Introduction of Public Elections in the Southern Philippines

Abstract

An important, but often overlooked, social phenomenon in post-war southern Philippine society is the ascendancy of the new Muslim bourgeosie composed of merchants, businessmen, and landowners of commoner origin. This class took advantage of the economic and social changes accompanying the colonization of the southern Philippines that had taken place since the latter half of the 19th century, acquired social prestige by becoming “haji, ” and rose to new leadership positions in their society. In addition to this, a considerable number of Christian Filipino settlers migrated south, causing a change in the religious composition of that region's population with the exception of Sulu.The American colonial government established special provinces and municipal districts in those areas where Muslim and other non-Christian communities demographically predominated. Governors of special provinces and mayors of municipal districts in the south were appointed, while their counterparts in regular provinces and municipalities were chosen in public elections. These discriminative arrangements were, however, abolished one by one from the Commonwealth period, and all local offices in the south were made elective by the end of 1950s. The significance of the introduction of public elections to the south lies in the fact that it served as a catalyst to the process by which the economic and social changes during colonization were reflected in the political sphere.During the Commonwealth period, it was the Christian politicians of the south who took the initiative in campaigning for public elections in the region, whereas the Muslim politicians were reluctant to join because they represented the interests of the Muslim nobility, who feared that their traditional priviledged status might be undermined by an electoral system and thus prefered the existing practice of political appointments.The post-World War II Muslim politicians, however, actively campaigned for having officials in the south elected by the people. The author argues that this change in their attitude on the issue was a crucial factor in the abolishment of special provinces and municipal districts in the south during the 1950s. What, then, caused these post-war Muslim politicians to favour public elections? The author maintains that their power base shifted from the traditional nobility, who favoured the practice of appointment, to the new Muslim bourgeoisie, who aspired to political ascendancy through elected office.The holding of public elections had important effects on the power structure in southern Philippine society. In Sulu, Muslim merchants and businessmen came to exercise greater political influence, while in Cotabato, which had experienced an influx of Christian settlers from the north, local official posts came to be increasingly held by Christians, thus forcing Muslim officials into the minority. Furthermore, by means of electoral politics, southern society was structually integrated into the nation-wide political system of the Philippines, and inherited similar problems such as corruption and injustice. It is against this background that various political movements, aimed at both rovolution and reform, emerged in the south during years following the 1950s.