The left, elections, and the political party system in the Philippines

Critical Asian Studies

Volumn 37, Issue 1, 2005, Pages 3-28

  Quimpo, Nathan Gilbert ^a,b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES   (Philippines)

^b AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY   (Australia)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ELECTION; PARTY POLITICS; POLITICAL SYSTEM;

ASIA; EASTERN HEMISPHERE; EURASIA; PHILIPPINES; SOUTHEAST ASIA; WORLD;

EID: 16444384185     PISSN: 14672715     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/1467271052000305241     Document Type: Article

References (88)

1. Gary Hawes, The Philippine State and the Marcos Regime: The Politics of Export (Ithaca and London: Cornell University, 1987).
2. Benedict Anderson, "Cacique Democracy in the Philippines: Origins and Dreams," New Left Review, no. 169 (1988).
3. Richard Robison, Kevin Hewison, and Garry Rodan, "Political Power in Industrialising Capitalist Societies: Theoretical Approaches," in Southeast Asia in the 1990s: Authoritarianism, Democracy and Capitalism ed. Kevin Hewison, Richard Robison, and Garry Rodan (Sydney: Allen and Unwin, 1993).
4. Temario Rivera, Landlords and Capitalists: Class, Family and State in Philippine Manufacturing (Quezon City: University of the Philippines, 1994).
5. Paul Hutchcroft, Booty Capitalism: The Politics of Banking in the Philippines (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University, 1998).
6. Olle Törnquist, Politics and Development: A Critical Introduction (London, Thousand Oaks, and New Delhi: Sage Publications, 1999).
7. Törnquist was apparently influenced by John T. Sidel, Capital, Coercion, and Crime: Bossism in the Philippines (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1999).
8. According to Felipe Miranda, political turncoatism is a venerable tradition. See Felipe Miranda, "Leadership and Political Stabilization in a Post-Aquino Philippines," Philippine Political Science Journal no. 33 (1991): 159.
9. Over 100 people were killed and 141 wounded in connection with the May 2001 congressional and local elections, making them the bloodiest since 1986. See Philippine Star, 24 May 2001.
10. James Putzel, "Survival of an Imperfect Democracy in the Philippines," Democratization 6, no. 1 (1999): 198-223.
11. Kenneth Roberts, Deepening Democracy? The Modern Left and Social Movements in Chile and Peru (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1998), 18-20.
12. Evelyne Huber, Dietrich Rueschemeyer, and John Stephens, "The Paradoxes of Contemporary Democracy: Formal, Participatory, and Social Dimensions," Comparative Politics 29, no. 3 (1997): 323.
13. Roberts, Deepening Democracy? 19.
14. Randolf David, "The Philippine Party-building Experience," in Papers of a Party in the Making, ed. Soliman Santos (Quezon City: Institute of Politics and Governance, 1997), 144-45.
15. Renze Hoeksema, "Communism in the Philippines: A Historical and Analytical Study of Communism and the Communist Party in the Philippines and Its Relations to Communist Movements Abroad" (PhD diss., Harvard University, 1956), 88, 102, 125. (The Court of First Instance of Manila actually declared the PKP illegal and sentenced its leaders in September 1931, but the PKP appealed. The Supreme Court upheld the decision in October 1932.)
16. James Allen, The Radical Left on the Eve of War (Quezon City: Foundation for Nationalist Studies, 1985), 14-15, 88.
17. Antonio Tan, "The ideology of Pedro Abad Santos' Socialist Party," Solidarity, no. 102 (1984): 34.
18. Benedict Kerkvliet, "Peasant Rebellion in the Philippines: The Origins and Growth of the HMB" (PhD diss., University of Wisconsin, 1972), 142;
19. Renato Constantino, The Philippines: A Past Revisited (Quezon City: Tala Publishing Services, 1975), 382.
20. In the 1941 elections, Abad Santos, vice-chairman of the PKP-SPP, filed his candidacy for no less than the country's presidency, but withdrew a few weeks before the elections after the Front was denied the right to more election inspectors. See Hoeksema "Communism in the Philippines," 178, 221-22; Tan "The Ideology of Pedro Abad Santos' Socialist Party," 36-37.
21. Jesus Lava, Memoirs of a Communist (Pasig: Anvil, 2002), 163.
22. The CPP aims to overthrow the "semicolonial and semifeudal" order in the Philippines and to replace this with a "national democracy," an intermediate stage to socialism. Open, legal "national democrats" (NDs) profess politico-ideological affinity with the CPP, but claim no organizational affiliation.
23. Amado Guerrero, Philippine Society and Revolution (International Association of Filipino Patriots, 1979), 37.
24. Amado Guerrero, "Specific Characteristics of Our People's War," in ibid., 181.
25. Jose Ma. Sison, "Keynote Address to the First Regular Congress of the Nationalist Alliance for Justice, Freedom and Democracy - National Capital Region," unpublished manuscript, 15 December 1985, 2.
26. Chay Hofilena, "Unraveling Bert Gonzales," Newsbreak, 24 June 2002.
