Good afternoon, Co-Masters.

Our topic for today is about public policy and the policy-making
process.

As we are here in a democratic and republican state, we have a vested right from the constitution
a “right to vote”. So, as a citizens of our country who electing or vote for the political leaders of
our country who would forward our national interests or concerns.

The political leaders, the politicians, are the ones who would represent the citizens' interests.
They are the ones who would lobby of us in the legislature, for example, in Congress and the
Senate, and the politicians are the ones who would formulate laws or policies with regard to the
interests of the citizens who voted for them. And whatever the law or policy the politician has
crafted for the citizens would eventually be in the hands of the bureaucrats.

The bureaucrats, or those in government agencies, are the ones who would implement the
policies. Then, this would be monitored. Whatever the implementation of our bureaucrats or
government servants, they would be monitored through a feedback mechanism. It would then go
to the citizens who would also be part of those people who would evaluate the actions of our
government servants, our government, and then the cycle would go on.

But in reality, the public policy process rarely follows this orderly pattern, because sometimes
there would be instances that, instead of soliciting or having consultation with the citizens or the
constituents, politicians would craft their own laws or policies based on their agenda. This would
be translated to some sort of policies by the government agencies. That's why we don't have this
orderly pattern as usual or at all times.

Carrying out the policy of the state is the responsibility of public administration. Hence, the ends
of public administration are the ultimate objectives of the state itself. The role of public
administration in designing the country's policies depends primarily on the nature of the
objectives being pursued and the social conditions prevailing at the moment.

Before anything else, let’s define policy first.

When you talk of policy, it refers to laws, regulation, procedure, administrative action, incentive,
voluntary practice of governments and other institutions. I’m also referring to those private
institutions or companies. They also have their own sets of policies for their own benefit or for
the benefit of their company or their people.

Policy is a plan of action adopted by an individual or social group. It is a written contract or

certificate of insurance.

Policy can also mean a plan or course of action—as in government, political party, or business
—intended to influence and determine decisions, actions, and other matters. Policies are general
statements of undertakings which guide our thinking and actions in decision-making.
Another meaning of policy is that it is both a process and a product. It refers to the decision-
making process and the resulting decisions or outcomes. Policy can also be seen as an output,
such as the actual delivery of goods and services by the government—like in education, health,
or agriculture.

Policies are predetermined decision rules applicable to a range of managerial decisions and
actions. They can be understood as political, financial, and administrative mechanisms arranged
to reach explicit goals. Policy encourages discretion and initiative within certain boundaries.
That is according to Harold Lasswell.

Now, what about public policy?

Public policy is an attempt by the government to address a public issue. It includes principles
and standards regarded by legislatures or courts as fundamental concerns of the state and society.
It is a course of action—or inaction—taken by government entities concerning a particular issue
or set of issues.

In any society, governmental entities enact laws, make policies, and allocate resources at all
levels. Public policy can generally be defined as a system of laws, regulatory measures,
courses of action, and funding priorities concerning a specific topic, as decided by a
governmental body or its representative.

Public policy is often embodied in constitutions, legislative acts, and judicial decisions. It may
also come from executive orders, bureaucratic regulations, or local ordinances—from the
province, city, municipality, or barangay.

In essence, public policy is the legal framework within which society operates. It is a
composite of government decisions and programs implemented to achieve goals. It involves
formulating and promoting programs based on principles. It’s a rule of action that clarifies goals
and values and prescribes how to achieve them.

Public policy is what the government chooses to do—or not to do. It reflects the relationship
between government units, a specific field, and the political environment in a given
administrative system.

Public policy can be positive or negative. It could be Positive, if government addressed the
concern and action on a particular problem and also it could be Negative, it may involve a
decision not to act on a particular issue.

So, why do we study public policy? How relevant is it to our daily lives? We have here some
reasons why we need to study public policy. Because we are affected by the action or inaction of
our government. Just imagine our government not enforcing traffic laws. There would be chaos
in our traffic. There would be traffic jams all over, and then all of us would be late in going to
school or going to work. “There is no crime if there’s no law”. So, just imagine that one. Imagine
the inaction of the government. We would have chaos, we would have problems.
Another reason is for scientific inquiry. It's for us to understand the factors that affect the
government's decision-making. So, we are talking about the behavior of political and policy
actors. They are the ones who would give some advice or insights. These are actually people, the
learned ones, who would craft, for example, theories relative to public policy so that our
decision-makers would have a clear understanding of where they are going. They have the basis,
a theoretical basis or conceptual basis, for their decisions.

Let’s now talk about the characteristics of public policy:

 It has a purpose and is goal-oriented.

 It is made by public authorities.
 It consists of patterns of action taken over time.
 It is a response to public demand.
 It is government-directed.
 It can be positive or negative.

Now, the aims of public policy include:

 To Reconciling conflicting claims.

 To Distributing scarce resources.
 To Encouraging cooperation that wouldn’t happen without government influence.
 To Prohibiting morally unacceptable behavior.
 To Protecting individual rights.
 To Providing direct benefits to citizens.

