President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. speaks at a forum about the Philippine Population and Development Plan | Photo via PIA
Memorandum Circular 40, dated November 14, was only released on November 17. President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. has approved the Philippine Population and Development Plan of Action (PPD-POA) for 2023 to 2028 – an overall blueprint for inter-agency collaboration to optimize demographic opportunities and address remaining population challenges aimed at accelerating the attainment of the country’s socioeconomic development agenda under the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028.
This will put to rest claims that the government is no more than a helter-skelter patchwork of uncoordinated justifications to spend P5.768 trillion in 2024. Note that the last number, P5.768 trillion, is still P8 billion and is not a rounding error.
The following are extracted from the memorandum circular, verbatim, to be implemented by the state-run Commission on Population and Development,
- Monitor and assess the implementation of the PPD-POA at all levels and submit annual reports to the Office of the President, through the Office of the Executive Secretary, on the progress and emerging concerns in the implementation thereof.
- Undertake comprehensive population and development research, establish or analyze population databases, and enable institutions at the national, regional, and local levels to optimize and/or address the impact of population dynamics in their sectoral and local development agenda or strategies, subject to existing laws, rules, and regulations.
- Build public and institutional awareness of the impact of population dynamics on socioeconomic development.
What is a memorandum circular?
Memorandum circulars, according to Book III, Title I, Chapter II, Section 6 of the Administrative Code of 1987, refer to the “Acts of the President on matters relating to internal administration, which the President desires to bring to the attention of all or some of the departments, agencies, bureaus or offices of the government, for information or compliance.
By now, it must be apparent that this is turning into an introductory civics lesson.
When a sitting President decides to issue a memorandum circular, it is to bring attention to and compliance with matters that pertain to internal administration – matters that, for the purpose of the memorandum and the viewpoint of the President, lack a whole of government approach, hence, the need to refocus the entire government into a singular plan of action.
This then becomes a tacit admission that no such focus and compliance exists, at least not to the satisfaction of the President.
The mystery of government ineffectiveness is now solved. Sans this memorandum circular, the government was on autopilot towards perdition and needed course correction. For this, PBBM must be commended. As to whether PBBM attains success where past administrations have failed remains to be seen. At least now, an action plan exists.
“Many of those in government are civil service-eligible employees and enjoy certain immunity from unlawful dismissal from service. A deep state in the wrong sense where malingerers thrive and laugh at attempts to reform. “
The Philippine Development Plan for 2023-2028, according to the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), is a plan for profound economic and social transformation to reinvigorate job creation and accelerate poverty reduction by steering the economy back on a high-growth path. This growth must be inclusive, building an environment that provides equal opportunities to all Filipinos and equipping them with skills to participate fully in an innovative and globally competitive economy.
Clearly, the PPD-POA memorandum must comply in line with the overall Philippine Development Plan. The President’s initiative will undoubtedly bring more impetus to the comprehensive development plan through 2028. The lingering malaise that casts a pall on government employees’ morale, while on paper, is not tolerated by the people’s charters within the bureaucracy, hopefully, will get a much-needed executive nudge and be taken more seriously by all bureaucrats within the sprawling government. Considering that 40% of all government expenditure is borrowed money, it behooves every government worker to give their all in the service of the Filipino people.
If every President needs to clarify and reemphasize what appear to be fundamental principles of governance, one can only imagine the frustrations that the President has to endure. Many of those in government are civil service-eligible employees and enjoy certain immunity from unlawful dismissal from service. A deep state in the wrong sense where malingerers thrive and laugh at attempts to reform.
The adage of “good enough for government work” and lazy employees become not-so-strange bedfellows begging for implementing Six Sigma Kaizen strategies and rigid annual 360-degree performance peer and management assessments. Ever wonder why there are 6-8 traffic enforcers in most road intersections, yet the traffic flow is, at best, at a crawl? How many government employees does it take to push one piece of paper?
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dr. Crispin Fernandez advocates for overseas Filipinos, public health, transformative political change, and patriotic economics. He is also a community organizer, leader, and freelance writer.
