nationwide.

Suggested Actions to be undertaken:

a. Participatory Communication for Development

Social Capital/ Community Empowerment
Developing Community Leaders
Engaging multi-sectoral participation (youth, schools, businesses, church, etc.) in
community design and planning
b. Community Immersion
Immersion and Research on Community’s sociographic and psychographic profile
Community Interaction with women, youth, and local community officials
Environmental Education Workshops and Demos
Environmental Education lessons to be familiar with a variety of ways in
understanding the environment and the ecological crisis
Exploration of local Biodiversity
Evaluation of Stakeholders’ Available Skills and Resources
Evaluation of community’s existing level of environmental awareness
c. Community IEC Campaigns
Development of local environmental campaigns
Distribution and Exhibit of created IEC materials
Flyers and Posters
d. Environmental Management Capacity Building Workshops for Community
Hands-on Household Ecological Solid Waste Management Trainings
Training on Creating Ordinances for local community officials
Establishment of Materials Recovery Facilities in Local Schools and Community
Center/s
Appointment of stakeholder representatives – women sector, youth sector, etc.
e. Environmental Management Capacity Building Workshops for local School
Environmental Education Facilitator’s Training for Teachers – Project Learning
Tree, Water Education for Teachers, Watershed Box and Ecological Solid Waste
Management
Developing Creative and Environmentally relevant modules and classroom activities

Social Challenges:

4. Unemployment
Unemployment has remained high in the Philippines, at almost twice the level of
neighboring countries, despite relatively fast employment growth in the past decade.
Employment growth was not sufficient to reduce unemployment because of rapid
population growth and increased labor force participation. Despite rapid economic growth
in the Philippines in recent years, unemployment remains a persistent problem for the
 sprawling Southeast Asian nation of more than 100 million people. Under President Benigno
Aquino, in office since 2010, unemployment has fallen. The latest figures show the rate at
6.4 per cent in the second quarter of this year, down from 7 per cent a year earlier. But
progress has been uneven and the Philippines still has one of the highest rates of
unemployment in the Asian region.

The following are the common causes of Unemployment:

Structural Unemployment

Structural unemployment occurs when there are shifts in the demand among the industries. The
workforce possesses skills for jobs that were previously high in demand. With the shift in
demand for jobs, supply for the jobs that were previously high in demand outstrips the demand
for these jobs. As a result, many people become unemployed until market equilibrium is
reached, where supply equals demand. Moreover, the jobs that are now high in demand may
require skills that the unemployed do not possess. Unless they invest in re-training, which is
time consuming, they will find it difficult to find a place for themselves in these jobs because
firms prefer employees with the necessary skills and experience.

Oversupply of graduates

The number of graduates have been increasing over the years. Getting a degree is all too
common nowadays. However, the labor force does not require so many graduates.

Economic Recession

Economic recession is one of the main causes of unemployment. During a recession, firms
experience a decrease in revenue. As profit equals to revenue minus cost, firms would want
to cut as much cost as possible. One of the ways to do so is through the retrenchment of
employees, where employees deemed to be not productive enough lose their jobs. As this
happens, unemployment rates go up.

Overpopulation
Philippines has a high population growth rate at an average of 1.7% for the past few
years, consistently higher than the world's population growth rate at an average of
1.2%. The high population growth rate which translates to a steady supply of graduates
outstrips the rate at which jobs are created, leaving these graduates finding themselves
unemployed.

Oversupply of labor force and inability to take on available jobs (structural

unemployment)
Undergraduates are still taking up college courses that are popular but were previously
high in demand. After graduation, these graduates possess skills that are not high in
demand in the job market. As such, there is a skill mismatch.

Unemployment in the Philippines can be solve through the following ways:

 Full development of small-scale, labor-intensive industries
The expansion of these mostly small-scale and labor-intensive industries in both urban
and rural areas can be accomplished in two ways: directly, through government
intervention and indirectly through investment incentives for the private sector. This is
because the consumption activities of barrio folk demand less import-intensive and
more labor-intensive than that of the rich
Choosing appropriate labor -intensive technologies of production
One of the principal factors inhibiting the success of any long-run program of
employment creation both in urban industry and rural agriculture is the almost
complete technological dependence of Third World nations on imported (typically labor
saving) machinery and equipment from the developed countries. Both domestic and
international efforts must be made reduce this dependence by developing technological
research and adaptation capacities in the developing countries themselves. Such efforts
might first be linked to the development of small-scale, labor-intensive rural and urban
enterprises.
Creating a more direct link between education and employment
the phenomenon of the educated unemployed calls into question the appropriateness
and relevance of the educational system, especially at the higher levels in this country.
The creation of attractive economic opportunities in rural areas would make it easier to
redirect educational system toward the needs of rural development.
Reduce rural migration
The last half-century in this country has been associated with urbanization which in turn
has attracted migration from thru province bringing down the total population in
agriculture. The arrival of these urban migrants has not only helped to exercise a
continuous downward pressure on real wages but also contributed to the problem of
urban unemployment if not social problems.