Let’s discuss the nature and scope of public policy:

 It is the authoritative allocation of values for a society.

 It determines who gets what, when, where, and how.
 It defines what the government chooses to do or not to do.
 It establishes the boundaries of freedoms and influences social, political, and economic
interactions.

Public policy is very Important specifically -

 To Understand the government intentions for a particular sector or department.

 To Measure the achievements made by the government.
 To Respond to the needs of society.
 To Provide a scientific understanding of cause-and-effect relationships.

“Public policy plays a vital role in society. It helps reveal the intentions of government for
specific sectors. The public can measure government achievements through policy. It also
enables a scientific understanding of cause-and-effect relationships in society.”
Some public policy areas include:

 Education policy
 Social welfare policy
 Health care policy
 Criminal justice policy
 Social policy
 Economic policy
 Environmental policy
 Energy policy

So they are three approaches to public policy:

The first is the

1. Analytic policy approach: Focuses on individual problems and solutions. Its scope is micro,
and its interpretation is usually technical.

2. Policy process approach: Focuses on political processes and stakeholder involvement. Its
scope is meso, and its interpretation is political.

3. Meta-policy approach: A systems and context approach. Its scope is macro, and its
interpretation is structural.

Now let’s talk about public policy in the Philippines.

There are several institutions involved in policy-making:

NEDA (National Economic Development Authority) – The National Economic and

Development Authority (NEDA) is the Philippines' premier socioeconomic planning body,
responsible for developing and coordinating national and regional development plans and
programs. Its primary purpose is to guide the government in formulating policies, evaluating
projects, and providing macroeconomic analysis to support sustainable economic growth and
equitable distribution of wealth. NEDA acts as the central coordinating body for the
government's development efforts, ensuring that policies and projects are integrated and aligned
with national objectives.

NSC (National Security Council) – The National Security Council (NSC) serves as the primary
advisory body to the President on national security matters, coordinating and integrating policies
across various government departments. Its primary function is to advise the President on how to
best integrate domestic, foreign, and military policies to ensure national security. The NSC also
acts as the President's principal arm for coordinating these policies among different government
agencies
LEDAC (Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council) – The Legislative-Executive
Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) serves as an advisory and consultative body to the
President, who chairs the NEDA Board. Its primary purpose is to ensure coordination and
consistency in programs and policies between the legislative and executive branches. Created by
RA 7640, the LEDAC facilitates the prioritization of legislative agendas, such as the Common
Legislative Agenda, and helps in achieving consensus on key bills. Its role is to advise the
President and facilitate collaboration to promote national development.

MMDA (Metro Manila Development Authority) – The MMDA's primary purpose is to plan,
monitor, and coordinate various functions within Metro Manila, including the mass transport
system, traffic management, and related regulations. It has regulatory and supervisory authority
over these areas, setting policies and overseeing the implementation of programs and projects.
The MMDA's rules cover traffic, parking, and the apprehension and ticketing system, aiming to
provide organized services and manage urban development effectively within the metropolis.

Of these, NEDA has the most defined mandate and permanent structure.

Who are the stakeholders in Philippine public policy?

 Executive branch
 Political parties
 Legislative branch
 Citizens
 Judicial branch
 Media
 Local governments (LGUs)
 Interest groups
 Political consultants

There are three parts to public policy making: problem, player, and policy. Problem it is the issue
that needs to be addressed, which is why you have to propose or create a policy. Players are
individuals or groups that influence the formation of the plan to address the issue, including the
executive branch or legislative. Policy is the finalized course of action decided upon by the
government, widely open to interpretation by the NGO players or non-governmental
organizations and the private sector, including church and cultural institutions.

The policy-making process involves actions taken by public officials and public institutions to
meet the challenge of real-world issues. Public policy can differ based on political affiliation or
the type of challenge under consideration. Officials create public policy in response to a problem
and involve what the government will do to address the issue. Public policy can take the form of
a new law, a city ordinance, or a government regulation.
The main idea of creating policy is to improve life for members of the public. Goal-oriented or
problem-based policies aim to move the public closer to a desired state or public goal. Even if
the ideas come from outside government, the creation of policy falls to public officials.

Okay, we have here stages of the policy process. So, we have five stages of the policy process.

Harold Lasswell, an important figure in the development of policy sciences at the University of
Chicago and Yale University in the 1950s, created a policy-making model that is still used today.
It contains five distinct steps or stages, according to the International Encyclopedia of the Social
and Behavioral Sciences.

In the first stage, we have agenda setting or identification of issues and problems. A problem or
challenge that impacts the public is initially identified. No solutions are put forward by interested
parties both inside and outside of the government.

Dili ni basahon

 Systematic Agenda:
This is the broadest view of issues that the public or relevant stakeholders are discussing and
deem worthy of attention. It's the pool of potential issues that could be brought to the
attention of policymakers.
 Institutional Agenda:
This is a more focused list of issues that policymakers have decided to give serious
consideration to. It represents the issues that are actively under consideration for potential
policy action.
 Decision Agenda:
This is the subset of the Institutional Agenda that is actively being debated and for which
policymakers are working to find solutions. It represents the issues that are currently in the
process of being decided upon and acted upon

Typically, agenda setting classifies this as the "json" agenda setting. We have a systemic agenda,
in which all issues public officials feel are worth addressing are listed. We have an institutional
agenda, which is distilled from the systemic agenda, where these issues are chosen as the ones
policymakers should analyze and consider acting on it. This list comes directly from lawmakers,
not from the systemic and institutional agendas.

