The Phl a 'failed' State

Retired Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno jolted the audience at the 50th anniversary of the Philippine Constitution Association of the Philippines (Philconsa) with his revelation of the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Index of Democracy for 2010 which considered the Philippines a country with flawed democracy. 

The Index surveyed the state of democracy in 165 independent states and two territories, and how they performed in electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, the functioning of government, political participation, and political culture. Only 26 countries in the world qualify as full democracies; 53 countries are considered flawed democracies; 33 are classed as hybrid regimes, and 55 countries are classified as authoritarian regimes. In Asia, only two countries qualified as full democracies — Japan and South Korea. The Philippines, alas, was considered a country with flawed democracy.

The Index analyzed reasons why democracy is in the retreat in Asia. These include democratic political cultures in Asia being often underdeveloped and shallow, even in countries that have democratized. Only nine countries have free and fair elections. In parts of non-authoritarian regions, there is often pressure on the independent media, and in many countries, citizens believe that their nations’ democratic transitions had brought no improvement in their lives.

In his message titled ‘’Danger to Democracy: A Weak State,” Justice Puno said our failure to qualify as a full democracy is more lamentable in view of our history. The Philippines is the first country in Asia to establish a republican democracy, courtesy of Emilio Aguinaldo and the Malolos Congress. “But after more than 100 years, the Philippines is now used as a study model of a country that started with a surfeit of democracy to a country with a democratic deficit,” said Puno.

He said, “Obviously, our State has failed to discharge its duties to our people, as called for by their covenant to establish a democratic society. For this reason, those watching our democratic progress classify our State as a weak State, a soft State or a failing state. It is difficult to disagree with this classification for indeed we will not be a flawed democracy if we have developed a State that is strong and capable of fulfilling the expectations of our people. The danger is that a State that continues to be weak, a State that severely defaults in serving the people may be brought down by anti-democratic forces through extra-constitutional means.”

Puno challenged members of Philconsa, that, as defenders of the Constitution, they should study the causes for the state of our affairs. Indeed, Philconsa, founded 50 years ago, and made up of brilliant men and women, is bound to face up to the challenge. According to its president, Justice Manuel “Lolong” Lazaro, the mission of Philconsa is “patriotic and simplistic: to defend, preserve and protect the Constitution and promote its growth and flowering.” Along with Lazaro are some Philconsa vanguards as Alfonso Yuchengco, Justice Bernardo Pardo, Froilan Bacungan, Ceferino Benedicto Jr., Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, Nelia Gonzales, Teddy Pena, and Amado Valdez.

The Philconsans would keep in mind the causes for the Philippines’ failing as a State.

 The first is our colonial past. Spanish colonialism, after three centuries, left the land “controlled by compradores, with a majority of people suffering from dense ignorance, an archipelago with ethnic fissures,” said Puno. “We fared no better under the Americans, which granted our political independence and we became a State, but did not leave us with a civil service powered by meritocracy and administered by honest government servants.

The blame may be on our following Quezon’s “pied piper call” for “a government run like hell by Filipinos.” That early in our history, the State’s political apparatus started to fall in the hands of a small elite, followed by the rebellion of the Hukbalahaps in Central Luzon and the unrest of the Muslims in the South. The economy likewise started to be driven by the big landowners. “To make matters worse, the Americans made sure they could continue the exploitation of our economy. They forced down our throat the Parity Amendment. In time, our State lost the opportunity to be a strong State due to our colonizer, whom some scholars say never left us to be on our own.”

Our electoral system is the second cause, for its having been vulnerable to the use of force and fraud, thereby allowing the election of leaders through the use of guns, gold and goons, who help themselves to the coffers of the people, perpetuate themselves in power, strike deals and unholy alliances with other shady characters.

The third reason is the rise of centers of power that wield excessive economic clout or possess armories of death and violence, said Puno. “The existence of these centers of power oftentimes transcends the limits of the permissible because they frustrate the government in the pursuit of its legitimate ends.”  For instance, sectarian forces are able to extract undue political and economic favors from government. Political candidates run to them for blessings. Political dynasties control votes in their fiefdoms. And a few oligarchs direct the economic policies of government in their favor but to the detriment of many.

 The fourth reason is the incessant insurrections and rebellions that continue to break our peace. We fought wars against Spain, the Americans, and the Japanese, and contended with the Hukbalahaps, then the NPAs, and today, we are rocked by secessionist movements in Mindanao. The innocent people displaced by these strifes continue to increase in number, resulting in unbearable economic cost to government already running dry of resources.

Foreign intervention is the fifth culprit. “Since time immemorial . . . we have been compelled to surrender our political and economic sovereignty at different points of our history. We were home to military bases, now our huge indebtedness tethers us to foreign governments and institutions that lend money. “We have to learn the lesson that foreign states will never put our interest above their interest. Our state enjoys a bounty of natural resources, and we should not expect foreign states and their multi-nationals not to devour them.”

To Philconsans, Puno’s challenge is “to help our State be a strong state for without strength it cannot deliver real service to the people. All that we see happening in our society today is the result of a State battered and weakened by different factors and forces . . . we have to fight these forces if we are to defend our Constitution.”

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