Legislative Dynamics in Development Policy Formulation: The Case of the Proposed Land Administration Reform Act

Abstract

The Philippine Congress is neither developmental nor anti-development but is rather an institution whose members respond to the various incentives placed before them by their various stakeholders. In the formal policy process, various institutions have been made to allow political institutions to come together and discuss relevant policy allowing it in theory to easily pass the policy mill. The proposed Land Administration Reform Act, aimed at rationalizing the land administration and management sector of the Philippines dismally failed to pass the Congress despite the assurances given by political stakeholders. The institutional arrangements of the Philippine Congress allow stakeholders different avenues to support or oppose proposed policies. Philippine Senators are given much power to decide if a bill can become a law. Various government bureaucracies can and did oppose each other in a bid to outmaneuver each other in guiding the reform process in the LAM sector. This paper finds that Congress generally acts on development policies the same way that they do with other policies. Congress acts in the way that the Constitution designed it to be. It possesses separation of purpose from the executive but the degree that it does is determined by the different setup of the Senate. The constitution gave the Senate more effective veto actors thus giving them the opportunity to greatly affect policy. Institutional actors such as the LEDAC partly determine the direction of policymaking by facilitating its passage in a particular chamber. Executive ministries are also effective policy actors and indirect veto wielders. This is done through interpretation of policy intent. The paper finds that the nature and process of development policymaking is a result of its institutional design. Institutional designs that can produce an increasing number of veto actors will create developmental policies that are resolute, private-regarding and distributive. Designs that foster a balance between separation of purpose and separation of powers might create an environment that will be policy decisive, public regarding and re-distributive.