Ma. Gladys Cruz-Sta. Rita, MPA, CSEE is a familiar face in the circles of local government administration in the Philippines, having served in key positions in the multi-awarded Provincial Government of Bulacan since 1986 and worked with two (2) of the most highly-acclaimed, post-people-power provincial governors in the country—Roberto M. Pagdanganan and Josefina M. Dela Cruz.  She is currently the Secretary General of the Provincial Administrators’s League of the Philippines and is the longest-serving Provincial Administrator in the country today.  The author still holds the same position under the administration of newly-elected Governor Joselito R. Mendoza.

As Provincial Administrator of Bulacan for the last 17 years, Sta. Rita was at the forefront of history’s major turning points for Bulacan—the advent of local government decentralization and the 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 the Province of Bulacan to national fame and recognition as one of the most progressive provinces in the country today.

Because of her commitment and dedication to public service, the author has been the recipient of various community and government awards.  These include the Outstanding Employee Award for Senior Manager Level from the Provincial Government of Bulacan, Woman of Distinction Award from the Soroptomist Club of the Philippines in Malolos, Certificate on Excellent Project Management Skills  from the Department of National Defense, and Outstanding Daughter of the Town of Calumpit from the Rotary Club.

Glads, as she is fondly called by her friends, finished her AB and masteral course in Economics at the University of the Philippines’ School of Economics in 1984 and 1986, respectively. In 2002, she completed her Certificate Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government at the Kennedy School of Government of Harvard University. In 2005, she received her masteral degree in Public Administration from the University of Regina Carmeli.

The author is happily married to businessman/farmer Fortunato A. Sta. Rita, and mother to Rafael Nic, Fortunato Jr., and Fort Christopher. She is the third of six children of Mr. Herman M. Cruz of Calumpit and Mrs. Ligaya Capule-Cruz of Malolos.

Running a Bureaucracy is the author’s maiden contribution to the literature on progressive local government administration in the Philippines.