DepEd needs a management expert
July 14, 2006 | 12:00am
At long last, there is good news from this administration. Ate Glue has appointed Rep. Jesli Lapus of Tarlac as the new Secretary of Education. Politics may be part of the reason for the appointment but this is one rare instance when good politics also means good choice.
For one thing, Jesli is just the man DepEd needs now. Jesli’s proven management skills and his political instincts make him an ideal person to run this largest of our government bureaucracies. It also just so happens that education is the most crucial program of government today and we have to make sure every centavo of tax money allocated to this sector must deliver the most bang.
I understand some of the bureaucrats at DepEd, mostly the non-teaching ones, are not thrilled with Jesli’s reported appointment. That’s to be expected. I recall that Jesli was in on moves to reform DepEd in the past, most notably, in the dismantling of the various loan shark syndicates that preyed on poor teachers. Those scams have been going on for years with the tolerance of the bureaucrats in the main and regional offices who are most likely profiting from them. There are other syndicates there dealing with supplies from books to desks and chairs and even uniforms. Maybe Jesli should bring in someone with law enforcement background as a deputy.
For me, the position of DepEd Secretary is the most important in government today, next to the President. Anyone who can perform marvelously there should be rewarded with the presidency thereafter. You see, not only is DepEd the largest bureaucracy in terms of number of staff but it also claims the largest portion of the national budget. Yet, they are still undermanned – not enough good teachers – and under budget, in the sense that we are still underspending on education given the task at hand. One of the first things Jesli must do is reduce the number of non-teaching bureaucrats and hire more teachers.
Jesli is taking on this tough assignment with some of the best credentials for the job. His management expertise had been honed not just here but abroad, specifically, in Europe. He has managed a government office, Land Bank, and his stint as congressman, specially as chairman of the ways and means committee, has given him the political savvy and network that should prove valuable in running this department.
It is interesting too that because of his current position as chairman of the House ways and means committee, the guys who study and pass tax proposals, he knows the value of our tax money. Because he knows how difficult it is to pass tax measures, he will be the best person to preside over the expenditure of the largest portion of our money in the National Treasury. I am sure he will demand utmost efficiency and honesty that is unusual in DepEd today.
Of course it is also true that DepEd and its mission, while most important, also seems to be mission impossible. The backlog in schoolhouses, books, qualified teachers, etc is such that it is unlikely to be met in the short term. What we are expecting Jesli to deliver however, are early positive results that would show the system is not that hopeless. If he can manage to get enough pockets of excellence in our educational sector, we should be happy for now.
Jesli must continue to build on the work already started by the late DepEd Secretary Raul Roco and former DepEd Secretary DJ de Jesus. Given that our national economic competitiveness is now seriously compromised by the failure of our educational system, there is no time to lose. Actually, Jesli should have gotten his mandate sooner… so much time has been lost already.
We received this reply from Dr. W. Olalia, chief operating officer UST Hospital, regarding an item that appeared in this column about the spin off of the hospital from the UST College of Medicine. Dr. Olalaia explained that this was done for financial reasons, to make the hospital viable.
Due to limited space, we will print the first part of the response. Subsequent columns will carry other relevant portions.
It is true that a new corporation (non-stock, non-profit) was formed by the University, acting through its board of trustees. It is also true that being members of the UST Dominican Community, it is the Dominican fathers who formed the corporation.
It is not true, however, that the corporation was formed to take over the ownership and operations of UST Hospital. It was to provide the hospital with juridical autonomy, a full-time management, and its own governance body, all focused on reversing the fortunes of the UST Hospital, initially, and eventually to lead it down the path to expansion and growth.
The immediate objective for incorporating UST Hospital was to rescue it from the downward operational and financial spiral in which it had been caught prior to the incorporation. Long-term, it is to make the hospital’s operation and finances sustainable and make it better able to deliver world class medical care and superior medical education.
The task of meeting these objectives rests upon the hospital administration team and board of trustees with the mandate of the hospital’s owners, which is UST, the University. The University’s move to spin off UST Hospital as an autonomous but still-owned "subsidiary" corporate entity was the result of a restructuring decision that had been long-considered and thoroughly-discerned by the University board of trustees, acting on competent legal and financial advice, and consistently in line the University’s statutes.
The restructuring was prompted by the previous irreversible deterioration of UST Hospital’s financial health, which diminished its ability to fulfill its mission both as a medical institution for the patient population at large, particularly its poorer segment, and a teaching hospital for students of the University’s medical school.
UST Hospital was hemorrhaging financially. The UST Hospital’s incorporation is not unlike the corporate restructuring effort that the owners of an enterprise, whether for profit or non-profit, would execute to turn around a unit that had been performing way below par and hemorrhaging financially because of ineffective management, operational dysfunctions, cost inefficiencies, runaway overheads and, worst, even possible irregular or unethical practices.
For one thing, Jesli is just the man DepEd needs now. Jesli’s proven management skills and his political instincts make him an ideal person to run this largest of our government bureaucracies. It also just so happens that education is the most crucial program of government today and we have to make sure every centavo of tax money allocated to this sector must deliver the most bang.
