Traditional Politics in the Philippines: Effects of the Domination of the Elite and Corruption in the Philippine Politics and the Rule of Gloria M. Arroyo

Abstract

Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is considered as an illegitimate president of the Philippines because of the massive allegations that she cheated in the May 2004 elections just so she could secure the presidential position. This political crisis was all the more worsened when the controversial ''Hello Garci" tapes containing wiretapped conversations of Mrs. Arroyo and that of Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano was exposed to the public. The wiretapped conversations revolved around the manipulating of the election results to ensure the victory of Mrs. Arroyo against her opponent, Fernando Poe Jr. Aside from cheating in the 2004 elections, the country has also experienced the worst fiscal crisis ever in the history of the Philippines. The infuriating part is that the Philippine government is the one responsible for such a crisis and yet, their way of resolving their own mess is by increasing the taxes therefore all the more emphasizing the burden of all Filipinos which is poverty. The Arroyo government's idiocy also includes the use of violence in repressing the Filipinos and suppressing the truth. Widespread use by military officials of torture, summary killings and abductions of suspected members of the leftwing organizations shows the disregard of GMA to the human rights of the Filipinos and the reincarnation of the Marcos era repression. Suppression of civil liberties, a Marcosian stratagem, has been accentuated when GMA declared State of Emergency or the Presidential Proclamation 1017 and the calibrated preemptive response (CPR) that goes along with it. To ensure GMA's reign in the Philippines, she introduced the idea of a charter change, a rather opportunistic move to guarantee her stay in office despite of the perception of everyone that she is an illegitimate president. Cha- cha, under a parliamentary system, would also allow the traditional politicians or the elite to be in power more easily. This is 比e very brilliant idea of GMA in addressing the problems of the Philippines: by securing her possession of power and that of her cronies. This study is an analysis and an evaluation of the effects of the domination of the traditional politicians in the Philippine politics and the administration of GMA. The primary tools that were used were the key informant interviews as well as content analysis of related literatures. An examination in Chapter 2 of the historical background of corruption and the traditional politics in the Philippines enabled the researcher to identify the roots of corruption and the system of governance that we have today. Chapter 3 discusses the rule of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The chapter focuses on the four highlights of governance of Gloria M・ Arroyo which are GMA and traditional politics, GMA and corruption, GMA and human rights violations and lastly, GMA and the May 2004 elections. An analysis of the effects of the factors discussed in the preceding chapter was deliberated using the analytic framework that the researcher has developed. Chapter 4 determines as to whether the governance of GMA worked within the bounds of the framework that was developed by the researcher. In Chapter 5, the researcher sums up the discussions and analysis from the preceding chapters. This chapter elaborates on the issues as to the effectiveness of the Philippine government in addressing the problems being faced by the Philippines. This study basically underscores the trend of corrupt practices and the rule of the elite in the Philippine government.