Philippines 'straight path' policies face crisis

Subject

Senior-level personnel changes in key government departments and the outlook for government policy in the Philippines.

Significance

The sudden April 22 resignation of Bureau of Customs head John Philip Sevilla added that agency to a list of others whose heads have retired or resigned in 2015. The most significant of these are the Commission on Elections, the Commission on Audit, the Civil Service Commission, the Bureau of Corrections and the Department of Energy. The terms in office of the heads of departments and bureaus are co-terminus with President Benigno 'Noynoy' Aquino's presidency, which ends in mid-2016, although those of the commissions are not.

Impacts

• Delays to the 2016 budget could hinder infrastructure investment, and Aquino's poverty-reduction and equitable economic growth aims.
• Aquino's anti-corruption agenda may become constrained.
• More senior resignations can be expected as the October deadline for filing to run for political office in 2016 approaches.
• The new president in 2016 may enter office facing popular doubts about the legitimacy of the election.
• Along with a potentially vitriolic post-2016 opposition, this may constrain the new president's legislative agenda.