jta people power final 28 jan

8/8/2019 Jta People Power Final 28 Jan

1/10

1

THE IDEA BEHIND THE 1986 PEOPLE POWER REVOLUTION

Jose T. Almonte

Given before the Conference on Asian Renaissance: Capacity Building

for Future Leaders in Southeast Asia sponsored by the Institut KajianDasar (IKD) of Malaysia with the Sasakawa Peace Foundation

AIM Conference Centre Manila, Makati City, Philippines28 January 2010

1.WHY DID REVOLUTION BECOME NECESSARY IN THE PHILIPPINES INTHE MIDDLE 1980s?

Because we had lost our freedomand got nothing in exchange for it.

FOR FILIPINOS, the imposition of martial law in September 1972 bythe strongman Ferdinand Marcos had been a kind ofFaustianbargain. Many of us had acquiescedin the loss of our civil liberties,in the hope that authoritarianism would restore social stability andproduce the shared growth that it did in the East Asian economic-miracle states.

But, by the early 1980s, Marcos venture in authoritarianismhad become overly oppressive. We had lost all our political liberties:

the economy was in the grip of crony capitalists; the populacedemoralized; and the military divided. And an ultimate takeover ofthe state by a raging Maoistinsurgency had become a distinctpossibility.

2.WHAT WAS IT WE WERE FIGHTING FOR?To be able to use our freedom to build our nation.

By then, too, we had come to realize that authoritarianism isunworkable in a dualsociety such as oursa significant part of itbeing modernenough for middle-class people to demand politicalparticipation, and yet in many ways stillpatrimonialenough forpolitical leaders to treat government merely as a vehicle forenriching themselves and for distributing patronage to theirfollowers.


2/10

2

Creating our own freedom

Our experience of authoritarian rule taught us that weFilipinos can neverput our trust in a strongman. We must createour own freedom. And what does creating our own freedom mean?

In East Asia,politicalfreedom has been inextricably linkedwith economicfreedom: withprivatepropertyand withfree markets.These two together createdaprivaterealmcivil societyoutsidethe domaineven of the authoritarian state. And it is this initial actof separation of the public and private realmsof the domain of theState and the domain of the individualthat initiates the evolutionof a form oflimitedgovernment.

The exuberance of democracy

In the Philippines, this sequencefirst of economic and thenof

political openinghas been reversed. Since the early 1900s, at leastour middle class has enjoyed a measure of civil liberty, although theeconomy has remained in the grip of oligarchic special interests.

Structural reform in our country, therefore, musttake place inthe context of what Lee Kuan Yew famously called the exuberanceof democracy [that] leads to undisciplined and disorderly conditions inimical to development.

As a result, we Filipinos are, until now, far from being a fullyachieved nation. Geography and history have combined to make the

sense of nationality hard to instill among our people. Our countrymay have won its independence and consolidated its territories, butnation buildingwhich is the diffusion of national awareness andthe incorporation into the national community of all sectors of thepopulationstill is a work in progress.

3. DID OUR PEOPLE POWER REVOLUTION SUCCEED?Our People Power Revolution had a ripple effect in the world.

But here at home, its practical results were mixed.

Our peaceful People Power Revolution inspired a chain of similarlydramatic upheavals in the captive nations: from China in NortheastAsia to Burma in Southeast Asia to Hungary, Bulgaria, andRomania in Eastern Europefrom the Caucasus clear to Chile inSouth America, and to Africa.

To quote the Los Angeles Times, The civilian-backed military


3/10

3

uprising, with its stirring scenes of nuns kneeling to stop Marcostanks, made the Philippines a leader in the global wave ofdemocratic movements that climaxed in the dismantling of theBerlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The Burmesejuntasuppressed brutallythe democraticupsurge in Rangoon. On Tiananmen Square, soldiers obeyed ordersto fire on a peaceful student-led rally. But the SolidarityMovementliberated Poland. In East Germany, citizens themselves tore downthe Berlin Wall. And, on Wenceslas Square, the Velvet Revolutionreturned democracy to Czechoslovakia.

Restoration of the oligarchy

But here at home, our peaceful revolution fell far short of ourexpectations.

Politically, the restoration ofelitedemocracy also brought backthe oldoligarchy that Marcos had, for the most part, dismantled(replacing it with his cronies).

Nor did the constitutional system set up under the successorgovernment in 1987 prove superior to the 1935 Charter it replaced.

Substitution of a free and open party system for thetraditional two partiesone in power and the other in oppositionhasfatallyweakened party government.

Limitation of the right to reelection has also been a step

backward, since citizens have lost a substantial degree of controlover their elected officials.

With her revolutionary powers, President Corazon Aquinomight have carried outa thoroughgoing land reform programputting an end to agrarian dissidence, particularly on our mainisland of Luzon.

Instead she allowed a restored Congressdominated by theold landlord intereststo enact a watered-down program; one thatsaved her own familys sugar haciendafrom redistribution.