27. Eric Gutierrez, "Electoral Coalitions for the 1992 Elections," in Studies on Coalition Experiences in the Philippines, ed. Cesar Cala and Jose Grageda (Makati: Bookmark, 1994), 99-100.
28. Executive Committee of the Central Committee, Communist Party of the Philippines, "Memorandum on the Snap Presidential Election," mimeographed (1985).
29. Politburo, Communist Party of the Philippines, "Resolution on the Party's Tactic regarding the Snap Election," mimeographed (1986), 1-2.
30. Partido ng Bayan, "Grassroots Electoral Politics: An Evaluation of the Electoral Performance of PnB and Allied Organizations in the 1987 and 1992 Elections," pamphlet (1993), 4.
31. Ibid., 4-19, 30.
32. "Questions concerning Analysis of the Situation and the Party's Tactics," in The Filipino People Will Triumph, ed. editorial staff, Ang Bayan (Manila: Central Publishing House, 1988), 25.
33. Jose Ma. Sison, with Rainer Werning, The Philippine Revolution: The Leader's View (New York: Crane Russak, 1989), 168-69.
34. John Gershman, "The 1992 Philippine Elections: An Eyewitness Report," unpublished manuscript (1992), 5.
35. Partido ng Bayan, "Grassroots Electoral Politics," 37, 42.
36. Interview with Etta Rosales, 12 January 2003, Quezon City.
37. See, for instance, Cala, "May 8 and Beyond," Conjuncture 7, no. 2 (1995): 3;
38. and Manny Mogato, "To Fund a Revolution," Newsbreak, 31 March 2003, 19-21.
39. After an intense, acrimonious, and highly polemical internal debate that spilled out into the public arena, the CPP-NPA and the ND movement split in 1992-93 into those who "reaffirmed" the fundamental principles of "Mao Zedong Thought" and those who "rejected" it.
40. Temario Rivera, "Adapt or Perish," Solidaridad 14, no. 3 (1992): 50.
41. Rene Ciria-Cruz, "Why the Philippine Left Must Take the Parliamentary Road," Debate, no. 2 (1992): 10-12.
42. Gutierrez, "Electoral Coalitions," 105.
43. Conjuncture staff, "Interview: The Search for Alternatives," Conjuncture 5, nos. 6-7 (1992): 5.
44. I b i d.
45. Walden Bello, "The Dual Crisis of the Philippine Progressive Movement," in Re-examining and Renewing the Philippine Progressive Vision, ed. John Gershman and Walden Bello (Quezon City: Forum for Philippine Alternatives, 1993), 21.
46. The "popdems," a tendency that came from the ND ranks, put emphasis on "popular empowerment." Some NDs disparagingly called the Pandayan-Bisig-popdem threesome the "three little pigs."
47. Gutierrez, "Electoral Coalitions," 107-10.
48. Florencio Abad, "Project 2001: NGO Intervention in the Electoral Process," Conjuncture 4, no. 4 (1992): 11.
49. The NDs (i.e., the "reaffirmists") retained Bayan as their main multisectoral alliance.
50. Sanlakas performed creditably in Metro Manila, where five out of seven congressional candidates and a good number of local candidates it backed made it. Bisig did fairly well in several local contests, especially in General Santos City, where the mayoral candidate it endorsed pulled through. In a number of cases, the new left groups backed rival candidates. In Pasig, this proved disastrous: a traditional politician edged out two leftist congressional candidates, one supported by Sanlakas, the other by Siglaya.
51. A Supreme Court ruling on 26 June 2001 barred them completely from the party-list system.
52. David Wurfel, "The Party-List System: Sectoral or National? Success or Failure?" Kasarinlan 13, no. 2 (1997): 19-30. According to Wurfel, the law made a pointless and confusing distinction between sectors and parties and it contained loopholes making it possible for trapo dummies to sneak in by claiming to be parties of marginalized sectors. With just several months to go before the first party-list vote, few voters knew about the system or understood how it worked. In addition to failing to conduct a good information drive about the party-list system, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) also did not come up with a counting system that was reasonably tamper-proof.
53. Prior to 1997, the emergent left groups were only pre-party formations or multisectoral alliances that were not formally registered with the Comelec as electoral parties or groups. (PDSP was registered with the Comelec as an electoral party as early as 1987.)
54. This should not be confused with former President Estrada's Party of the Filipino Masses (PMP).
55. Some left groups like RPM-P joined the oust-Erap [Estrada] campaign at a late stage, and a few leading popdem figures in government remained with Estrada until the end.
56. ABA coalesced with AKO to form the ABA-AKO Coalition in July 2003.
57. Executive Committee of the Central Committee, CPP, "Memorandum: Eleksyong 2001," unpublished memorandum (2000), 2-4. (Translated from Filipino.)
58. Interview with Satur Ocampo, 11 January 2003, Quezon City:
