The Role of Leadership in Managing

the Development Process

-- The case of the Ramos Administration in the
Philippines --

Policy Formulation in Developing Countries

GRIPS Development Forum
The Government structure in the Philippines

Presidentialgovernment
Legislature Judiciary
comprised of three
branches (separation of
the three powers):
Executive
President
Legislative Intervention Intervention

Judiciary Technocrats
(Central Economic
Agencies)
Executive branch often times
challenged by legislative Ministries, departments,
intervention and judicial other state organs and
activism local governments

Executive
 Comparison of three successive political
administrations in the Philippines
Political Main features
Administrations (people’s general perception)
Ferdinand E. Dictatorship government
Marcos Adopted centralized administrative system, ending up
(1965-1986) with corruption and cronyism.
People Power Revolution (Feb. 1986)  Restoration of democracy
Corazon C. Revolutionary government
Aquino Could not meet people’s expectations – weak and
(1986-1992) fractious government, challenged by a series of military
coups compounded by natural calamities, energy crisis
etc.
Fidel V. Ramos Reformist government
(1992-1998) Showed development orientation and political savvy very
effectively – overcame initial challenges and successfully
realized political and economic stability, and accelerated
reform efforts initiated by the Aquino Administration.
 The Philippines

President Marcos
10th President President Aquino
30 December 1965 – 25 February 1986 11th President
25 February 1986 – 30 June 1992

President Ramos
12th President
30 June 1992 – 30 June 1998
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Marcos
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corazon_Aquino
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fidel_V._Ramos
 Early life and professional
background of President Ramos
 Graduated from the US Military Academy in West Point
 Obtained a Masters Degree in Civil Engineering from the
Univ. of Illinois in the US
 Served the Marcos’s authoritarian regime for more than
20 years
– in the military, as the Vice Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces
 Played a key role in the People Power Revolution in 1986
– defiance against Marcos and sided with Aquino
 Served as Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, and later
became the Secretary of National Defense during the
Aquino administration
 Assumed the Presidency at the age of 64
– the oldest person to become president of the Philippines
 Initial challenges of the Ramos
Administration (1992-1998)
Weak support base
a minority President at a staring position
Weak institutions
bureaucratic inertia and strong control by interest groups
Political instability
three insurgency groups in the country
Macroeconomic instability
challenges inherited from the previous administration
Poor state of the country’s infrastructure
structural bottleneck to economic growth
Power crisis of 1990s
national urgency needed to resolve with utmost priority
 Development vision of the Ramos
Administration – Philippines 2000
Development goal: The Philippines to become
a newly industrializing economy by 2000

Two pillars: (1) sustainable economic development, and

(2) people empowerment
Seven points in platform: (1) political stability, (2)
economic growth, (3) people empowerment, (4) effective
bureaucracy, (5) environmental protection, (6) responsible
foreign policy, and (7) moral recovery
Specific guide posts:
 Raising per capita income to at least U$1,000 by 1998;
 Achieving GDP growth by at least 6 to 8 %;

 Reducing poverty incidence down to 30% by 1998.

Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan
(MTPDP 1992-98) as a concrete program of action
Major reform agenda:
 Realizing political stability
 Opening up economy and competing in the world market
Developing a business-friendly environment
 Promoting privatization and competition, and bring down
inefficiency
 Breaking up monopolies and cartels, and to eradicate
crony capitalism
 Promoting Social Reform Agenda

 Fighting against corruption

 Restructuring bureaucracy and facilitating cooperation

between government, business, people’s organizations
and NGOs
 Strengthening tax and customs administration

 Reforming legal and judicial system

Distinguishing features of President
Ramos’s leadership style
President Ramos adopted participatory,
consensus-building approach in policy
process  enabled him to win political support
from different stakeholders, and facilitated his
development-oriented visions to realize.
Inclusivity
Collaborative
Reformist
Accountabilityfor results
Complete Staff Work (CSW)

Interview with resource persons in the Philippines, Oct.25, 2007

President Ramos’s working style that exerted
influence on its development management
“Perhaps because I am a military man by
training and an engineer and builder by
background, I brought to the presidency a
different view of how problems should be
faced and mastered…Trials and challenges for
me are not debates over principles and
dogmas. They must rather be overcome in
the most pragmatic, cost effective, and
fastest way.“

