Al Jay T.

Mejos BLIS 2005-66052

Political Science 14 Prof. Ranjit Rye

An Article Review of A Changeless Land: Continuity and Change in Philippine Politics1 I. Philippine Society and Political Culture The first chapter aptly discusses the history of the Philippines and its political state from the time before the first colonizers came to the islands. It described the social and political situation that dominated in the simple barangay structure and the expanded domains of the sultanates of Mindanao. History, as it was mentioned, is a rich resource for understanding the present and how the evolution of society is reflected in the political situation in the islands while how the values of and influences that run along each generation affects the political climate of the time. According to the timeliness of the creation of the material, the book highlights the last succeeding chapters of Philippine presidency and uses these as illustrations for the attitudes that the Filipinos exemplify, that is, the Marcos administration. Focused particularly in the chapter is the individual attitude of the common Filipino to government and leadership. In the first parts if the chapter, it was explained how the Spaniards controlled the islands by way of the caciques, a landed elite that replaced the positions and powers of the maharlika in the economic and political spheres, these Filipinos exercised power as landlords and used these powers to gain favor and opportunities from the Spaniard friars who were the prime power holders at the time. While Philippines still traded with China and the rest of the Malay region at the time of Spanish colonization as before, control and appropriations of opportunities still came from Spain through its trade route that spans from west east passing by Mexico therefore making Philippines its farthest colony to the east. This difficulty of travel has afforded Philippines a stunted development at the hands of the friars while being maintained under political subjugation from the Spanish throne and sensitive to the demands of an international market.
1

Timberman, David. 1991. A Changeless Land: Continuity and Change in Philippine Politics. ch. 1-4 pp. 1-123.

The families that ruled the barangays, prior to Spanish colonization, were independent and the values propagated in these times perpetuated to the present. The values of close kinship ties, utang na loob and a personal attitude towards political affiliations and responsibilities reflected merely a continuity of the values that were propagated in those early times. Such attitudes have caused disintegration of classes and a more solid familial bonds to the personal perspective of the individual Filipino. The chapter tackled how the values and practices of pakikisama, personalism, ambiguous class identification, skepticism of government capacities and an overt disobedience of institutions and laws influence politics in a very complex and elaborate manner. II. Traditional Government, Politics and Economic Affairs The second chapter primarily addressed the elites and their capacity to rule in the country. In the Philippines, economic power is equated with political power and the familial bonds created families who control both the economic and the political spheres of the nation. These elites came from the cacique families of the Spaniard rule where Filipinos and mestizos who were able to accumulate resources through trade and land ownership were able to send their children to Europe for education, in time these became the next generation of landed elites who not only economically affluent but now intellectually capable and very ambitious. With the arrival of the Americans, these elites were recruited as support in the control of the archipelago and that opportunity then became the reinforcement through which the elites were able to access the political domain that the Spaniards had not afforded them before. This was the opportunity through which the elites accumulated more economic wealth and reinforce themselves into the political positions they have achieved. Where with economic power comes political power which in turn also affords greater economic power, coupled with traditional values of family partisanship, loyalty and personal politics, the elites became the centerfold of governance in the land.

The elaborate mechanism by which the elites grab hold of power involves the participation of the less fortunate masses who can only see so far and therefore see that whatever benefits they receive from their elite landlords actually came at the mercy of these people and not as actions of responsibilities. Social benefits such as running water and churches were perceived by the masses as personal gifts from the rich elites which in turn became their hosts in the coming elections where it was time to claim payment for their utang na loob . The entrenchment of elite rule in the Philippines, despite being outspokenly democratic, actually became a simple elite democracy where the elite gather as much supporters as they can through whatever means they can employ and use this political base to maintain or acquire new political positions where they are able to acquire more resources to perpetuate their rule. This is exemplified in the senate, congress and presidency where most who aspire to take these positions came from the elite class. Two elements that are influential in the rule of the elite class are the military and the nature of politics. The military is always wooed by the politicians to protect them and reinforce their rule when the use of arms is required and in turn the military officials needs the politicians to grant them the positions and benefits they aspire, especially since the military is a window for the low and middle class to rise in the social ladder when promotions afford them the wealth and opportunities. The local nature of politics on the other hand allows for easier and short-sighted control of Philippine politics. The personal attitude of the individual Filipino accords loyalty to a single candidate who makes his voice heard throughout the land but pays homage only to those who become his power base during the elections, the politician-elite sends gifts, invests resources and provides enrichment opportunities to his voting population and keeps them happy which after generations become what we now call a baluarte. Such personalized and localized approach to politics became the reason through which the politicians have no loyalty to anyone apart from their loyal voters and makes the party list system very fluid and subject to shifting bandwagons. III. The Forces of Change

