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"The Life of The Law Has Not Been Logic, It Has Been Experience." (Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, JR.)

The document discusses policy making and the legislative process in the Philippines Congress. It argues that while Congress engages in policy making through legislation, the process could be improved by adopting techniques from policy analysis like evidence-based policy making, ex-ante and ex-post evaluation, and a theory of change framework. Adopting these analytical tools would allow Congress to better fulfill its role of enacting laws that promote general welfare and adhere to the principles of democracy and rule of law.

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Fely Domingo Parcon
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63 views

"The Life of The Law Has Not Been Logic, It Has Been Experience." (Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, JR.)

The document discusses policy making and the legislative process in the Philippines Congress. It argues that while Congress engages in policy making through legislation, the process could be improved by adopting techniques from policy analysis like evidence-based policy making, ex-ante and ex-post evaluation, and a theory of change framework. Adopting these analytical tools would allow Congress to better fulfill its role of enacting laws that promote general welfare and adhere to the principles of democracy and rule of law.

Uploaded by

Fely Domingo Parcon
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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THE BUSINESS OF POLICY MAKING AND THE RULE OF LAW

“The life of the law has not been logic, it has been experience.”
(Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.)

The primary role of the legislature is to enact laws that uphold its Constitution,
promote the general welfare of its people and adhere to the tenets of democracy and
the rule of law. In the exercise of its rule-making power, the Congress of the Philippines
has maintained its independence from the Executive, who implements the laws and
from the Judiciary, who interprets such laws.
The comprehensive sessions on managing the policy process of the
Development Academy of the Philippines-CBILLS program have enriched my
understanding and knowledge of how Congress must exercise its legislative power from
a holistic perspective of effective and efficient policy making.
While the socio-economic theories presented laid down the foundations of
analyzing market and government failures, the sessions on policy process and analysis,
to my mind, have totally crystallized the legislative work that we do in the Secretariat. It
can be gainsaid that the legislative Committees and staff have all the while been making
policies, even though not all of us are adept of the technical terms, methodologies and
analytical models derived from academic or scholarly sources.
Thus, the business of policy making has been demystified into a logical, dynamic
and evolving process that finds itself deeply embedded in the heart of the legislative
process, from the moment a bill is filed up to its eventual passage into law.
Congress is undoubtedly a microcosm of the society as a whole, for it represents
the will of the electorate through the duly elected Members and Senators who have
been elected in public office. It is also the institution where conflicts of interest continue
to inspire debates during committee and plenary deliberations, where stakeholders are
invited to posit their valued ideas to ensure people’s participation, and where the voice
of the people are formulated and articulated through consensus and compromise.
The entire labyrinthine process of legislation is the perfect template for the
concepts that I have learned from the policy process and analysis, but with some clear
exceptions as to the usual legislative practice. For while a bill that is filed by a legislator
is a product of relevant research, it may not always have gone through a rigorous policy
analysis or even evidence-based policy making, at least not in the sense that DAP has
put forward. It is only during the committee deliberations that such bills which are filed
are subjected to keen scrutiny by the government agencies and other stakeholders, as
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well as the Members of the Committees.


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The measures which are discussed in the meeting agenda are not tested with the
standards of monitoring and evaluation, or even by the regulatory impact assessment in
its theoretical state. These are some areas which I have identified to be lacking in the
current legislative process, and which must be carefully studied by the technical staff of
the Secretariat as ways forward to improve legislation.
The Congressional Oversight Committees may, to some extent, function as
monitoring bodies to oversee the implementation of the policies, but this duty is
exercised after the law has been enacted, and not as an ex-ante evaluation of the
policy. Not even an ex-post evaluation is done by Congress. Should there be defects in
the policy, it will entail another amendatory law to correct such lapses and would take
time to prosper, not to mention the unintended consequences of said policy.
Moreover, what has also emerged in my contemplation as a highly
recommended action for adoption by the Secretariat is to institutionalize a Theory of
Change Framework on bills with national application, and identify end goals that are
aligned with the legislative priorities of both the House and the Senate, which are also
consistent with the national development goals of Ambisyon Natin 2040 and the global
sustainable development goals. The model framework, when done in a detailed and
systematic manner on the bills, would pave the way for a better appreciation and
guidance of our national leaders and those in public service, as that would set the
metrics for evaluating the success of each goal.
Parenthetically, it is an imperative action that the Secretariat push for the
implementation of an evidence-based policy making at the start of the legislative
process, which is upon the drafting and prior to the filing of the measure of a legislator,
and must be complemented by an ex-ante and ex-post evaluation, policy analysis and a
more responsive policy process for the bills acted upon, up to their final enactment into
law. In doing so, the legislative department is able to fulfill its constitutional mandate of
its rule making power.
As Justice Holmes succinctly puts it, “The life of the law has not been logic, it has
been experience.” If legislation is to epitomize the rule of law and the tenets of a vibrant
democracy, it must bear the business of policy making as “the greatest good for the
greatest number.”
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