Survival of an imperfect democracy in the Philippines

Democratization

Volumn 6, Issue 1, 1999, Pages 198-223

  Putzel, James ^a  

^a LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

DEMOCRACY; POLITICAL SYSTEM; POWER RELATIONS;

PHILIPPINES;

EID: 0032810160     PISSN: 13510347     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/13510349908403603     Document Type: Article

References (89)

1. John Sidel, 'The Philippines: The Languages of Legitimation', in Muthiah Alagapa (ed.), Political Legitimacy in Southeast Asia: The Quest for Moral Authority (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1995), p.147.
2. Benedict R. Anderson, 'Elections and Participation in Three Southeast Asian Countries', in R.H. Taylor (ed.), The Politics of Elections in Southeast Asia (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), pp.26, 33.
3. The Institute for Popular Democracy in Quezon City has published: Eric Guitierrez et al., All in the Family: A Study of Elites and Power Relations in the Philippines (1992) and with the Centre for Investigative Journalism, Eric Guitierrez, The Ties that Bind: A Guide to Family, Business and other Interests in the Ninth House of Representatives (1994); and José F. Lacaba (ed.), Boss: 5 Case Studies of Local Politics in the Philippines (1995). The Diokno project yielded three important volumes published by the Third World Studies Center of the University of the Philippines, Quezon City in 1997: Maria Serena Diokno (ed.), Democracy and Citizenship in Filipino Political Culture; Marion A. Wui and Maria Glenda Lopez (eds.), State, Civil Society Relations in Policy-Making; and Miriam Coronel Ferrer (ed.), Civil Society Making Civil Society.
4. The Institute for Popular Democracy in Quezon City has published: Eric Guitierrez et al., All in the Family: A Study of Elites and Power Relations in the Philippines (1992) and with the Centre for Investigative Journalism, Eric Guitierrez, The Ties that Bind: A Guide to Family, Business and other Interests in the Ninth House of Representatives (1994); and José F. Lacaba (ed.), Boss: 5 Case Studies of Local Politics in the Philippines (1995). The Diokno project yielded three important volumes published by the Third World Studies Center of the University of the Philippines, Quezon City in 1997: Maria Serena Diokno (ed.), Democracy and Citizenship in Filipino Political Culture; Marion A. Wui and Maria Glenda Lopez (eds.), State, Civil Society Relations in Policy-Making; and Miriam Coronel Ferrer (ed.), Civil Society Making Civil Society.
5. The Institute for Popular Democracy in Quezon City has published: Eric Guitierrez et al., All in the Family: A Study of Elites and Power Relations in the Philippines (1992) and with the Centre for Investigative Journalism, Eric Guitierrez, The Ties that Bind: A Guide to Family, Business and other Interests in the Ninth House of Representatives (1994); and José F. Lacaba (ed.), Boss: 5 Case Studies of Local Politics in the Philippines (1995). The Diokno project yielded three important volumes published by the Third World Studies Center of the University of the Philippines, Quezon City in 1997: Maria Serena Diokno (ed.), Democracy and Citizenship in Filipino Political Culture; Marion A. Wui and Maria Glenda Lopez (eds.), State, Civil Society Relations in Policy-Making; and Miriam Coronel Ferrer (ed.), Civil Society Making Civil Society.
6. The Institute for Popular Democracy in Quezon City has published: Eric Guitierrez et al., All in the Family: A Study of Elites and Power Relations in the Philippines (1992) and with the Centre for Investigative Journalism, Eric Guitierrez, The Ties that Bind: A Guide to Family, Business and other Interests in the Ninth House of Representatives (1994); and José F. Lacaba (ed.), Boss: 5 Case Studies of Local Politics in the Philippines (1995). The Diokno project yielded three important volumes published by the Third World Studies Center of the University of the Philippines, Quezon City in 1997: Maria Serena Diokno (ed.), Democracy and Citizenship in Filipino Political Culture; Marion A. Wui and Maria Glenda Lopez (eds.), State, Civil Society Relations in Policy-Making; and Miriam Coronel Ferrer (ed.), Civil Society Making Civil Society.
