The Rise and Fall of Virata's Network: Technocracy and the Politics of Economic Decision Making in the Philippines

Abstract

An important network that has emerged the Philippines is that of technocracy. It was seen the 1960s during the pre-martial law period (1960-72), but its significance rose rapidly during the martial law period (1972-86), when technocracy was thrust into the forefront of the country's economic policy making. In general, the attraction of technocracy to government leaders generally emanates from the system the latter represent, in which technically trained experts rule by virtue of their specialized knowledge and position dominant political and economic institutions (Glassman et al. 1993). This paper argues that the politico-economic clout of the technocracy is based also on the strength of its network(s) connecting with the important centers of power society. I use Albert-Laszlo Barabasi's (2002) definition of network:not just a simple interconnection between two objects, but one which comprises of a complex series of links, nodes, hubs, and clusters, all varying configurations and density, and differing strength terms of their linkages with each other or within themselves.My article will look into how Barabasi's concept has been appliedto the study of . . . and how these concepts help us understand the dynamics of coalition, compromise or contention among and between actors, parties, movements, and institutions. (Abinales and Onimaru 2010, 1)I will apply the concept of networks looking at factors that have strengthened as well as hindered a particular technocracy network the Philippines, i.e., the network of Cesar E. A. Virata, who during the martial law period was viewed as the chief technocrat. He was President Ferdinand Marcos's minister of finance, and later on prime minister. The paper aims to trace the evolution of the political and economic clout of Virata's technocracy network as well as the factors that caused the collapse of the network. In particular, it will highlight how Virata's technocracy network was thrust into power by a threedimensional politico-economic relationship among the following networks: Virata's relationship with the leadership, i.e., Ferdinand Marcos; his relationship with the International Monetary Fund and World Bank; and Marcos's relationship with the United States. These relationships intertwined with each other and highlighted the success as well as the collapse of the Virata technocracy network.This paper hopes to contribute to the writings on Philippine technocracy as well as the networks approach Philippine politics. As I write this article, I have not come across any writings on the Philippine technocracy using the political networks approach. This may be understandable, as writings on Philippine technocracy have been sparse and have generally used the political economy framework1) or the social/cultural approach.2) This article, therefore, seeks to contribute to the literature on the networks approach the following manner: (1) it applies this approach to the study of technocracy; (2) it uses political network analysis as opposed to the general trend of major analytical studies the fields of sociology, anthropology, and communications; (3) it seeks to introduce a Philippine perspective particular, and a Southeast Asian perspective general, to the study of network analysis vis-a-vis the more dominant Western-oriented approach; and (4) the article's study of network analysis is applied also to stable situations, i.e., normal politics under the authoritarian Marcos regime from a technocrat network perspective.I Defining the Technocracy and Their Network(s)Technocrats are situated a crucial network society, which is the class. The is also referred to as the intermediate class the development process and politics. This network is crucial the Third World because middle personnel occupy the niches of the state apparatus (Johnson 1985, 15). …