Contemporary Civil Society In The Philippines

Abstract

On 21 September 1997 Filipinos marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of the declaration of martial law by President Ferdinand Marcos. On this fateful day in 1972 began more than a decade of repression and authoritarian rule. A more appropriate date could not have been chosen to gather over half a million citizens in a powerful show of protest against a campaign to amend the Philippine Constitution of 1987. Charter change itself was clearly not the problem. What bothered many was the prospect of a Marcos-like manoeuvre to change the rules in mid-game to perpetuate an incumbent in power. It was precisely in reaction to this ploy by the former dictator that the framers of the 1987 Constitution mandated a six-year term for the president, with no re-election. So when moves for amendment were initiated a mere ten years after the end of authoritarianism, an equally strong counter-movement developed, aimed mainly at blocking any attempt to extend President Fidel Ramos' term. Led by such powerful champions of constitutional democracy as former President Corazon Aquino and Jaime Cardinal Sin, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Manila, the anti-charter change movement was supported by an impressive array of civic, business, and political leaders. Even more significantly, the movement was also backed by a whole spectrum of people's organizations (POs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including labour unions, national peasant associations, human rights groups, sector-based and multisectoral coalitions, and cause-oriented groups, identified with a whole spectrum of ideological formations from the extreme left to the moderate right. For months, the movement fortified itself, meeting, strategizing, mobilizing, and projecting itself prominently in the media. In the end, the efforts of these groups paid off. Confronted with mass support for the 21 September rally, President Ramos finally declared that he would not seek re-election, and later anointed his own candidate, Jose de Venecia, for the May 1998 presidential contest. Many have hailed these events as yet another manifestation of the strength of Philippine democratic tradition.