Democratization has been an overarching theme in several modern countries and the ruling regime. Much premium has been placed on the process of democratization which entails the progressive movement towards attaining democratic ideals in a nation. Democracy is associated with several properties and components which include free and orderly elections, a vibrant civil society, a constitutional legitimacy of the ruling government, an emphasis on civil liberties as opposed to an authoritarian regime with little regard for individual rights. There is a stronger media space which is able to explore and cast the spotlight on the affairs of the government with the end result that it highlights instances of corruption and misrule. Indeed, it is the case that a free aid and freedom of expression and democracy are mutually exclusive. The essentials of democracy include greater accountability on the part of the public towards the affairs of public authorities as well as better improvement of the welfare of the people, over a period of time. This paper examines the critical process of democratization in the Philippines. In particular, this paper explores the critical features of democracy such as civil society, rule of law, good governance and cultural difference among other key elements. As a consequence, this paper shall do an evaluation of the successes and failures of democratizations in the case of Philippines.
The Philippines started it process of democratization with the People Power Revolution of the year 1986 which was a series of popular demonstrations in Philippines against regime violence and electoral fraud. This paper argues that violence and electoral fraud are the very antithesis of democracy and democratization process which extols free and fair elections as well as emphasizing on individual liberties. These demonstrations started in the year 1983 and culminated in the year 1986. As a result, the nonviolent revolution inspired by the people led to the departure from office of President Ferdinand Marcos and the country started on apath towards being a democracy. This revolution and its resultant victory were majorly viewed as a victory of the people against the 20year reign of the authoritarian authority of President Marcos. Indeed, the Philippines has been one of the few nations in the world which have had a woman as president. This shows that the nation has come a long way in the democratization process.
Philippines has within its ranks the highest number of NGOs and civil society groups per capita in the whole Asian continent. This paper therefore argues that if the civil society should contribute to democratization in any country, then it should be in the Philippines. However, this has not been fully institutionalized in the nation and it has only been temporary. We begin with the definition of the term civil society. The civil society in its broad term encapsulates all social, religious, cultural and non-profit organizations are outside government but works within the realms of the law. Indeed, NGOS that spur social activity or action, community development and improvement of livelihood as well as other purposes are only a segment of the broad term. According to the Security and Exchange Commission in Manila, there are an estimated 60,000 non-stock and non-profit making organizations in the Philippines. This is so, despite most of these organizations not being reported with the government. It need be mentioned however that most of these NGOs also include private schools, professional associations, hospitals as well as private and non-profit organizations. Among the NGOS, there are traditional NGOs as the Red class which avail charitable and relief services to the people. Other groups consists of middle class volunteers which seek funding for the social projects that they initiate as well as other people organizations. The later part of the martial regime is what witnessed and fuelled the growth of the NGOs in the Philippines. These groups rose to the occasion so as to meet and plug the gap that was left gaping by the government which abdicated its key functions. They continued to receive foreign funding and assisted in the struggle to maintaining independence. The Marcos administration which was an oppressive regime restricted the growth of these NGO groups. With the rise to power of the successive president Corazon Aquino following the removal of Marcos, most of the restrictions that were placed on the NGOs were removed thus leading to an increase in their number.
Owing to the manner in which Aquino rose to power coupled with the increasing number of NGOs during his term, it gave an opportune time for the restoration of traditional electoral politics. These electoral politics that were based on patron-client networks and the revival of power of the chosen politicians, there arose what may be described as incomplete democracy. Upon the rise into office of the next president named Fidel Ramos, the NGOs became institutionalized and rose to become key policy makers and were sought on matters of policy formulations and implementation of the same policies. More importantly, Joel Estrada had close links with the NGO world in the period preceding his election as president and he in fact appointed the head of the largest NGO to be the secretary of agrarian reform. Nevertheless, the president ignored the advice of the NGOs upon ascending to power and the same NGOs contributed to his removal from power and the subsequent support for the next president Gloria Arroyo. This paper argues that the people revolution that took place between the years 1986 and 2001 characterized by the paper is the best exemplification of civil society in action. We argue that the true measure of the impact of the civil society in politics in the instances is masked by the intervention by the military in effecting a change in leadership. In a bid to illustrate the impact of civil society in the politics of the Philippines, we examine the role played by these NGOs in agrarian reform as well as environmental protection. It is a shared view among several scholars and policy makers that the equitable distribution of land ownership is critical for economic growth and development. Philippines is characterized by inequitable distribution of land and is also replete with high levels of land tenancy, factors which have negative effects on the economy. This overly concentration of wealth in land has had the effect of depriving the industry of the much required capital. In addition, tenants on the land have refused to make long term investments in the land since they do not own it for fear of the security of their investment. We argue that this continued case of land-derived wealth in the local communities is the main reason behind the sustenance of the patron-client system that poses the largest hindrance to democratization. The initial stages of the martial law regime saw significant progress towards reform especially with respect to rice and corn land. Nevertheless, the approach adopted by the Marcos administration discouraged the involvement of the genuine NGOs. Following the overthrowing of Marcos, there were high expectations that reform would be occasioned in the Aquino reign. This was instigated by the commitments made by her during the election as well as the subsequent appointment of leaders of the NGOs to key positions in her government. Nonetheless, this was confounded by the fact that Aquino was member of the upper echelon of the elite who owned huge tracts of land. Despite these appointments, little support was accorded to them and their terms were quite brief with no significant reforms. This low support was accorded by the succeeding presidents such as Joel Estrada and Gloria Arroyo. Arroyo rewarded champions of agrarian reform with posts in government by appointing them as secretaries of agriculture and social welfare. However, Arroyo appointed a former Congressman who was tainted with corruption as the secretary of agrarian reform thus inhibiting any major developments towards agrarian reform. This Congressman was successful in alienating farmer’s organizations and NGOs. In addition, both he as well as the president failed to defendant their budget in the Congress thereby leading to inadequate funds being set aside for agrarian reform. In addition, agrarian NGOs also did not make any important intervention in the budgetary process. The upshot of this had been a low impact of the civil society on agrarian reform and resulting in poor conditions for the tenants and agricultural workers.