7. The Institute for Popular Democracy in Quezon City has published: Eric Guitierrez et al., All in the Family: A Study of Elites and Power Relations in the Philippines (1992) and with the Centre for Investigative Journalism, Eric Guitierrez, The Ties that Bind: A Guide to Family, Business and other Interests in the Ninth House of Representatives (1994); and José F. Lacaba (ed.), Boss: 5 Case Studies of Local Politics in the Philippines (1995). The Diokno project yielded three important volumes published by the Third World Studies Center of the University of the Philippines, Quezon City in 1997: Maria Serena Diokno (ed.), Democracy and Citizenship in Filipino Political Culture; Marion A. Wui and Maria Glenda Lopez (eds.), State, Civil Society Relations in Policy-Making; and Miriam Coronel Ferrer (ed.), Civil Society Making Civil Society.
8. The Institute for Popular Democracy in Quezon City has published: Eric Guitierrez et al., All in the Family: A Study of Elites and Power Relations in the Philippines (1992) and with the Centre for Investigative Journalism, Eric Guitierrez, The Ties that Bind: A Guide to Family, Business and other Interests in the Ninth House of Representatives (1994); and José F. Lacaba (ed.), Boss: 5 Case Studies of Local Politics in the Philippines (1995). The Diokno project yielded three important volumes published by the Third World Studies Center of the University of the Philippines, Quezon City in 1997: Maria Serena Diokno (ed.), Democracy and Citizenship in Filipino Political Culture; Marion A. Wui and Maria Glenda Lopez (eds.), State, Civil Society Relations in Policy-Making; and Miriam Coronel Ferrer (ed.), Civil Society Making Civil Society.
9. Here I am borrowing from the language of new institutional economics and, in particular, the work of Douglas North. See his, Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990). I do not accept the language of institutions as 'constraints', but rather see institutions as both constraining and enabling human action. This literature offers an opportunity to engage in an increasingly interdisciplinary conversation about development, though in this discussion I do not explore the economic dimensions of democracy.
10. James Putzel, 'Democratization and Clan Politics: the 1992 Philippine Elections', Southeast Asia Research, Vol.3, No.1 (March 1995), pp.18-45.
11. I stress that rules and organizations must be effective to distinguish between a mere formal expression of these and observable operational reality. This is particularly important in a world where it has become commonplace for even the most non-democratic regimes, such as the New Order regime in Indonesia, to define themselves as 'democratic'.
12. North, op. cit., p.5.
13. North, op. cit., Chs.1 and 5.
14. Legitimacy is treated this way by Rodney Barker, Political Legitimacy and the State (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1990) and David Held, Political Theory and the Modern State (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1989), pp.101-2.
15. Legitimacy is treated this way by Rodney Barker, Political Legitimacy and the State (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1990) and David Held, Political Theory and the Modern State (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1989), pp.101-2.
16. See the works of Robert Putnam on Italy and the US, Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1993), 'Bowling Alone: America's Declining Social Capital', Journal of Democracy, Vol.6, No.1 (1995), pp.65-78.
17. See the works of Robert Putnam on Italy and the US, Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1993), 'Bowling Alone: America's Declining Social Capital', Journal of Democracy, Vol.6, No.1 (1995), pp.65-78.
18. Putnam, Making Democracy Work, p.167, and his, 'The Prosperous Community: Social Capital and Public Life', The American Prospect, Vol.13 (Spring, 1995).
19. Putnam, Making Democracy Work, p.167, and his, 'The Prosperous Community: Social Capital and Public Life', The American Prospect, Vol.13 (Spring, 1995).
20. John Harriss and Paolo De Renzio, citing the works of James Coleman and Pierre Bourdieu in, 'An Introductory Bibliographic Essay', Journal of International Development, Vol.9, No.7 (1997), pp.921-2.
