Sunday, April 13, 2008 Mercado: The scramble to prevail By Juan L. Mercado Sidebar
PRESIDENT Arroyo’s “raze-everything” drive to stay in power has eroded Philippine democratic institutions which are “Asia’s oldest.” And these weakened structures could crumble, if reforms are put off.
University of Wisconsin Madison’s Paul Hutchcroft presents this conclusion in the analysis: “The Arroyo Imbroglio in the Philippines.” He authored “Booty Capitalism: The Politics of Philippine banking.”
“No country in Asia has had more experience with democratic institutions than the Philippines,” he notes. And no president has stayed longer in Malacañang than Ms. Arroyo.
Despite “this longevity, the Arroyo administration found political legitimacy to be elusive… High hopes for democracy, voiced in the mid-1980s, have given way to disillusionment with the country’s low quality of governance.”
Ms. Arroyo effectively wields the presidency’s powers to keep herself in office. She exhibits no qualms about further undermining the country’s “increasingly imperiled” political institutions.
US-colonial era policies wooed landlords away from insurgents. Spanish-colonial elite became the oligarchs wielding power today. Patronage-hungry politicos overwhelmed fledgling state agencies. Gov. Gen. William Howard “Taft liked to evoke images of New England style deliberative democracy,” the study notes. “But the end result (was) a Philippine version of Tammany Hall.” In this setting, political parties became shells.
Where institutions are brittle, leadership styles impact political outcomes. A populist self-aggrandizer, Joseph Estrada “redistributed wealth in favor of his family and friends”—until ousted. Ms Arroyo is “the great compromiser, willing to accommodate anyone able to help her retain the presidency.”
In the scramble to prevail, Ms. Arroyo exploited the pork barrel. Questions on Vice President Noli de Castro capabilities persisted. People refused to hit the streets… And the President did “a masterful job of cultivating the loyalty of key generals.” She emphasizes systemic, not personal accountability.
Overall reforms won’t fly. But incremental reforms, targeted to spur meaningful social change, hold greater promise. Start with modest electoral reforms, he argues.
“The Philippine ballot is probably one of the most archaic in the world.” “The manual count imposes a gargantuan task of counting almost a billion preferences.” It is susceptible to fraud:
Among others, reforms could include: preprinted ballots, a consolidated ticket for election of presidents and vice presidents. An option for straight-party voting could be provided.
To promote stronger parties, nationwide election of senators should be made regional. The present system “forces each candidate to cut his or her own deals with local power holders throughout the archipelago.”
Hutchcroft suggests the Lower House’s party-list system be overhauled. At present, no single party may have more than three seats. This undermines the goal of aggregating interests under one party. The Philippines could lift a page from Japan and South Korea. They have single-member- district seats, plus elements of proportional- representation.
“The Philippines can boast of the oldest democratic structures in Asia,” Hutchcroft notes. But they are currently weak and lacking in legitimacy. “Battered by scandal after scandal, these structures need careful and well-considered reform, if they are to survive.” The opposition, meanwhile, has been rightly hit for seeking to “raze everything” just to wiggle into power.
“It is important to build a democracy that can overcome its historical shortcomings and begin to demonstrate responsiveness, not just to the privileged few, but to the citizenry as a whole,” he adds.
Tell that to Ms. Arroyo, cronies—and the opposition as well.