I understand some of the bureaucrats at DepEd, mostly the non-teaching ones, are not thrilled with Jesli’s reported appointment. That’s to be expected. I recall that Jesli was in on moves to reform DepEd in the past, most notably, in the dismantling of the various loan shark syndicates that preyed on poor teachers. Those scams have been going on for years with the tolerance of the bureaucrats in the main and regional offices who are most likely profiting from them. There are other syndicates there dealing with supplies from books to desks and chairs and even uniforms. Maybe Jesli should bring in someone with law enforcement background as a deputy.
For me, the position of DepEd Secretary is the most important in government today, next to the President. Anyone who can perform marvelously there should be rewarded with the presidency thereafter. You see, not only is DepEd the largest bureaucracy in terms of number of staff but it also claims the largest portion of the national budget. Yet, they are still undermanned – not enough good teachers – and under budget, in the sense that we are still underspending on education given the task at hand. One of the first things Jesli must do is reduce the number of non-teaching bureaucrats and hire more teachers.
Jesli is taking on this tough assignment with some of the best credentials for the job. His management expertise had been honed not just here but abroad, specifically, in Europe. He has managed a government office, Land Bank, and his stint as congressman, specially as chairman of the ways and means committee, has given him the political savvy and network that should prove valuable in running this department.
It is interesting too that because of his current position as chairman of the House ways and means committee, the guys who study and pass tax proposals, he knows the value of our tax money. Because he knows how difficult it is to pass tax measures, he will be the best person to preside over the expenditure of the largest portion of our money in the National Treasury. I am sure he will demand utmost efficiency and honesty that is unusual in DepEd today.
Of course it is also true that DepEd and its mission, while most important, also seems to be mission impossible. The backlog in schoolhouses, books, qualified teachers, etc is such that it is unlikely to be met in the short term. What we are expecting Jesli to deliver however, are early positive results that would show the system is not that hopeless. If he can manage to get enough pockets of excellence in our educational sector, we should be happy for now.
Jesli must continue to build on the work already started by the late DepEd Secretary Raul Roco and former DepEd Secretary DJ de Jesus. Given that our national economic competitiveness is now seriously compromised by the failure of our educational system, there is no time to lose. Actually, Jesli should have gotten his mandate sooner… so much time has been lost already.
Due to limited space, we will print the first part of the response. Subsequent columns will carry other relevant portions.
It is true that a new corporation (non-stock, non-profit) was formed by the University, acting through its board of trustees. It is also true that being members of the UST Dominican Community, it is the Dominican fathers who formed the corporation.
It is not true, however, that the corporation was formed to take over the ownership and operations of UST Hospital. It was to provide the hospital with juridical autonomy, a full-time management, and its own governance body, all focused on reversing the fortunes of the UST Hospital, initially, and eventually to lead it down the path to expansion and growth.
The immediate objective for incorporating UST Hospital was to rescue it from the downward operational and financial spiral in which it had been caught prior to the incorporation. Long-term, it is to make the hospital’s operation and finances sustainable and make it better able to deliver world class medical care and superior medical education.
The task of meeting these objectives rests upon the hospital administration team and board of trustees with the mandate of the hospital’s owners, which is UST, the University. The University’s move to spin off UST Hospital as an autonomous but still-owned "subsidiary" corporate entity was the result of a restructuring decision that had been long-considered and thoroughly-discerned by the University board of trustees, acting on competent legal and financial advice, and consistently in line the University’s statutes.
The restructuring was prompted by the previous irreversible deterioration of UST Hospital’s financial health, which diminished its ability to fulfill its mission both as a medical institution for the patient population at large, particularly its poorer segment, and a teaching hospital for students of the University’s medical school.
UST Hospital was hemorrhaging financially. The UST Hospital’s incorporation is not unlike the corporate restructuring effort that the owners of an enterprise, whether for profit or non-profit, would execute to turn around a unit that had been performing way below par and hemorrhaging financially because of ineffective management, operational dysfunctions, cost inefficiencies, runaway overheads and, worst, even possible irregular or unethical practices.
PhilStar reader Robin Tong sent this one. A woman was having a daytime affair while her husband was at work. One wet and lusty day she was in bed with her boyfriend when, to her horror, she heard her husband’s car pull into the driveway. "Oh My God–Hurry! Grab your clothes," she yelled to her lover. "And jump out the window. My husband’s home early!" I can’t jump out the window!" came the strangled reply from beneath the sheets "It’s raining out there!" "If my husband catches us in here, he’ll kill us both!" she replied. "He’s got a very quick temper and a very large gun! The rain is the least of your problems." So the boyfriend scoots out of bed, grabs his clothes and jumps out the window! As he began running down the street in the pouring rain, he quickly discovered he had run right into the middle of the town’s annual marathon. So he started running along beside the others about 300 of them. Being naked, with his clothes tucked under his arm, he tried to "blend in" as best he could. It wasn’t that effective! After a little while, a small group of runners, who had been studying him with some curiosity, jogged closer. "Do you always run in the nude?" one asked. "Oh yes" he replied, gasping in air. "It feels so wonderfully free having the air blow over all your skin while you’re running." Another runner moved alongside. "Do you always run carrying your clothes with you under your arm?" "Oh, yes" our friend answered breathlessly. "That way I can get dressed right at the end of the run and get in my car to go home!" Then a third runner cast his eyes a little lower and queried. "Do you always wear a condom when you run?" "Only if it’s raining!" Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]
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