By the time Ferdinand Marcos rose into presidency, the Philippines faced a radical change in the political and socio-economic climate. Rapid urbanization, population growth, increasing unemployment of well-educated Filipinos and a very low financial source for the government were the primary root of the crises he was about to face in his administration. There too is the fading away of support and popularity for the mechanized traditional politics by students and academic intellectuals who saw the vulnerabilities and inconsistencies of the ongoing form of government, couple these with the rise of MarxistLeninist-Maoist ideologies that are rapidly sweeping in the United States and Europe that propose a different form of government that is pro-masses and anti-imperialist. This has been the time of great test for what must have been the smartest Philippine president. The doing away of the people s support for traditional politics came with the social dissatisfaction of the competing elites. By this time there have been many elites fighting for what have been the scare resources, germinating industries and financial sources in the country. The rise of many lower class and middle class citizens by way of education, job opportunities and enterprises have led to an overcrowding of elites in the business sector where they control both the state and the economy by way of supporting and opposing economic policies in congress. The Church, which was traditionally a passive institution that merely reacts when its interests are on the table, also underwent a time of change as it was the time of the council of Vatican II at which conclusion it declared itself to be a poor church for the poor in its reorientation towards supporting the masses. This time, bishops and priests have taken a more active role in governance which was manifested clearly later on during the Martial Law when Cardinal Sin s declarations have shown to have gathered enormous support from the people. This had also been a time of increasing scope of governmental control over economic trends in the country. The highly centralized unitary form of government in Metro Manila virtually controlled the local governments all over the archipelago through its monopoly over the revenue sources and capacity to allocate budget. Local governments and provinces were very much dependent upon the national budget allocated to them to as much as half

or more of their total sources for expenditure as congress, filled with elite-businessmen, passed laws and allocations that favor their own industries and the provide for the source funds in the continuous effort to keep their local voters happy. Despite the changing political climate the age old attitudes of personal and patronage politics of the elite endured and this had caused such strain on the country s leadership that reached its peak and found its demise at the proclamation of martial law. IV. Authoritarianism and Its Impact The declaration of Martial Law by Ferdinand Marcos marked the transition of a new form of governance in the Philippines, authoritarianism. It was marked by the loss of institutions such as the closing of the Senate and Congress and civil rights for those who opposed or are suspects of opposition to the current administration at the time. The most affected people to the loss of civil rights are the opposition politicians, the elite oligarchies and the students-academicians because the nature of the time involved the proliferation and spread of communist-socialist and anti-establishment ideas. In the University of the Philippines where there exists the most open opportunity for such ideals to propagate in the rich academic atmosphere of open expression, Professor Jose Maria Sison who organized the nationalistic student organization Kabataang Makabayan (KM) and later on became the leading character in the leadership of the Communist Party of the Philippines became influential figures of the time. Other faculty members of the University who were not necessarily aligned with Sison but taught different forms of political forms and allowed political debate in their classes as a form of teaching were now scared and no longer able to hold their classes in the same manner because of the police elements who roam the corridors of Palma Hall and harasses them, some even literally ate their books just so they won t be caught in the possession of questionable materials while others went underground and hid. Marcos original intention for the authoritarian rule was to get rid of the traditional politics that has infused into the Philippine culture. His prime targets were the business minded oligarch families who controlled the country s economy through their

representatives in congress. Marcos perceived them to be the source of the country s being stuck to underdevelopment as they only think for themselves and their businesses when they make their policies and oppose development when it threatens their business positions. These families were the elite oligarchies who own vast tracts of land but keep it underdeveloped because it is more profitable for that way insensitive to the social condition of the workers of that land and the national economy, the remnant families from the caciques of old Spanish times. The authoritarian rule intended to create a new brand of elites based on capacities and not resource conditions, Marcos paved the way for technocrats to help frame and orient the Philippines to progress. It also did away with the faulty and inefficient government system that is exemplified in the selfish competition of politicians in congress and senate that hinders projects and development by concentrating political control to the presidency. Every political decision that went through in the country and every policy made came from the president s office in Malacaang. Marcos was able to do this by harnessing the military to subdue other forces and the possibility of reactionary efforts by the opposition. Marcos also campaigned to discredit and reveal to the public the capitalist attitude of the vast landowning elites who he blamed for the country s stunted development. He strengthened the state s rule by strengthening himself and the technocrats at his side were aiming for a Philippines geared towards development when the sweeping economic depression of the time reached the emerging Philippine market. This preempted Marcos from instituting an continuity of iron grip in government that could have controlled the situation which in turn started the climate that ended in his downfall from the presidency. V. Conclusion Philippine politics is best studied in the light of its history and context. Through this we will see the unique form and the dynamics that have continuously played the central roles in the formation of the present image of Philippine politics. The institutions, people and forces that form a country are the same elements that influence its politics and how the citizens think and behave.