Leadership from the Base of

the Bureaucracy
Leadership from the Base of
the Bureaucracy

At the end of this lesson, the students were

expected:
1. Identify the roots of leadership in the country
2. Determine the significance of each to leadership
3. Examine who are the actors involved
4. Analyze the importance of each to the formation of a
leader
Leadership from the Base of
the Bureaucracy
Introduction
This lesson contains narratives of encounters with leaders from the various
tiers and branches of government. This extensive bracketing is intentionally
done to draw our gaze away from the default subject of national politics and
top-tier government officials and towards the less talked-about spheres of
local government, public schools, and rural health units. These leaders
occupy the lower rungs in government, but are leaders in their own respect
and merit more attention than is usually accorded them. This lesson also
includes insights and encouragements for those reflecting on their own
leadership thinking and practice.
Leadership from the Base of
the Bureaucracy
Encounters with Government Leaders Local Politics
• Clarified and solidified my understanding of the palpable distinction between
national and local government.
• Through them I realized that most of government's work actually happens
the local level: the biggest decisions are made at the national level, but the
most important implementations are done at the local level.
• This layer government is where the daily action and drama of governance
unfolds.
• Decisions made at this level are immediately felt by ordinary Filipinos who
depend almost entirely on public services for their health needs, education,
and support for their livelihood.
Leadership from the Base of
the Bureaucracy
• It forced me to extend my gaze beyond the horizon of national politics and
direct greater attention to the terrain of local politics.
• It drew me to talk less of ideal models and instead focus more of my
energies in building communities and networks around models that work. It
is the most direct and most proximate touchpoint that ordinary citizens have
with government.
• It is here where we can nurture daily democracy by finding ways to be more
informed and involved in the programs of our local government.
• Until then I believed power to be concentrated at the top-most tiers of
government, but have come to realize that in fact it is widely distributed
across the many municipalities and cities of our country
Leadership from the Base of
the Bureaucracy
Public Schools and Teachers
• It is the biggest and most spread-out agency of government that is
responsible for the training and formation of 23.5 million public school
students in elementary and secondary schools across the country.
• This is one sector in government that matters so much to ordinary Filipinos
since 85 percent of basic education students in our try go to public schools.
• The future of our nation is shaped by the daily and lion toil and labor of
these public-school teachers and officials.
• My initial encounter with them quickly showed me a unique blend of
commitment, creativity, and grit that allows them to do so much with very
few resources.
Leadership from the Base of
the Bureaucracy
• To begin with, most elementary school teachers have to teach classes with
forty to sixty students throughout the day in poorly ventilated and barely
furnished classrooms.
• Committing to this alone is heroic enough, but I was astonished to witness
some of them shuttling from classrooms to makeshift kitchens in between
lectures and exercises to prepare the food for the SBFP.
• They teach and cook at the same time-pushing the limits of multitasking to a
whole new level. All tor the same pay and pace of promotion.
• These principals and teachers form a huge part of government and give
public service a good name.
Leadership from the Base of
the Bureaucracy
• These principals and teachers form a huge part of government and give
public service a good name.
• We should allow their actions and sacrifices to permeate and influence our
understanding and relationship with government.
• Their heroism should somehow offset and outweigh the transgressions and
shortcomings of those who give government a bad name.
• In them I find a great source of hope and redemption.
• These principals and teachers are de facto community leaders who know and
respond to the realities of the students and their families.
• They inspire me and invite me to keep on doing more because I can think of
very little to even begin measuring up to their outpouring of love and
commitment.
Leadership from the Base of
the Bureaucracy
Barangay Health Workers
• Since the enactment of the Local Government Code in 1991, the accountability
for primary health care has been devolved to local government units.
• This means that community clinics, regular check-ups, and many minor
medical interventions are done at the barangay or municipal level.
• The unfortunate reality is that we do not have enough doctors in this country to
staff all the rural health units.
• This task of providing primary health care falls on the BHWs, who are mostly
mothers from the community who received paramedical training and are
supported by meager allowances from volatile budget sources of their
respective LGUs.
• It is estimated that there are at least 500,000 BHW across the country.
 Leadership from the Base of the
Bureaucracy
• This army of primary health caregivers conduct daily house visits to record the height
and weight of children, follow-up on check-ups of pregnant and lactating mothers, and
deliver medication for TB and other diseases.
• They are also at the forefront of information campaigns against dengue and other
epidemics, and we also find them at the forefront of evacuation efforts during times of
disaster and conflict.
• They do all these and yet they are not even officially counted in the inventory of
government human resources; most of them receive allowances that are nowhere near
enough to cover the cost of their daily grind.
• They receive very little, but give so much more.
• They are barely known, but they know so much about the intimate details of the
families they serve, BHWs command the trust and respect of the mothers in the
barangay because of their daily presence and unquestionable sacrifice. These public
officials teach us raw lessons in servant and adaptive leadership that most of us
read only in books and rarely associate with government.
Leadership from the Base of
the Bureaucracy
Leadership Lessons and Practices from Government Leaders
Who Defines Government for Us