Then we have the decision agenda. This is the final list of issues that policymakers will consider
for action. They can identify issues that publicize demands for government action, which can
lead to the identification of policy problems. Attention that prompts the need for government
action on certain problems is viewed as needing action while others are postponed. Competing
claims and prioritization can gain or decline in prominence over time.
Many people contribute to the identification of issues and problems, such as the president,
members of Congress, executive branch officials, political parties, interest groups, media, and
the general public in shaping public opinion.

Next is policy formulation. This is the second stage of the policy process. Policy formulation
involves the development of policy options within the government. This occurs after officials
narrow the range of possible policy choices by excluding infeasible options. In this step, different
interested parties attempt to have their favorite policy solution rank high among the remaining
options. The step often involves a period of intense debate.

Policy proposals can be formulated through political channels by policy planning organizations,
interest groups, government bureaucracies, state legislatures, the president, and Congress. During
this stage, several alternatives are considered.

The next stage is policy adoption or legitimization. In this step, government leaders decide on a
particular course of action, ideally the course that will best address the problem for the most
members of the public. Then policy is legitimized as a result of the public statements or actions
of government officials, both elected and appointed, such as the president, Congress, state
legislators, agency officials, and even the courts. This includes executive orders, budgets, laws
and appropriations, rules and regulations, and administrative and court decisions that set policy
directions.

After policy adoption or legitimization, we move to policy implementation. In this step of the
policy-making process, governments put the chosen public policy option into effect. To
implement it, officials use the tools of public administration that impact the distribution of
government goods and services or make changes in how the government interacts with the
public.

The changes should reflect the sentiments and values of the affected parties. Policy
implementation includes all the activities that result from the official adoption of a policy. This is
what happens after a law is passed. However, we should never assume that the passage of a law
is the end of the policy-making process. Sometimes, laws are passed, and nothing happens in
terms of actual implementation.

The last stage is policy assessment or evaluation. Both within and outside the government,
monitoring the impact of the policy helps determine if it is achieving the intended goal. This can
lead to further changes in public policy based on the impact of the original policies.

In reality, the policy-making process is not typically so linear. However, these five steps provide
a framework to better understand public policy formation and help students like us to identify the
strengths and weaknesses of the system.

There are reasons why we formulate, make, or pass such policies. Policy implementation on the
stage provides data. Policies can be influenced by new developments and emerging issues in the
local and international economies or by shifts in the policy emphasis of the administration.
Policies actually can present challenges in assessing policies. The kind of factors may need to be
taken into consideration. Policies can be difficult to assess; it's really difficult to assess some
policies that aim to accomplish broad conceptual goals that are subject to different
interpretations.

For example, healthy air quality can be difficult to define in ways that will be universally
accepted. Policies may also contain multiple objectives that may not be compatible. Some
policies may also contain multiple objectives that may not be compatible, as in the case of the
1919 Telecommunications Act, where the objectives of creating jobs and reducing cable rates
may conflict. If sufficient amounts of revenues are not generated, companies must either cut jobs
to maintain low rates or must raise rates to create more jobs.

Policies with compatible objectives can still be difficult to evaluate when only a few of the
objectives are accomplished. One person may deem the policy successful for accomplishing
some of the objectives well, while another may deem the policy unsuccessful for not
accomplishing all of the objectives.

Now, let's talk about types of policies. First, we have regulatory policy, which is designed to
limit the actions of persons or groups to protect the general public or a substantial portion of the
public. Examples include the Fire Code of the Philippines, the Sanitation Code of the
Philippines, and the Consumer Act of the Philippines. Among the more important national
regulatory agencies are the Bureau of Fire Protection, the Department of Trade and Industry, the
Securities and Exchange Commission, the FDA, and the Department of Environment and Natural
Resources.

Next, we have distributive policy, which is the most common form of government policy. It uses
taxes or tax revenues to provide benefits to individuals or groups by means of grants or
subsidies. These policies are meant for specific segments of society and include all public
assistance and welfare programs. Examples include adult education programs, food relief, social
insurance, employability, and more.

Then, we have redistributive policy, which takes taxes from certain groups and gives them to
another group. This includes income stabilization to support the unemployed or retired, social
welfare providing direct payments to indigents, and health care programs like PhilHealth.

An example of this is the requirement for college students to have insurance for limited face-to-
face classes, particularly since the pandemic. PhilHealth can be applied for by students through a
certificate of indigency.

Now, what are the differences between regulatory, distributive, and redistributive policies?
Distributive policies collect from the many and benefit a few, while regulatory policies focus on
one group while benefiting society at large. Redistributive policies share the wealth and income
of some groups with others.
Thank you for listening

Thank you, and God bless!