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Philippines POLITICS
In 1991 Philippine politics resembled nothing so much as the
"good old days" of the pre-martial law period--wide-open,
sometimes irresponsible, but undeniably free. Pre-martial law
politics, however, essentially were a distraction from the
nation's serious problems. The parties were completely
nonideological. Therefore, politicians and office-holders
switched parties whenever it seemed advantageous to do so. Almost
all politicians were wealthy, and many were landlords with large
holdings. They blocked moves for social reform; indeed, they
seemed not to have even imagined that society required serious
reform. Congress acquired a reputation for corruption that made
the few honest members stand out. When Marcos closed down
Congress in 1972, hardly anyone was disappointed except the
members themselves.
The February 1986 People's Power Revolution, also called the
EDSA Revolution (see Glossary)
had restored all the prerequisites
of democratic politics: freedom of speech and press, civil
liberties, regularly scheduled elections for genuine
legislatures, plebiscites, and ways to ensure honest ballot
counting. But by 1991 the return to irrelevant politics had
caused a sense of hopelessness to creep back into the nation that
five years before had been riding the euphoric crest of a
nonviolent democratic revolution. In 1986 it seemed that
democracy would have one last chance to solve the Philippines'
deep-rooted social and economic problems. Within five years, it
began to seem to many observers that the net result of democracy
was to put the country back where it had been before Marcos: a
democratic political system disguising an oligarchic society.
Data as of June 1991
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