59. It is sometimes argued that traditional politicians woo leftists to give the impression that they too are issue-oriented, principled, or progressive, or that they enjoy the support of those who are. Patricio Abinales contends, however, that politicians in the Philippines now practice "big tent" politics: forging coalitions that bring together ideologically opposed groups for tactical purposes, such as the election of a presidential candidate. See Patricio Abinales, "Coalition Politics in the Philippines," Current History 100, no. 645 (2001): 154-61. In this case, PPC needed support in the senatorial race, which was a tight contest. Arroyo's support for Bayan Muna was probably also a "confidence-building measure" for the government-NDF talks that reopened two weeks before the elections.
60. Miriam Grace Go, "From Cadre to Congressman," Newsbreak, 1 April 2002.
61. Executive Committee, "Memorandum: Eleksyong 2001," 3. (Translated from Filipino.)
62. Mogato "To Fund a Revolution," 20-21.
63. Huber, Rueschemeyer, and Stephens, "The Paradoxes of Contemporary Democracy," 323.
64. Joel Rocamora, "Aksyon - Progressive Intervention in Electoral Politics," Aksyon, August 1997.
65. Akbayan, "The Akbayan! Political Platform," mimeographed (1998), 7
66. Ricardo Reyes, "A New Left Project: A Proposal," Alternatives 23, no. 1 (1998): 98.
67. Filipino Workers Party (PMP), press statement, 23 December 2002.
68. PMP, press statement, 29 December 2002.
69. PMP, "Program of the Filipino Workers Party (Merged)," 2002, 4, 16.
70. Ka Miriam, forum on "Strategic Frameworks of the Philippine Left," 5 November 2003, Quezon City.
71. To some extent, this is borne out by the Philippine left's early electoral experience - that of the SPP and the PKP in the 1930s and 1940s. As mentioned earlier, the SPP/PKP never made it in their bids for national and Assembly positions before the war, but they did win in some municipal contests and were gaining ground. The momentum, however, was broken by the Japanese occupation. The Democratic Alliance's near clean sweep of Central Luzon's congressional seats in 1946 can be attributed mainly to the Hukbalahap's and the PKP's role in the anti-Japanese resistance, but the SPP/PKP's prewar electoral achievements helped to build up to it.
72. Jonathan Fox, "The Crucible of Local Politics," NACLA Report on the Americas 29, no. 1 (1995): 15-19.
73. Interview with Norberto Gonzales, 26 June 2002, Manila.
74. Joel Rocamora, "The Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf," Conjuncture 6, no. 2 (1993): 10.
75. Joel Rocamora, "The Left in the Philippines: Learning from the People, Learning from Each Other," unpublished manuscript, 25 March 2000, 7.
76. Interview with Satur Ocampo, 11 January 2003, Quezon City.
77. Alberto Agra, "The May 1994 Electoral Experience," in Popular Participation in Electoral Reform and Governance, ed. Institute of Politics and Governance (Quezon City: Institute of Politics and Governance, 1994), 26.
78. Rocamora "The Left in the Philippines," 5.
79. Patrick I. Patiño, "Has Traditional Politics Polluted New Politics?" Work in Progress, Occasional Paper no. 10 (1999):2. The left groups involved in the 1997 vote talked openly about the candidates they backed since they were not yet registered electoral parties then.
80. Ang Bayan, 28 March 2002
81. Chay Hofileña, "Playing Tough," Newsbreak, 16 September 2002.
82. T.J. Burgonio and Anselmo Roque, "Election Violence Latest Count: 87 Dead, 45 Hurt," Philippine Daily Inquirer, 17 July 2002.
83. Joshua Dancel, "Floods Prevent Holding of Polls in 472 Barangays," Manila Times, 15 July 2002.
84. In the course of my field work, I discovered one trapo dirty trick that left parties and groups found particularly difficult to counter: vote buying. In many places I visited, e.g., Bohol, Eastern Samar, Albay, and Davao Oriental, I found that vote buying had become the rule, not the exception, and that payoffs were getting bigger and bigger with each election. Candidates who refrained from vote buying often lost. Thus, many candidates who were otherwise well meaning and public service-oriented, including some left and progressive candidates, succumbed to the practice, accepting it as a fact of Philippine politics. Voters seemed to have grown inured to the practice as it was widely held that politicians were in government mainly to enrich themselves, their relatives, and close friends, and it did not really matter who won. For many voters, elections at least provided the opportunity to make some easy money. In 1987, an ND activist asked some peasants in a "consolidated" NPA guerrilla zone why they had sold their votes instead of voting for PnB. "We give ourselves to the revolution 364 days of the year," replied one, "Give us just this one day." Narrated to me by "Ka Dencio," 22 March 2002, Makati.
85. Patino "Has Traditional Politics Polluted New Politics?" 13.
86. Benedict Kerkvliet, "Toward a More Comprehensive Analysis of Philippine Politics: Beyond the Patron-Client, Factional Framework," Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 26, no. 2 (1995): 407-12;
87. Benedict Kerkvliet, "Contested Meanings of Elections in the Philippines," in The Politics of Elections in Southeast Asia, ed. R.H. Taylor (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), 136-63.
88. Rosanne Rutten, "Courting the Workers' Vote in a Hacienda Region: Rhetoric and Response in the 1992 Philippine Election," Pilipinas no. 22 (1994): 1-34.