Running A Bureaucracy: A Guidebook for Local Government Unit Administrators, Other Public Managers, and Elected Officials

MA. GLADYS CRUZ- STA. RITA, is a familiar name in the circles of local government administrations in the Philippines, having served in key positions in the multi-awarded Provincial Government of Bulacan since 1986 until 2008.

As Provincial Administrator of Bulacan for the period of 17 years, Sta. Rita was at the forefront of history’s major turning points for Bulacan – the advent of local government decentralization and national advocacy for greater local autonomy, the rise of cooperative development, the need for reinventing the bureaucracy, information technology and e-governance, all of which saw the ascent of Bulacan as one of the most progressive provinces in the Philippines today.

Glads, as she is fondly called by her friends, has an Economics degree from the University of the Philippines and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the La Consolacion University of the Philippines. She attended a Certificate Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government at the Kennedy School of Government of Harvard University in 2002.

After her Bulacan stint, Sta. Rita worked as a consultant for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) projects in the Philippines through the UPECon Foundation. In 2013 until 2017, she was appointed and served as the first lady President and CEO of the National Power Corporation (NAPOCOR) in which time the corporation experienced its first full financial turnaround with a Net Income of 2.9 Billion Pesos in 2015. She also once served as a Director of the state-owned Philippine National Oil Corporation and Chairman of its subsidiary, PNOC Development and Management Corporation.

Sta. Rita is the Co-Author with Magno, Galvez, and Reyes- Cantos of a UNDP/ Social Watch/ CSC’s 2011 published book “Towards an Informed Citizens’ Participation In Local Governance Sourcebook On Local Public Finance”.