[OPINION] Government must outlive administrations - Rappler

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A persistent weakness of Philippine governance is the tendency of successive administrations to treat development programs as political legacies rather than continuing obligations of the state. Projects initiated by one administration are sometimes suspended or abandoned by its successor, not because they have become unviable, but because they are associated with the previous leadership.

This is wasteful and contrary to the public interest. Roads, bridges, hospitals, irrigation systems, and other development projects are not presidential gifts; they are public investments financed by taxpayers, borrowed funds, or assistance secured in the name of the Republic.

The Philippines needs laws and institutions to protect development commitments across political transitions and turn long-term strategies into results. I propose two complementary reforms: a Government Development Project Continuity Act and a Philippine Economic Development Board (PEDB), drawing on the strategic functions of Singapore’s Economic Development Board (EDB).

Major projects take years to plan and implement. Abandonment without compelling justification wastes public money, leaves unfinished structures, and deprives communities of expected benefits.

Abandonment is especially damaging when foreign financing is involved. It can trigger liabilities, forfeit ODA, loans, grants, or technical assistance, and undermine the Philippines’ credibility as a development partner. Agreements made in the Republic’s name should survive changes in political leadership.

Political succession should never become institutional repudiation.

Congress should establish a legally enforceable presumption of continuity for duly approved, funded, and contractually committed national and local development projects. Coverage should include domestically funded, foreign-assisted, and public-private projects.

The principle is simple: continuity is the rule; discontinuation is the exception that must be justified.

Protection must not be absolute. Future administrations and Congresses retain authority to correct defective projects, respond to changed circumstances, and exercise constitutional control over appropriations. The aim is to prevent arbitrary abandonment, not guarantee funding regardless of merit or fiscal capacity.

Project continuity alone cannot drive economic transformation. The Philippines also needs an institution able to translate long-term priorities into investment, industrial development, and sustained execution.

Singapore’s Economic Development Board, established in 1961, offers an example of an institution that helped attract strategic investment, develop industries, and strengthen technological capabilities. These principles can be adapted to Philippine circumstances.

We already have relevant institutions: the Board of Investments (BOI), Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), Clark Development Corporation (CDC), and other investment promotion and economic zone authorities. The problem is fragmented responsibilities and overlapping functions.

Rather than create another coordinating council, Congress should establish the PEDB by consolidating these agencies under one governing authority and executive leadership. It should be an integrated institution, not merely a body coordinating independently directed agencies.

BOI, PEZA, BCDA, SBMA, CDC, and other relevant agencies should become specialized operating divisions or constituent units. The necessary regulatory, administrative, technical, commercial, and operational responsibilities should be preserved. PEZA should retain specialized zone administration; BCDA should retain its property development capabilities; and freeport authorities should continue their geographically specific functions.

The institutional structure within which they operate must change. The principle is unity of command with functional specialization: one national authority, one coherent strategy, and one accountable executive leadership. Overlapping promotion, investor assistance, administration, and reporting should be rationalized without sacrificing expertise or regional capabilities.

The PEDB should attract investment, develop priority industries, administer economic zones and strategic properties through specialized divisions, connect foreign investors with Filipino enterprises, strengthen local supply chains and technology transfer, and facilitate investment. It should maintain the National Register and monitor implementation.

The PEDB needs professional management, merit-based appointments, staggered terms, and legally defined grounds for removal. Its performance should be measured by realized investment, quality jobs, exports, productivity, technology transfer, and stronger domestic industries—not merely investment pledges. It must remain subject to congressional oversight, Commission on Audit examination, transparency, and independent evaluation.

Consolidation must not create a competing national planning authority. DEPDev should remain responsible for national economic planning, the Philippine Development Plan, and public investment programming. PEDB should translate these priorities into investment and industrial development.

DEPDev plans; PEDB mobilizes investment and drives development; DBM handles budget formulation; DOF oversees fiscal policy and public financing; and Congress legislates, appropriates, and exercises oversight.

These reforms require careful drafting and an orderly transition. The PEDB Act must specify which agencies are merged, which become operating divisions, and which corporate entities or subsidiaries retain separate legal identities. It must address assets, liabilities, contracts, financing, personnel, and ongoing projects; respect vested rights and binding obligations; and amend or harmonize agency charters where necessary. Transitional safeguards must prevent reorganization from disrupting the projects and investments the reforms seek to protect.

Unity of command must be accompanied by clarity of legal authority, continuity of obligations, and accountability for results.

The two reforms are complementary: the Continuity Act protects legitimate commitments from arbitrary disruption; the PEDB consolidates principal investment and development agencies under one authority to drive economic transformation.

Neither should perpetuate defective projects or misguided policies; both require transparency, fiscal discipline, evaluation, and accountability. But a change in administration should not automatically change the country’s economic direction.

National development is cumulative. Every administration should build on what its predecessor accomplished, not start from scratch each time. Measure leadership by its contribution to the country’s continuing progress, not by how effectively it erases previous accomplishments.

Presidents come and go. Administrations rise and fall. But the state endures, and its responsibility to the Filipino people must endure with it. National development must outlive political administrations. It is time to make that principle the law of the land. – Rappler.com

Raul F. Borjal is a BS Economics alumnus of Ateneo de Manila University and has undertaken post-graduate studies at the Ateneo Graduate School of Business. He held senior executive positions in various domestic and multinational corporations, culminating in his retirement as vice president and corporate secretary of a Filipino-owned group of companies.