PARALLEL SESSION 6A2: PUBLIC SECTOR TRANSFORMATIONS

​The discussion of public sector reform in Parallel Session 6A2 looks back to the fundamentals, i.e., the kind and level of institutional change needed for attainment of development goals. The session explores incrementalism as a model for innovations in housing policy; indigenization of conservation policy; and the pivotal role of the academe in shaping public administration discourse. The session is chaired by Professor Sung Min Park of Sungkyunkwan University, Korea, and features presentations from Filipino scholars.

​Ms. Haydee Jacklyn Quintana-Malubay of the University of the Philippines, in her presentation, "Sustainable Housing for the World’s Urban Masses: Incrementalism and the Policy Innovation Imperative," reviewed how incrementalism can ensure modest gains for sustainable housing. Her paper essentially digs deep into the following conferences that sets world policies on housing and urban development: (1) United Nations Habitat III in Quito, Ecuador in October 2016, (2) at the Preparatory Committee for UN Habitat III in Surabaya, Indonesia in July of 2016, and (3) the Urban Thinkers Campus in Geneva, Switzerland in October 2015. In her paper, incrementalism might not exactly result to the ideal but she contended that as a general direction towards policy innovation, it could make real the vision to start making a dent in the field or urban housing and development.

Meanwhile, Ms. Loreta Vivian Galima probed into the strategies pursued by the government in restoring and conserving the world heritage areas in Ifugao. The results of the research revealed that the rice terraces of the Cordilleras have significantly transformed since the 1990s, when heritage and development became more intimately connected. The inclusion of these sites in the World Heritage List, and the restoration programs and projects in heritage conservation have clearly played a significant role in the changes of the sites. The study concluded that to optimize the opportunity, sharper handles on conservation and preservation may be adopted. Indigenization, respect for the people’s time-honored practices, recognition of the importance of preserving the people’s culture and not just the structures, shall spell the difference between sustainable measures for restoration and development.

​Finally, Mr. Vincent Silarde provided a historical account and valuation of the role of the National College of Public Administration and Governance (NCPAG), the first and premiere school of public administration in the Philippines, in shaping the academic and popular discourse on governance in the country and the internal and external factors that molded its intellectual foundations. In his presentation he concluded that PA as a field of study has been growing in scope and content as well as changing in focus and style with the times and climes under which the practice of public administration operates.