President Fidel V. Ramos, The Ramos Presidency and Administration, Record and
Legacy (1992-1998), Univ. of the Philippines Press (1998)
 President Ramos’s working style that exerted
influence on its development management (cont.)
Ramos’s disciplinary, “hands-on policy” effectively mobilized
people to be action-oriented for results and to be
accountable to people – Ramos gave people a strong sense
of commitment for reform and confidence.
“Ramos Administration was the best time in bureaucracy. He was
a competent political leader not only to influence policy and
mobilize people, but capture imagination of bureaucracy.”
Interview with resource persons in the Philippines, Oct. 2007

Democratic minded and open to new ideas

Delegated authority to Cabinet Secretaries and relevant stakeholders

Complete Staff Work

Fast tracking

Consensus building

Coalition building

Work ethics giving sense of urgency to get things done right away

Facilitated private sector participation and utilization

President Ramos’s philosophy
<Critical elements supporting country’s foundations>
 Leadership
 Team work and national unity
 National pride and spirit

<Principles in problem-solving>
 Analyze the situation
 analysis must be based on facts
 Consult with various relevant people, and come up
with one decision
 leader must be decisive, based on a fair judgment
 Never lose sight of the vision
 strategic, backward planning is critical
Interview with President Ramos, Oct.24, 2007
Reform experience under the Ramos Administration
1. The case of the power sector reform

Background of the power crisis

(hit a peak in 1992, with daily brownouts lasting 10-12 hour):
Root problems could be traced to the 1983
foreign debt crisis under the Marcos Regime
The Department of Energy (DOE) was abolished
and reduced to an Office of Energy Affairs under
the Office of the President during the Aquino
Administration
Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) project,
which was intended to provide cheap electricity,
was mothballed during the Aquino
Administration
President Ramos’s leadership and political
will to overcome the power crisis
President Ramos encouraged private sector
participation in resolving the crisis
 called for structural policy reforms and
institutional changes, including privatization and
deregulation

Ramos pushed Congress to quickly pass the laws in

resolving the power crisis:
The Electric Power Crisis Act of 1993 (RA 7648)
The amended Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Law

As a consequence, power industry has transformed from a

government monopoly (i.e., National Power Corporation), to a
highly competitive, private-sector dominated industry.
 Coordination among relevant stakeholders
to overcome the power crisis
<Coalition building in Congress>
Ramos rallied the Congress to approve the Electric Power Crisis Act, and
amendments to the BOT law
Ramos created and fully utilized the Legislative-Executive Development
Advisory Council (LEDAC), a forum for consensus building between the
Executive and the Legislative on important bills

<Responding to the Judicial activism>

Ramos administration appointed justices that were pro-market and
liberal minded. In addition, some ODA-funded technical assistance was
worked out for the Judiciary in support of a judicial reform program.

<Consensus building among the Executive, Congress

and the private sector>
Ramosconvened a Multisectoral People’s Summit in 1993 to forge a
common legislative agenda supportive of development goals

Dante B. Canlas, “Political Governance, Economic Policy Reforms, and Aid Effectiveness:
The Case of the Philippines with Lessons from the Ramos Administration”
Coordination among relevant stakeholders
to overcome the power crisis (cont.)
<Relationship between the government and the
private sector>
The Ramos Administration adopted various measures to reduce social,
economic, and political risks to the private sector and encouraged their
participation
 e.g., “take-or-pay” arrangements under the Electric Power Crisis Act, and
“enhancements” under the Amended BOT Law

<Relationship between the government and the

people>
The Ramos Administration adopted measures to reduce end-users’
burden on the electric power charge by having the government take
over the costs