Special interests reassumed control of the regulatory agenciesand the business incentive systems that Congress was empoweredto grant.

Indeed, the oligarchy may have recapturedall our centers ofpolitical decision-making. For, in the World Banks view, theweakness of the Philippine state stems from the effective control byinterest groups of the state machinery, such that rule making and


4/10

4

enforcement serves notthe general welfare but particular interests.As a result, our economy, despite globalization, remains

heavilycartelized, and relatively closed to foreign competition,compared with its vigorous neighbors.

4. NO REVOLUTION FAILS: THE LESSONS WE LEARNED

But no revolution fails. Ours taught us some basic lessonsabout political and economic modernization.

Throughout history, weve seen how all too many dreams ofsweeping change and new beginnings have proved nodifferent fromthe old order they had sought to sweep away. But no revolutionfailsbecause norevolution can destroy a nation. It is when a

people loses its capacityits willto make revolution that a nationis destroyed.

A revolution is waged notfrom any prior calculation of itsprospect of success, or its liability of failure. A revolution is wagedin response to a moral imperative. It is waged because people judgeit to be the only right thing to do.

In a word, a revolution is waged as a moral choice. Whether itsucceeds or fails, it allows a nation to regain its self-respect, tobegin life anew. And how a nation lives a new life depends on the

lessons that revolution teaches, and the nation learns.

The possibility of change

In this sense, President Aquinos key achievement was toreopenfor our people thepossibilityof peacefulincrementalpolitical change.

By restoring a measure of accountability to government, byassuring everyday people some protection from arbitrarypower,President Aquino made sure we Filipinos can continue to work ourway toward modes of governance congenial to our communal

concept of the good society.The Czech poet-philosopher former President Vaclav Havel

believes no democracy is ever completed. As long as people arepeople, Havel once remarked, democracy in the full sense of theword will always be no more than an ideal. One may approach it asone would a horizon, in ways that may be better or worse, but it can


5/10

5

never be fully attained.We Filipinos are acutely aware of the immensepolitical

distance we have yet to travel, to come anywhere near that politicalideal. For democracy, as we know, requires two social conditions.

First, there must be a minimum level of basic equalityofopportunityif notof outcomeand that equality must bewidespread enough to allow for the development of the fullpotentials of as many individuals.

Then, too, citizens must have the effective enjoymentoffreedomand notjust as aformalentitlement enshrined in a dead-letterconstitution, butas a living day-to-day experience.

In sum, democracy is aprogressive discoveryof people strivingto civilize themselves; its scopeand implicationsare a gradualrevelation.

Through the agency of the 1986 People Power Revolution, weFilipinos became free to muddle throughtoour own kindofdemocracy. Perhaps there is a better way, but a gradual evolution ofthe political system, rather than violent and abrupt change, givesdemocracy a good chance to take hold.

The Ramos succession

Thepossibilityofchangethat President Aquino opened, herconstitutional successorGeneral Fidel Ramosnurtured through

a brief economic flowering (1992-98) that coincided with ourIndependence centennial.

President Ramos was able to dismantle the most onerousmonopolies (particularly in telecommunications and inter-islandshipping); successfully pushed for water-service privatization andoil deregulation; open sectors of the economy to competition; and tobegin reforming the revenue system.

He also made peace with both our rebellious young officersand our separatist Muslim rebels in Mindanao. He went as far as to

legalizethe Communist Party and to offer a truce to our Maoistinsurgents.A Peoples Initiative to implement the people power provision of

the 1987 Charterand so enable President Ramos to seekreelectionfailed in the Supreme Courtand stopped short theRamos reforms.


6/10

6

Predatory administrations

In the peaceful transition over which he presided, his roguishvice president, Joseph Estrada, won handilyinaugurating adisorderlyadministration that lasted only until January 2001 (wellshort of his six-year term), when Estrada was impeached forplunder, and removed by another People Power Revolution.

Estradas vice president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, served outthe remainder of his term; then in 2004 won the presidency in herown right. But allegations that she conspiredto pad her votestogether with the popular perception that corruption has worsenedunder her rulehave cast doubtsas to her legitimacy. Despitegovernments claims about her accomplishments in the economy,opinion surveys consistently rate her lower than even the autocraticMarcos in the public esteem.

5. THE REVOLUTION WE NEED TO MAKE

Freedom as a tool for rebuilding our nation.

Now we Filipinos realize the revolution we need to make is stillunfinished: our revolution is a continuing one. And this revolutionmust empower our people to use their freedom to create wealth withothers, and not at others expense.

Development needs an effective state able to act autonomouslyon behalf of the national interest. We must work to enhance theeffectiveness, legitimacy, and technical capability of the institutionsof governance. All at once, these institutions must guarantee civilliberties, keep the market free, and have a care for those whomdevelopment leaves behind.

