Political Effectiveness Essay

7. 1 How far is the elected government able to influence or control those matters that are important to the lives of its people, and how well is it informed, organised and resourced to do so? Rating M The elected government in the Philippines has a long way to go to fully fulfill and succeed in turning the philippines around. Although, it does show promises. With organizations like the league of provinces where it aims to â€Å"ventilate, articulate, and crystallize issues affecting provincial and metropolitan government administrations. It likewise serves to secure, through proper and legal means, solutions to problems confronting the locales†(â€Å"league of provinces†, n. d. ). Some of its programs include expand revenue base which is an activiy that taps funds that may be used as grants to calamity affected provinces. (â€Å"league of provinces†, n. d.). Another government project that is trying to improve the quality of life in the philippines include the Diversified Farm Income and Market Development Project (DFIMDP) with aims to ensure the availability of financial resouces to help the department of agricultue develop market to promote competition for agriculture and fisheries(â€Å"Philippine LGU Assistane Portal† n. d. ). 7. 2 How much public confidence is there in the effectiveness of government and its political leadership? Rating L. The funny thing about the philippines is that even though the public protests a lot the there is really little that they can do(excluding the edsa 1 and 2 incident) but nonetheless the philippine citizens are unhappy about the government elect. Various scandals like the ZTE scandal have tainted philippines politics. Protests are happening left and right protests like the one last april 2008 marking the 61st birthday of PGMA(â€Å"the earth times†, 2008. ). A clear sign that the people have lost faith in her as a leader. 7. 3 How effective and open to scrutiny is the control exercised by elected leaders and their ministers over their administrative staff and other executive agencies? Rating L For several years now the philippines has been experiencing extrajudicial/political killings clear sign that the government and people in power are not open for criticism and objection. The year 2006 was a bad year in the philippines in terms of political killings and disappearances. Researched conducted by the human rights watch confirms that countless victims were killed in 2006 and that the military had a hand in most of the killings(â€Å"the human rights watch†, 2007.). 7. 4 How extensive and effective are the powers of the legislature to initiate, scrutinise and amend legislation? Rating L I rated this low because during the 13th sentor angara criticized that the 13th congress has passed the lowest number of laws in the last 20 years in an article by Ron Pelovello the senate in the last two years has passed only nine bills that were signed into law and only a couple of public works-related bills from the house of representatives it is also said that it has been the worst congress in 20 years(Pelovello, 2006. ). 7. 5 How extensive and effective are the powers of the legislature to scrutinise the executive and hold it to account? Rating VL This was clearly seen when the legislature failed to bring down gma after her alleged cheating in the 2004 elections (Del Pilar and Alpha Company, n. d. ). Also legislature failed again after the ZTE scandal (Einhorn, September 26). We can only hope that after 2010 we will have a better and more powerful legislature. 7. 6 How rigorous are the procedures for approval and supervision of taxation and public expenditure? Rating L 7. 7How comprehensive and effective is legislation giving citizens the right of access to government information? Rating VH Information today is very accessible with the internet and the effectiveness of the press and media nothing stays hidden and this is true with the very public case of the ZTE scandal where PGMA cancelled a controversial $330 million deal (Einhorn, September 26). This was a very open scandal and a very public trial. 8. 0Civilian control of the military and police 8. 1How effective is civilian control over the armed forces, and how free is political life from military involvement? Rating L I think the politics in the Philippines will never be free from military involvement several coup d’etat have struck the Philippines over the years the most recent would be that of trillianes. This would be his second coup attempt the first was in 2003. A clear example that the military is not as controlled as we would want them to be, the civilian control has to be improved. 8. 2 How publicly accountable are the police and security services for their activities? Rating L An article Romero and the AFP stated that the police is viewed by Filipino respondents as the most affected by corruption. Also globally the police are viewed as the most affected with petty bribery (Romero, 2007. ). 8. 3 How far does the composition of the army, police and security services reflect the social composition of society at large? Rating H 8. 4 How free is the country from the operation of paramilitary units, private armies, warlordism and criminal mafias? Rating VL The country has a long way to go before being completely free from private armies and paramilitary units. Events like the Oakwood mutiny that occurred 5 years ago (Remollino, 2006.) remind us that we are still a very unstable country in terms of paramilitary units. As for private armies the manila times published last year an article stating that the PNP admitted that there are 93 private armies nationwide (Manila Times, 2007), an alarming number that has to be brought down in order for our country to reach its full potential and take its place as a developed country. 8. 5 What measures, if any, are being taken to remedy publicly identified problems in this field, and what degree of political priority and public support do they have? Rating VL.