21. James Putzel, 'Accounting for the Dark Side of Social Capital: Reading Robert Putnam on Democracy', Journal of International Development, Vol.9, No.7 (1997), pp.939-49.
22. This approach parallels in large measure the argument of Fernando N. Zialcita, 'Barriers and Bridges to a Democratic Culture', in Diokno (ed.), op.cit., pp.39-68, though he did not employ the language of social capital.
23. See for example the otherwise excellent discussion of civil society in Gordon White, 'Civil Society, Democratization and Development', in Robert Luckham and Gordon White (eds.), Democratization in the South: the Jagged Wave (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1996), pp. 179-80. This has also been a source of confusion in debates about civil society in the Philippines as discussed by Miriam Coronel Ferrer, 'Civil Society: An Operational Definition', in Diokno (ed.), op.cit., pp.5-16.
24. See for example the otherwise excellent discussion of civil society in Gordon White, 'Civil Society, Democratization and Development', in Robert Luckham and Gordon White (eds.), Democratization in the South: the Jagged Wave (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1996), pp. 179-80. This has also been a source of confusion in debates about civil society in the Philippines as discussed by Miriam Coronel Ferrer, 'Civil Society: An Operational Definition', in Diokno (ed.), op.cit., pp.5-16.
25. James Putzel, 'Managing the "Main Force": The Communist Party and the Peasantry in the Philippines', Journal of Peasant Studies, Vol.22, No.4 (1995), pp.645-71.
26. Luzviminda Francisco, 'The First Vietnam: The U.S.-Philippine War of 1899', Appendix VI in, Luzviminda Bartolome Francisco and Jonathan Shepard Fast, Conspiracy for Empire: Big Business, Corruption and the Politics of Imperialism in America, 1876-1907 (Quezon City: Foundation for Nationalist Studies, 1985), pp.298-330. On the politics of the colonial period see, Ruby Peredes (ed.), Philippine Colonial Democracy (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1989).
27. Luzviminda Francisco, 'The First Vietnam: The U.S.-Philippine War of 1899', Appendix VI in, Luzviminda Bartolome Francisco and Jonathan Shepard Fast, Conspiracy for Empire: Big Business, Corruption and the Politics of Imperialism in America, 1876-1907 (Quezon City: Foundation for Nationalist Studies, 1985), pp.298-330. On the politics of the colonial period see, Ruby Peredes (ed.), Philippine Colonial Democracy (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1989).
28. Manuel Quezon, the first President of the Commonwealth, successfully introduced an amendment to transform the unicameral legislature to a dual chamber in 1941 with the express purpose of limiting the possibilities for a united challenge to the executive by a single House. David Wurfel, Filipino Politics: Development and Decay (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1988), p.81. The basic democratic rights were outlined in the 'Bill of Rights', Article IV of the 1935 Constitution. In 1937, women gained equal voting rights though all had to be literate to the point of being able to write one's name.
29. There was no provision at all on local government in the 1935 Constitution and it was well into the 1950s before all provincial governors were elected by popular vote.
30. Benedict Anderson, 'Cacique Democracy in the Philippines: Origins and Dreams', New Left Review, No.169 (May-June, 1988), pp.3-31. John Sidel paints a vivid portrait of the dual political power structure that on the one hand saw the rise of 'family dynasties' whose power depended on the accumulation of vast fixed assets in land and other property, and 'provincial strong men' who, in the tradition of 'big man' rule so prominent in pre-colonial Southeast Asia, built their power on coercion and the control of semi-legal and illegal activities (like gambling rackets, protection rackets and banditry), but who could only maintain power so long as they had the patronage of first the Governor General and later the Philippine President. See John Sidel, 'Walking in the Shadow of the Big Man: Justiniano Montano and Failed Dynasty Building in Cavite, 1935-1972', in Alfred McCoy (ed.), An Anarchy of Families: State and the Family in the Philippines (Madison and Manila: Centre for Southeast Asian Studies, University Wisconsin-Madison and Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1993), pp. 109-62.
