History and Development of the PAS

• The Spanish colonial period (1565 to 1898) of the Philippines began when explorer Ferdinand Magellan came to the islands in 1521 and claimed it as a colony for the Spanish Empire. 
• Spanish Colonial bureaucracy is driven by a public office ideology that gave the king the right to dispose of public office as his personal property.
• Spanish colonial bureaucracy had a highly centralized character. (controlled by a single authority)
• The negativism of the regime against the Filipinos  (originated from their belief that the Indio's were culturally and politically inferior) . 
• The Spanish colonial government established the social institution of bureaucracy. Consisting mainly of Spaniards. 
• This  bureaucracy was distinct from the masses of the people by their race, their special calling, and their class.
• The colonial administration was "bankrupt in practical politics, because the officials were dishonest in inspiration, and either incompetent or authoritarian in practice."
• The American Colonial Period. The period colonialization of the Philippines lasted 48 years, until granting full independence on July 4, 1946.
• American Expansion is defined as: One pursued "without a constant intention" or a particular colonial goal. 


  Explicit interests existed, as demonstrated by company, church groups, and even military strategists. And there was no consensus about  how to go about the colonial venture.
• No individual will or influence was dominant, unlike in the Spanish colonial period, when the governor general, the archbishops, and the parish priests held positions of power. This was because the administration was governed by the law 
• In its early years, the civil government inherited civilians and discharged soldiers who were employed by the previous American military government.
• Political interference and the spoiling scheme were removed from the new civil service during the American colonial period.
• Government officials and employees were prohibited from engaging in private business unless permission was obtained by the governor-general. 
• The relationship between the Civil Service Office, which implemented changes in the colonial bureaucracy and other bureaus, in particular the heads of executive offices and offices, was strained. This was due to a strong drive by the Civil Service Office to overhaul the civil service.
• From the American colonial period, we move on to the experiences of the early republic after the United States granted the Philippines its independence on July 4, 1946,. and Manuel Acuña Roxas of the Liberal Party of the Philippines (Partido Liberal ng Pilipinas-PLP) became the first president of the Independent Republic of the Philippines. 
• The nation had just been through the Second World War, which had caused significant physical damage and economic decline.
• Nepotism is a form of favoritism which is granted to relatives in various fields, including business, politics, entertainment, sports, religion and other activities.
• Merit System is the process of promoting and hiring government employees based on their ability to perform a job, rather than on their political connections. It is the opposite of the spoils system.
• Normalcy refers to the return to the state or fact of being normal (e.g. a return to normalcy after a war or an internal occupation)
• Element of the environment that affected all government officials: Internal environment - is the collective behavior of members of an organization and the values, visions, beliefs, habits attach to their actions


  External environment general environment usually includes political, economic, sociocultural, technological, legal, environmental and demographic factors in a particular country or region
•  Two features of the bureaucracy: Centralized organization is one in which both executive and legislative power is concentrated    centrally at the higher level 


  administration of laws - to control the powers of the government to bring a balance between two conflicting forces: individual rights and public interest.
•  The strong influence of the American colonial system -

  • introduction of the American system of education  (public school system was introduced)
  • improvement in trade in industry; 
  • negative influence: colonial mentality; individualistic way
• Instrument of social change and innovations when it was placed under Filipino control.

  Three primary social classes exist in the Philippines: 

  • the low-income class
  • the middle-income class, and 
  • the high-income class
• Vulnerable to attacks by the politician

    The role of an opposition party is easy. It is always simple to find fault, to attack, to demand investigations, to make unfounded charges of bribery, graft, and corruption, and to charge the party in power with inefficiency and stupidity.(excerpt from Address of Pres. Roxas at the Convention of the Liberal Party 1/31/1947)
• September 21, 1972, Ferdinand Marcos proclaimed and put the whole country under martial law. 
• He dissolved Congress and arrested political leaders who disagreed or were possible oppositionists to his country's political plans. 
• He pro-claimed his policy of establishing a "New World" through a central revolution, with his government leading the revolution.
• Issued the first Presidential Decree (PD 1) right after the declaration of martial law which required the most thorough reorganization of the executive branch of the Philippine government.
• Decentralized national government works to the degree necessary to improve administration by reducing the number of departments under the President's office and establishing 11 unified administrative regions.
• Centralized the structure and common organizational tasks of the departments. Four staff resources for planning, finance and management, administration and technical vices have been developed in each department.
• Facilitated the preparation and execution of national development plans by creating the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).
• The single-headed Civil Service Commission has been turned into a three-person Commission
• Decentralized personnel functions to line departments, bureaus and regional offices.
• Created the Career Executive Service as the highest level of government service.
• Corazon C. Aquino was sworn in as President of the Republic of the Philippines as a result of the EDSA Revolution in 1986.
• With re-democracy as its main agenda, its administration continued with the restructuring of state institutions, including the civil service.
• It set up a Presidential Commission on Government Reorganization, which saw the need to "de-Marcosify" the bureaucracy.
• The Aquino Regime Government Reorganization

  1.The promotion of private initiative

  2.Decentralization

  3.Accountability

  4.Efficiency of front-line services

  5.Cost-effectiveness of operations.
• Recruitment and appointment to this bureaucracy is expected to be based on merit, interventions of politicians have prompted doubts about these claims, however, there is a career service, entry to which has been regulated and guarded by the Civil Service Commission.
• There is security of tenure but government service may not be as prestigious as it was during the American colonial period.