With respect to environmental protection, the role of the NGOs has also been mixed just in a similar manner to the agrarian reform. In particular, the two main problems that have affected the environment in the country have been the illegal logging that caused a flood in Leyete that resulted to the death of over 4,000 people in the year 1991. The other problem has been necessitated by the mining companies which have been irresponsible for their actions. It is the case that in the decade of the 1980s there was an increase in the number of environmental NGOs at both the national and the local level. Despite the emergence of a leading organization named Haribon that gathered evidence of illegal logging and presented such evidence before the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, there would be no action owing to a compromise. This would be followed by the blocking of roads by NGOs with the support of the mayor owing to frustration so as to prevent the illegal loggers from accessing the forests. Following the assumption into power of President Aquino, there was an order issued in Manila stopping the dumping of tailings in Calancan Bay as a result of international, local and national NGO’s protests. We argue that democracy or the democratization process in the Philippines seems to have been entrenched. This is evidenced by the survival of a military coup in the year 2003 which constituted a litmus test of the democracy of the country. more so, the attempt for president Arroyo , a democratically elected leader to use extra-constitutional means to extend her term beyond the year 2010 were rejected. Undoubtedly, these two tests which the country passed, demonstrate a move towards democratization in the country.
Philippines as a nation, has experienced a long and difficult period of corruption in the past. Despite this, and just like the agrarian reform and environmental protection initiatives, there has been a lack of political will to enable successful reform to reverse this position. We argue that democratization process may not be the ultimate check on corruption in the country. However, where this reform will be accompanied with adequate resources and accountability characteristic of democracy and complementary political will, the significant gains will be made in this fight against corruption. A country that is that no or low levels of corruption is a testament of good governance which in turn is a key element of democracy. I further argue that through Philippines represents a case study of emerging democracy; it still has a way to go to becoming a functioning democracy. As already stated, Philippines was the first nation in the Asian region to overthrow an authoritarian regime. The country has also shown a number of indications that it is moving towards a democracy or is indeed one. The elections are characterized by a high voter turnout while there is more civic engagement among the citizenry. Further, there are institutional arrangements that are in place in the country to aid in the promotion of accountability and the vouchsafing of individual rights and liberties. Nevertheless, there are a number of flaws with the democratic process of the nation which pose a potential threat to the evolving democracy in the country. For instance, the nation suffers from domination by the elite, institutional weakness and a pervading and extensive case of abuse of office. Indeed, the election of reform candidate Benigno Aquino III as president in the year 2010 and the associated optimism for change towards more progressive democratic ideals is a representation of the flaws that taint democracy in the Philippines.
At this juncture, I explore the elections that have been conducted in the Philippines after the People Revolution of the year 1986 with a view to establishing the democratization process in the country. Free and fair elections in a country are a representation of true and vibrant democracy is because it points to the fact that people respect the wishes of the people. In fact, democracy is touted as the government of the people for the people and by the people. A free and fair election means that the government that is in power at any particular time has the constitutional legitimacy among the people of the country. For a start, elections in the Philippines are conducted by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC). In these elections, the president, the vice-president, members of Congress, the governors, mayors, councilors and village chairmen are elected for a fixed term. This is a strict departure from the former period during the reign of Marcos which was authoritarian and where elections were not held. Elections where there are single winners are conducted through the plurality voting system with the candidate garnering the highest number of votes being announced elected. This is a representation of respect for the wishes of the people. In the case for multiple winner elections, the plurality-at-large voting is done.
In conclusion, we posit that democracy in the Philippines has come a long way. Ever since the end of the People Revolution in the year 1986, the nation has made big strides in the democratization process. Key milestones made by the nation in the democratization process include the enactment of a new constitution, the conduct of free elections that respect the democratic choices of the people and an increased space of the civil society. however, despite the progress noted on this front, this journey towards being a mature democracy has been hampered by a lack of political will to fight corruption, and elite dominance as well as the lack of support of the civil society.
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