31. Benedict Anderson, 'Cacique Democracy in the Philippines: Origins and Dreams', New Left Review, No.169 (May-June, 1988), pp.3-31. John Sidel paints a vivid portrait of the dual political power structure that on the one hand saw the rise of 'family dynasties' whose power depended on the accumulation of vast fixed assets in land and other property, and 'provincial strong men' who, in the tradition of 'big man' rule so prominent in pre-colonial Southeast Asia, built their power on coercion and the control of semi-legal and illegal activities (like gambling rackets, protection rackets and banditry), but who could only maintain power so long as they had the patronage of first the Governor General and later the Philippine President. See John Sidel, 'Walking in the Shadow of the Big Man: Justiniano Montano and Failed Dynasty Building in Cavite, 1935-1972', in Alfred McCoy (ed.), An Anarchy of Families: State and the Family in the Philippines (Madison and Manila: Centre for Southeast Asian Studies, University Wisconsin-Madison and Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1993), pp. 109-62.
32. See Sidel, 'Walking in the Shadow', pp.124-5.
33. Benedict J. Kerkvliet, The Huk Rebellion: A Study of Peasant Revolt in the Philippines (Berkeley, CA and Quezon City: University of California Press and New Day Publishers) 1977), p.54; James Putzel, A Captive Land: The Politics of Agrarian Reform in the Philippines (London, Quezon City and New York: Catholic Institute for International Relations, Ateneo de Manila University Press and Monthly Review Press, 1992), pp.57-8.
34. Benedict J. Kerkvliet, The Huk Rebellion: A Study of Peasant Revolt in the Philippines (Berkeley, CA and Quezon City: University of California Press and New Day Publishers) 1977), p.54; James Putzel, A Captive Land: The Politics of Agrarian Reform in the Philippines (London, Quezon City and New York: Catholic Institute for International Relations, Ateneo de Manila University Press and Monthly Review Press, 1992), pp.57-8.
35. Theodore Friend, Between Two Empires: the Ordeal of the Philippines, 1929-1946 (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1965).
36. Wurfel, op. cit., pp.89-90. Putzel, A Captive Land, p.57.
37. Wurfel, op. cit., pp.89-90. Putzel, A Captive Land, p.57.
38. Putzel, A Captive Land, p.53
39. Pineda-Ofreneo, Rosalinda, The Manipulated Press: A History of Philippine Journalism Since 1945 (Manila: Solar Publishing, 1986).
40. Putnam, Making Democracy Work, pp.92-3.
41. On the early associational experience see Gerard Clarke, The Politics of NGOs in South-East Asia: Participation and Protest in the Philippines (London: Routledge, 1998), pp.52-7.
42. G.F. Zaide, José Rizal: Asia's First Apostle of Nationalism (Manila: Red Star Book Store, 1970), p.237.
43. This issue is expanded on in Putzel, 'Accounting for the Dark Side of Social Capital'.
44. See Alfredo Saulo, Communism in the Philippines (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, enlarged edition, 1990), Chs.2-4.
45. David Joel Steinberg, Philippine Collaboration in World War Two (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 1967).
46. Kerkvliet, op. cit., Ch.3, though Kerkvliet argues that communist leadership was relatively unimportant.
47. Putzel, A Captive Land, pp.83-4.
48. Ibid., pp.88-91.
49. Walden Bello, David Kinley and Elaine Elinson, Development Debacle: The World Bank in the Philippines (San Francisco, CA: Institute for Food and Development Policy, 1982), pp.138-9.
50. For an interesting collection of documents on martial law see, Aurora Javate-DeDios, Petronilo Bn. Daroy and Lorna Kalaw-Tirol, Dictatorship and Revolution: Roots of People's Power (Manila: Conspectus Foundation, 1988).