The public good must prevail over private gain

Firstandforemost, the revolution we need to make must putour house in order by leveling the playing field of enterprise. Ourrevolution must transfer to the people the power that the few nowhave over the state.

For generations, our political economy has enabled a tiny eliteto control the nations wealth by manipulating its politics. And thepolitical culture this condition developed has produced an elitistdemocracy that emphasizes the family over the larger community


7/10

7

and private gain over the public gooda political culture where oursense of entitlement has been stronger than our sense of civicresponsibility.

Leveling the playing field

It is not enough that all men and women are created free andequal. We must also create the meansthe level playing fieldsothat they can help themselves becometruly free and equal. Andindividual freedom must be used in the nations serviceratherthan for private gainbecause, ultimately, being rich and powerfulbecomes meaningless in a state that fails.

State and market complement each other

Another key lesson is that the stateand the marketare not

incompatiblealternatives: the state and the market complementeach other.

The state has had a necessary role in all the poor countriesthat have prospered. East Asias typical developmental stateis anactivist alliancebetween government and the private sector to directindustry and set national economic priorities.

The power of presidential leadership

Political parties in the poor countries are often too

fractionalized to administer coherent governments. But modernizingparty organizations will necessarily be long-term work. Meanwhile,poor countries must depend on strong political leadership to cutthrough institutional barriers to reform.

This was what a World Bank study of the political economy ofreform during the Ramos Administration suggests. Ultimately, it isthe Presidenthis person, character, vision for the country andability and willingness to spend political capitalwho can musterthe national consensus, clear roadblocks, and drive the reformagenda forward.

6. THE TASKS OF NATION-BUILDING

Raising people to the peak of their potential, equipping them to seize theopportunities being opened up by modernization, and becoming effectivewealth creators.


8/10

8

Our basic task must be to raise everyday people to the peak of theirpotentials; to equip them with the skills to seize the opportunitiesbeing opened by modernization; and to become effective wealthcreators.

This means, first of all, easing the grossandpervasivecorruption that has virtuallyparalyzedpublic administration. Wemust build up state capacitybecause development needsdisciplined bureaucrats, stable policies and a predictable legalorder.

And we must begin to dismantle the unequalinstitutions andadministrative systems that affect the entire structure of nationalsociety and the way it apportions wealth and power.

To narrow the gapbetween our urban and rural economies, wemust shiftthe weightof public investmentfromthe big citiesto thetowns and small cities where the bulk of our poor live. Agriculturewe must stop treating as the stepchildof development. And the bulk ofour investments in human capital, we must shift to our mostdisadvantaged regions.

Eradicating generational poverty

Our immediate goal must be to easegenerational povertypovertypassed downfromgeneration to generation. Poverty of thiskind meansnot only malnutrition and constant hunger, lack of

access to basic educationeven shortened life spans. It also meanssocial exclusion, loss of dignity and powerlessness.

Since the poorest households are those whose heads have onlythe barest formal education, ensuring that no child is left out ofbasic schoolshould be a key objective of our anti-povertyprogramstogether with primary health-care services that preventinfant malnutrition and childrens deaths.

Right now, we spend far less on our public school childrenthan comparable neighboring states do. Meanwhile, as many as a

fourth of all the people in our poorest provinces get no formaleducation at all.

Affirmative action for the poorest provinces and regions

All the resources we can raise we mustfocuson lifting up thelives of our absolutely poor families. Anti-poverty programs that donottarget the absolutely poor well enough merely allow the non-


9/10

9

poor to capture the benefits from these programsthe end resultbeing greater and wider inequalities.

Many countries givepreferentialtreatment to groups or regionsdisadvantagedby prior neglect. Muslim Mindanao, the Cordilleras

in Northern Luzon and the Bicol Peninsula, among other regions,can reasonably claimpreferentialtreatment in national budgetallocations for infrastructure, primary health care and basiceducation.

7. NURTURING A CARING NATIONAL COMMUNITY

Civic responsibility is crucial

Ultimately, this revolution we need to make must build a caring

national community. Only in such a caring community will we beable to carry out our civic duty to provide equitable opportunity,promote human dignity, and secure justice for all.

To achieve these, we must put the Philippine state on a sounddemocratic footingby empowering everyday Filipinos to take activepart in making the political decisions that shape their lives. And wemust so ease their burden of povertynot just material/temporalbut also moral/spiritualso that our people can live in dignity, infreedom, in justice, in prosperity at peace with itself and the world.

Civic responsibility is crucial to ensure our freedom isexercised for the common good, because the future of democracy inour country may lie outside todays formal political arena. It may liewith the groupings of civil society. It is these mediating institutionsbetween the individual and the State that may yet become thebuilding blocks of true political parties, perhaps the beginning of apeople power democracythat is based on principles and programs,rather than on naked power and commanding personalities.#


10/10

10

jta people power final 28 jan

Documents