Political Challenge:

5. Political Dynasty

Political dynasties have long been a feature of the Philippine political landscape. They are typically
characterized as families that have established their political or economic dominance in a province and
have coordinated efforts to move on to involvement in national government or other positions of
national political that treats people prominence. Notable Philippine political dynasties include the
Aquino, Marcos, Arroyo, Binay, Duterte, and Roxas families.

Causes of Political Dynasty:

Dominance of elite families who were always able to perpetuate its power over the less
organized masses, even within a democracy.
 Serving of more than one term increases the name recognition, financial resources and
political connections that potential dynastic successors can use to their electoral
advantage
Power & Power-treatment

Solutions to Political Dynasty:

Judicial and quasi-judicial actions. However, I think these petitions are legally untenable
because the Comelec cannot legislate. Note that the Constitution prohibits political
dynasties, “as may be defined by law.” True, the Comelec has the power to issue rules
and regulations. However, such rules merely implement statutes. Without a law defining
political dynasties, implementing rules have no leg to stand on.
Reviewing Constitutional Laws. “The state shall guarantee equal access to opportunities
for public service, and prohibit political dynasties as may be defined by law,” so the
Constitution (Art. II, Sec. 26) solemnly declares. Despite repeated clamor, this provision
of our Charter, like its many other “principles and state policies,” remains
unimplemented to this day.
Legislative action. The “no-brainer” option is for Congress to enact a law defining what
a political dynasty is, what offices (elective and non-elective) are covered, who may
enforce the prohibition, and other details. While some senators and congressmen have
perfunctorily filed bills covering these topics, not one has been seriously deliberated
upon. To my knowledge, no such bills have been reported for second reading in the
Senate or the House of Representatives.
Sovereign action. Probably frustrated by legislative inaction, Comelec Chair Sixto
Brillantes Jr. promised to start a people’s initiative for an antidynasty law. Now, this is
very novel. No law in our country has been approved via a people’s initiative.
However, there had been two unsuccessful attempts to change our Constitution via this
process. In Lambino vs Comelec (Oct. 25, 2006), the Supreme Court struck down a
people’s initiative to convert our presidential system to parliamentary on the ground,
among others, that an initiative can be used only for simple and easy-to-comprehend
matters, not for changing “basic principles, or several provisions” which “a deliberative
body with recorded proceedings is best suited to undertake.”

Political action. Political action, may be the most doable under the present
circumstances. Simply stated, let the people decide by voting down candidates who
belong to the same family. Those who believe in this proposition can form political
movements like the “Kamag-anak sa Politika Aayawan Lahat,” or “Kapal.” Others may
use television, radio, newspapers, Internet and social media like Facebook and Twitter.
US President Barack Obama effectively used the social media in his reelection bid. His
young campaign organizers penetrated the voting population so systematically and so
effectively, converting what was predicted to be a close poll into a one-sided Electoral
College triumph.
Governance, in many respects, serves as the umbrella set of responsibilities and practices to which an
enterprise’s operations are obligated to or voluntarily adhere—either because of statutory or regulatory
requirements or due to an enterprise culture, ethics and behaviors. This set of “rules” is comprised of
policies, procedures, protocols, security defenses, controls, level of risk appetite, etc., to ensure that
stakeholders of the enterprise are receiving value. Observing the Philippines’s situation recently, I can
say that good governance and socially responsible is being applied. Though there has still numerous
problems that needs to be addressed or solve to, it is quite undeniable that somehow some problems
were being lessen. It is indeed and truly hard to fix a certain country that has a history of being unbetter
since then and even harder when it is fluctuating way before. The only way to get things better is to
have a good leader that is very much willing to serve his country no matter what it takes and someone
who is committed to his duty and responsibilities and of course, a citizen of a nation who is also willing
to participate, to cooperate and to be controlled by the leader. If this happens, the desire of having a
good nation isn’t impossible. We, as citizens of the Philippines or any other country, we must always
abide and do our part no matter how small or big it is. We must not rely everything on the government
because the government itself will also be basing their governance on its people. This is how important
good governance and social responsibility is.