parallel session v: theme a - "people"

Chaired by Ms. Jocelyn C. Cuaresma of the National College of Public Administration and Governance, University of the Philippines (UP-NCPAG), this session focused on people in Public Administration. The presenters for this session were: Ms. Linda Wati, Ms. Zita Conception Pascual Calugay and Mr. Jeff Marlon Cheng Zamoranos.

In Civil Servant Redistribution in Samarinda City: A Descriptive Study of Human Resources on Health Distribution Gap, Ms. Wati's study highlighted problems in human resources in the health sector. Her review of literature on human resources supported the assumption that human resource management, staffing, planning and placement affect civil servant redistribution. The prevailing policy framework in Indonesia is that health workers, in particular, need to be equipped with academic and professional competencies and be given authority to carry out service delivery functions. Ms. Wati adopted a descriptive qualitative approach to inquire on the impacts of civil service redistribution in her home city, Samarinda, in Indonesia - and she gathered date through focus group discussions (FGDs) and desk review of official documents from the city health department. Among the results garnered, findings of her study revealed shortage of personnel in health services, particularly among general practitioner (GP) doctors and dentists. Shortage was not only found in functional positions, occupied by health workers, but also among non-health workers. In the end, Ms. Wati recommended that a national strategy and regulation for civil servant redistribution be developed for local governments in Indonesia to follow.

Meanwhile, Ms. Calugay presented on Profiles and Motivations for the Presence of the Invisible Public Sector Workforce: Philippine Local Government Context. In her presentation, Ms. Calugay narrated the rationale behind contracting out and outsourcing employment in the Philippine local government, and how contractual workers are treated in public offices. She related that contingent workers make up a fifth of the Philippine local government workforce. They serve as reliever personnel during peak seasons, emergencies, and absence of expertise in the government offices. Gleaning from secondary reports, review of policy documents and a survey of two cases - one at the national government agency and one at a local government agency, she concluded that if rationalization of bureaucracy is done comprehensively, effectively and appropriately, it may help alleviate dependence of government on contingent work. 

Lastly, in Sustainability of the Seal of Good Local Governance Award in the Provincial Governments in Region 1, Mr. Zamoranos' study aimed to explore ways by which provincial governments in the Philippines' Ilocos Region may sustain their attainment of the seal of good local governance (SGLG) targets. Mr. Zamoranos shared that the SGLG was created in 2013 by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to incentivize reform and innovation in the following areas of local governance: financial administration, disaster preparedness, social protection, peace and order, business friendliness and competitiveness, environmental management, tourism, culture and the arts, among others. His discussion led to the recommendation that the SGLG indicators be adjusted or recalibrated according to the needs of the times. Another thing that his study stressed was the importance of harmonizing local and national policies by encouraging multisectoral participation in the local planning process.