However, such arrangements eventually aggravated the fiscal situation

of the NPC, which led to the path for its privatization
 The power crisis was such a national urgency that Ramos had no other choice
to overcome the situation
 Creation of LEDAC for consensus building
between the executive and the legislative
Legislative-Executive Development Advisory
Council (LEDAC)
Ramos exercised strong initiative to create LEDAC
as an advisory and consultative body to ensure
policy consistency between the two branches of
government (Dec. 1992)
Ramos fully utilized LEDAC and closely followed up
policy agenda at issue through this mechanism
LEDAC met every week with President Ramos as
Chairman  the congressional agenda during the
Ramos Administration more aligned with the executives
Reform experience under the Ramos Administration
2. The case of the Social Reform Agenda (SRA)

Background of launching the SRA:

Ramos adopted the SRA in 1994 as the
centerpiece anti-poverty program – the result of
a wide range of consultations that underscored
the partnership between government and civil
society
SRA is the country’s first integrated set of
reforms against poverty in a systematized way.
The SRA was the most consultative, policy reform-
oriented, well-budgeted, clearly delineated, well-
targeted anti-poverty program in the recent history in
the Philippines.
President Ramos’s leadership and political
will to promote Social Reform Agenda
President Ramos took initiative in adopting a new
approach to fight poverty – putting the marginalized
Basic Sectors back in the center of human
development  the way poverty is defined has changed,
and SRA has called for institutional changes

Ramos himself initiated and participated in range of

consultations with the poor people in
formulating/implementing the SRA
Manifesting clear vision and identifying poverty reduction targets
Determining the actual needs of families and targeting: the
Minimum Basic Needs (MBN) approach
Mobilizing the bureaucracy
Ensuring Basic Sector Participation
Assigning accountability
Coordination among relevant stakeholders
in making policy decisions in the SRA
 Ramos established the Social Reform Council (SRC)
as the SRA’s policy-making body, with himself as
Chairman
 Ramos was visible in SRC, which gave big push to facilitate
the initiatives
 continuous policy dialogue took place between the
government and the Basic Sector representatives

<SRA target (sectoral and geographical)>

Basic Sectors: farmers, fisherfolks, indigenous cultural communities,
urban poor workers especially in the informal sector and other
disadvantaged groups such as women, persons with disabilities, youth,
disadvantaged students, elderly and victims of disasters
The “Club 20” priority provinces (poorest provinces)
<SRA funding>
Poverty Alleviation Funds (PAF) as a deliberate initiative to fill equity
gap by providing additional resources to the SRA programs
The SRA institutional arrangements/coordination mechanism
National level
Social Reform Council The President and
LEDAC Flagship champion, Cabinet Officers
SRA Lead Convenor
Cabinet Cluster (CORDs) & Basic Sector Representative
System
National technical working group
SRA Secretary-General
Social Reform Council Secretariat

CORD and RDC

Regional level Regional Development Council Chairperson

Regional technical working group c/o NEDA Regional

Office with DILG
Regional composite Secretariat Regional Office and
Office of the CORD
Provincial level Provincial Social Reform Council/ Provincial Governor
Development Council

Provincial technical working group Provincial Planning

and Development
Provincial Planning and Development Office Coordinator

Municipal level
With corresponding counterpart structures …..
Barangay level
Addition made to the Sourcebook on the Social Reform
Agenda: Vol. 5. Local Strategies to Fight Poverty
 Utilization of Cabinet Cluster System to
enhance interagency coordination
The Cabinet Cluster System
Ramos enhanced and fully utilized the Cabinet Cluster System,
established during the Aquino Administration (Dec. 1989) to
strengthen interagency coordination in government decision
making process and to expedite the implementation of vital
interagency programs and projects
The Cabinet Clusters serves as advisory committees of the
President and the Cabinet
The Cluster meetings were held either monthly or as
necessary
 Cluster A: Agro-industrial development
 Cluster B: Macro-economy and Finance
 Cluster C: Human resources and development
 Cluster D: Physical infrastructure support
 Cluster E: Security and political development
 Cluster F: Development administration
 Cluster G: Water resources management
 Cluster H: International relations
Some questions
Was President Ramos just happened to be at the
right place at the right time? Would any
President have done the same thing with the
country’s emergency situations?

“Nobody could have managed better than

President Ramos – if Ramos stayed longer, the
outcome must have been different.”

Interview with resource persons in the Philippines, Oct. 2007

THE END