On New Public Management Applicability and Practice

(October 27– November 03, 2006)
by Cecille Rose P. Sabig

Cecille Rose P. Sabig

It wass a friend, fellow Ateneo Human Rights Center (AHRC) intern and then AHRC’s internship director, Attorney Myrfi Gonzalez, who encouraged us, a group of alumni interns, to join the online seminars sponsored by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation. Presently working as a court attorney for a judicial institution and specializing in judicial decision-making, I thought it would be interesting to be learn something different yet applicable to my work. Thus I applied to the online seminar on New Public Management (NPM) believing it was a topic that would be helpful and insightful. True enough, the seminar did not disappoint me.

As early as the online phase, exchanges with my fellow participants were already stimulating and interesting. I was able to share my Philippine experiences and views regarding public administration, political structures and reforms with participants from different countries. The online phase of the seminar was significant in helping me bond faster with fellow participants during the Phase II seminar in Germany. It was interesting to finally meet in person, people whose views I had previously either agreed or disagreed with during the online phase. The lively discussions and debates throughout the plenary sessions and working groups continued throughout. It was quite interesting to compare our countries continuously. As one Argentinean participant aptly observed, despite the distance and the differences in culture and language, the problems in governance faced by our countries were actually similar.

The applicability of NPM practices was my constant realization throughout the seminar.

One important topic was the Burgerservice (Citizen’s Bureau) in the town of Gummersbach. Through a well-furnished office with very able and well-trained employees, citizens in this town are immediately assisted with their various concerns. Inside the Burgerservice, the needs of the citizens are addressed, and their papers or documents, such as passports and driver’s licenses, are processed. The Bureau does not simply answer queries that their citizens may ask, but immediately has the capability to get things rolling for the visitor.

The visit to the Burgerservice has gotten me frustrated that this simple yet very effective concept is not being used in the Philippines. Burgerservice is so far advanced from the usual information booth or offices found in the halls of our local government units. Our information booths are a far cry from the kind of service that the Burgerservice is giving. The biggest block in putting up this type of office in our country is not the lack of demand or budget, but rather the lack of information that this citizen’s bureau does exist and can make a big difference in lives of our citizens. Both local leaders and citizens greatly need to know about the existence of this office.

The non-existence of efficient offices in this country like the Burgerservice has reminded me that the mindset of customer orientation has yet to be developed here. Setting up that mindset continues to be a challenge today. I believe however that prioritizing customer orientation will actually work in the favor of local leaders. Indeed, when citizens feel that their leaders consider them important, they will also show their appreciation to these leaders. This country needs leaders who have open minds and are sincere in applying and practicing customer orientation in their administration.

Mayor Uwe Ufer, mayor of the town of Huckeswagen, also offered a lot of insights on governance. He shared a lot of progressive ideas and various ways of adapting NPM concepts. Mayor Ufer showed that organizational structures can be adjusted to fit the needs of the citizens, and that a town can set aside an old system for budgeting and adhere to a different but effective system. The town’s style of governance adjusts to the needs of its citizens and not sticks to the usual “template” of governance. While political will is a must for our leaders, we also need strong leaders with the resourcefulness and ingenuity of Mayor Ufer.

Finally, I greatly appreciated the well-maintained landscape, clean surroundings and well-planned towns of Germany. While this may seem aesthetic, the efficiency of the government’s service is easily seen through the eyes of a visitor coming from a third-world country with poorly maintained roads and garbage piles in constant sight.

The NPM seminar was indeed a venue for life-long knowledge, lasting friendships and fond memories for me. The drinks and the enjoyable dances at the bar, the nightly table tennis games between different nationalities, the few lessons on foreign words, enjoyable early morning walks through the town, the beautiful and lush surroundings of our school, and the constant visits to the grocery store are just among the many special things that I will remember in the years ahead. The faces of my fellow participants, our moderators and interpreters, will continue to haunt me as I continue to miss all of them. And most importantly, the taste of excellent German beer will continue to beckon me back to Germany.

I have returned to the Philippines with a lot of learning. The experience I had in Germany has definitely made me believe in the soundness and applicability of NPM.

I had previously vowed to continue to be a human rights advocate, having been a human rights intern while I was in law school, and an environmentalist, having worked with an environmental NGO for several years. This seminar has again made me vow to a third way of life – to be an NPM practitioner – in my work and in my dealings with the government. Advocating for the practice of NPM in this country will actually do this country good. And this advocacy can start with me.