51. On US support for martial law see, Putzel, A Captive Land, pp.127-37.
52. Amnesty International, Report of an Amnesty International Mission to the Republic of the Philippines (London: Amnesty International Publications, 1981).
53. Putzel, A Captive Land, pp.169-70.
54. United States Senate, 'The Situation in the Philippines', a Staff Report for the Committee on Foreign Relations (Washington, D., 1984).
55. Belinda Aquino, Politics of Plunder: The Philippines Under Marcos (Quezon City: Great Books Trading and U.P. College of Public Administration, 1987) and James Boyce, The Philippines: The Political Economy of Growth and Impoverishment in the Marcos Era (London: Macmillan, 1993).
56. Belinda Aquino, Politics of Plunder: The Philippines Under Marcos (Quezon City: Great Books Trading and U.P. College of Public Administration, 1987) and James Boyce, The Philippines: The Political Economy of Growth and Impoverishment in the Marcos Era (London: Macmillan, 1993).
57. President Corazon Aquino, 'Proclamation No. 3', 25 March 1986.
58. The latter did not take up the invitation and one of the KBL appointees withdrew.
59. Article VI, Section 5, The Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines, 1987.
60. For a discussion of the implications of the Constitutional deliberations to blocking more radical redistributive reforms, see Putzel (1992), Ch.6.
61. Of the 200 members elected, 129 were from traditionally powerful clans while another 38 were related to them. Institute for Popular Democracy, Political Clans and Electoral Politics: A Preliminary Research, section 5, 'Congress Profile' (Quezon City: Institute for Popular Democracy, 1987).
62. Gil C. Cabacungan, Jr., 'Danding's takeover bid worries business', Philippine Daily Inquirer, 14 Sept. 1998.
63. See James Putzel, 'Democratization and Clan Politics'.
64. Ibid.
65. Interestingly, the Congressional hearings on tariff reform were open to public scrutiny and participation from grassroots, but farmers organisations who attended were consistently outflanked by business interests mainly due to ignorance about the process. Personal communication with Francisco Lara, then acting as advisor to Senator Tañada in debates about the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, April 1996.
66. An exhaustive fact-finding commission on the coup attempt claimed that US intervention was not decisive militarily and in fact may have given the rebels additional 'nationalist' credibility. The Final Report of the Fact-Finding Commission (pursuant to R.A. 6832), Oct. 1990, pp.495-6. However, it could be argued that the crucial role of the US was to convince the large number of Armed Forces personnel who appeared to be sitting on the fence to see which way the balance of forces would shift (as is common in military coups) that this was a lost cause.
67. The Final Report (p.483) however, cites a Social Weather Station Survey conducted after the coup was put down to claim that widespread public disaffection with the Aquino government did not translate into support for the rebels. While 30 per cent of respondents agreed with rebel grievances, 80 per cent did not approve of the coup. However, if the outcome of the coup had been different, survey results might have been quite different as well.
68. 'General Agreement for Peace between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Rebolusyonaryong Alyansang Makabansa - Soldiers of the Filipino People - Young Officers' Union', 13 Oct. 1995, which included provisions for 'mutually agreed reforms in the areas of Electoral Reforms, Good Government, Nationalist Economic Development, Social Justice and National Defense and Security'.
69. In the latter part of August 1998 a showdown occurred between Estrada's Defense Secretary, Orly Mercado and leading military personnel over investigations into financial anomalies in the Retirement and Separation Benefits System. See various issues of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Aug. 1998.
70. The peso trading at around P26 to $1 in July 1997 was trading at P42.8 to $1 in October 1998. The composite stock index was at 1,192.3 during the first half of 1998, roughly half its value on the year before. The economy during 1997 saw a net outflow of foreign direct investment of US$2.316 billion. National Economic and Development Authority, November 1998. Official unemployment was almost unchanged in July 1998 at 8.9 per cent compared to 8.7 per cent in July 1997, but layoffs appeared to be rising after this period.