• What and who do we have in mind when we declare that government is

corrupt? When unpacked, this line of thinking reveals our opinions,
frustrations, and differences on the cast of characters in Malacañang, its
Cabinet, Congress, and legion of legislators.
• The mistakes of the few cannot define the tiny of majority that are good.
• There is simply so much more to government than our president, senators,
and cabinet secretaries. If we are to learn about lessons on leadership and
public service that emerge from government, it will do us so much good to
expand our interaction towards the public schools, rural health units, and
many other frontline units or national government agencies.
Leadership from the Base of
the Bureaucracy
• Here we will find and get to know many good but very silent public officials who give
government a good name.
• Perhaps the only fault of this lot of public servants is that they represent the “powerless
morality” whose goodness collides and is overshadowed by immoral power of the few
bad ones we always hear about.
• The task for recovery is thus three-fold: for this lot to rise up and be more confident
about their power to make a huge difference, for ordinary private citizens to get to know
and speak about them more and more, and finally for these two groups to find massive
ways to collaborate in solving wicked problems in our society and building the county of
our dreams.
We have yet to realize and unleash the most powerful element of our democracy. It is the vast capacity for service
and sacrifice that lies untapped and unsung in the hearts and minds of the most ordinary Filipino. The hope of the
Philippines is in the Filipino, not in our politicians. Unleashing this power remains to be one or the most challenging
tasks but most promising reward of leadership today.
Leadership from the Base of
the Bureaucracy
Moving Forward
Whether in LGUs, public schools, or health centers, the various leaders we
have encountered are marked by the following common characteristics and
practices:

Oriented toward action and results.

Oriented toward action and results.

Build trust by speaking and relating from the heart.

Build and nurture authentic partnerships

Leadership from the Base of
the Bureaucracy
• These unsung heroes have been doing tons of good on the ground, yet we
do not hear much about them and their achievements.
• They have done so many extraordinary things to improve the lot of the most
ordinary of Filipinos and their exemplary lives offer valuable insights to
leadership discourse and practice.
• These heroes abound in government and yet are not seen, heard, or talked
about as much.
• Of course, there are no guarantees that all encounters will be as fruitful, but
at the very least these narratives prove that there are many good public
servants who are looking for equally good counterparts from the private
sector.
Leadership from the Base of
the Bureaucracy
• Finally, these encounters distilled us practical guides that shape and sustain
in the mission of building the country of our dreams.
• There are so many good people in government yet they are overshadowed
by the bad one. These experiences of engaging the base of the
bureaucracy allowed us to appreciate the joys of democracy more deeply.
• How near or far we are from reaching the goal of a better world will only be
defined by the tenacity and stubbornness of our collective action.

“Hope is always on the horizon for those who keep on trying. We

can move forward with courage knowing that we are not and will
never be alone in this quest to build the country of our dreams.
There is great good in government; we just need to keep on
growing it.”