Philippines, trapped in 'political gray zone'

Published in Mindanao Times 8/12/08

The Philippines is the first republic in Asia. It has also repeatedly claimed to have taught the world a great lesson in democracy when it toppled the dictatorial government of Ferdinand Marcos through “People Power.” The term was a neologism then, precisely coined to embody that peaceful uprising in February 1986 along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) that eventually led to the ouster of Marcos.

That pivotal moment would serve as a springboard for the Philippines’ re-democratization. Yet 22 years had elapsed, the Philippines is still hard put to correct the maladies that Marcos’ rule had wreaked on this country. Complete with essential elements of democracy—popular accountability of the government, alternation of power, political equality, popular representation, right of dissent and disobedience, free press—the Philippines can always claim it’s democratic. But this claim becomes untenable in the light of the events after 2004, the year Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA), in Susan Roces’s words, stole the presidency.

If the Philippines is not yet on its way towards genuine democracy notwithstanding its repudiation of the dictatorial government of Marcos, where does it stand today?