71. John Sidel, 'The Philippines: The Languages of Legitimation'.
72. For optimistic readings of the democratic potential in decentralization see Terrence R. George, 'Local Governance: People Power in the Provinces?' in G. Sidney Silliman and Lela Garner Noble (eds.), Organizing for Democracy: NGOs, Civil Society, and the Philippine State (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1998), pp.223-53 and Jocelyn Vicente Angeles, 'The Role of the Naga City Urban Poor Federation in the Passage of Pro-Poor Ordinances and Policies', in Wui and Lopez, pp.97-112.
73. For optimistic readings of the democratic potential in decentralization see Terrence R. George, 'Local Governance: People Power in the Provinces?' in G. Sidney Silliman and Lela Garner Noble (eds.), Organizing for Democracy: NGOs, Civil Society, and the Philippine State (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1998), pp.223-53 and Jocelyn Vicente Angeles, 'The Role of the Naga City Urban Poor Federation in the Passage of Pro-Poor Ordinances and Policies', in Wui and Lopez, pp.97-112.
74. Even the populist, Miriam Santiago, relied heavily on a regional language-based vote in 1992. See Putzel, 'Democratization and Clan Polities'. In 1998, the presidential campaigns of Raul Rocco and Emilio Osmeña depended for the lion's share of their votes on their home regions and even runner up José de Venecia came first only in his home region.
75. Anderson, 'Elections and Participation'.
76. Joel Rocamora, 'Introduction, Corruption in the Philippines: a Beginner's Guide', in Sheila S. Coronel (ed.), Pork and other Perks: Corruption & Governance in the Philippines (Manila: Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, 1998), pp.26-7.
77. These included Herminio Disini, Eduardo Cojuangco, Jr., Pacifico Marcos, Eduardo Romualdez and Ricardo Silverio. The Ombudsman dismissed the cases on grounds of 'prescription', or the statute of limitations, despite the fact that Section 15, Article XI of the Constitution states that, 'The right of the state to recover properties unlawfully acquired by public officials or employees, from them or from their nominees or transferees, shall not be barred by prescription, laches, or estoppel', Philippine Daily Inquirer, 19 Nov. 1998.
78. Sheila S. Coronel, 'Media Responsibility and the Politics and Business of Media Ownership', in Miriam Coronel Ferrer (ed.), op. cit., pp.243-58. Though as Zialcita, op. cit., p.51 points out, some journalist are still assassinated or bought off by politicians.
79. Sheila S. Coronel, 'Media Responsibility and the Politics and Business of Media Ownership', in Miriam Coronel Ferrer (ed.), op. cit., pp.243-58. Though as Zialcita, op. cit., p.51 points out, some journalist are still assassinated or bought off by politicians.
80. Clarke, op. cit., Ch.4.
81. On the same issue, see Zialcita, op. cit., p.47.
82. James Putzel, 'Non-Governmental Organizations and Rural Poverty', in G. Sidney Silliman and Lela Garner Noble, op. cit., pp.77-112.
83. Zialcita, op. cit., pp.56-60.
84. Personal communications with Loretta Ann Rosales, 1997-98. For an account of the early activities of this organization, see Carmela Abad, 'Dynamics among Political Blocs in the Formation of a Political Party', in Ferrer (ed.), op. cit., pp.271-88.
85. North, op. cit., Ch.5.
86. Zialcita, op. cit.,pp.51-2 makes a similar point.
87. See the account by Jocelyn F. Cajuiuat and Aurora A. Regalado, 'Dynamics of Civil Society and Government in the GATT-UR Debate in the Philippines', in Wui and Lopez (eds.), op. cit., pp. 179-202.
88. Personal communication, Loretta Rosales, 21 Nov. 1998.
89. This option has been most articulately developed by Joel Rocamora, and reiterated in his 'Introduction, Corruption in the Philippines: a Beginner's Guide', but appears to be widely endorsed in the NGO sector.