CONDITION OF THE PHILIPPINES

Democracy was restored after the reign of Ferndinand Marcos and the declaration of
the Martial Law.
A series of natural disasters hit the country such as the 1990 earthquake, the
eruption of Mt. Pinatubo, and a series of Typhoons.
There have been many coup dtat attempts and uprisings.
Brownouts were very frequent and would last for about 12 hours.

PRIMARY PROBLEMS
Displeased citizens
Power Shortage/Rampant Brownouts

PROMISES DURING THE ELECTIONS AND INAUGURATION

a.) erosion of our sense of nation
b.) to create jobs and livelihood
c.) deliver social services
d.) bring about peace and order
e.) Improve the lives of all our people
f.) mobilize the spirit of volunteerism
-especially among the youth, by documenting and publicizing examples of selfless
service to country and people by groups and individuals working in and with the
grassroots
Inauguration Speech:
I, as president of the Philippines, will serve and defend its fundamental law, execute
its just laws, do justice to every man, and consecrate myself to the service of the
nation, so help me God.

LAWS AND PROGRAMS

a.) restoration of democracy
-abolished the legislature
-declared a revolutionary government
-wrote a new constitution (1987 Constitution)
b.) Land Reform
c.) Free secondary schooling
d.) Proclamation No.9
Cory issues Proclamation No. 9 which provides for the creation of a constitutional
commission (Concom) to draft a new charter truly reflective of the ideals and

aspirations of the Filipino People, on or before September 2 of the same year. She
appoints 48 men and women, led former justice Cecilia Muoz Palma, to be
members of the Concom.
e.) Proclamation no. 1
Cory, in her inaugural address, issues her first edict: Proclamation No. 1 calling all
appointive public officials to submit their courtesy resignations. In her speech, she
proceeded to reorganize the government issuing Executive Order No. 1appointing
Cabinet ministers and task forces to help her run the government.
g.) Proclamation no.3
One month after assuming the presidency, Cory issues Proclamation No. 3,
proclaiming her government a revolutionary government. With this, she suspends
the 1973 Constitution installed during martial law and promulgates a provisional
Freedom Constitution, which vests legislative making powers on her, pending the
enactment of the new constitution.
h.) executive order no.88
Cory issues Executive Order 48: Creating an Ad Hoc Special Committee to supervise
the liquidation of the affairs of the Constitutional Commission of 1986, preservation
of its records, and to undertake its constitutional education campaign.
i.) United States trading in the First Philippine Fund Inc.
On November 9, she opens United States trading in the First Philippine Fund Inc. She
later spoke at a meeting of the United States Chamber of Commerce and the United
States-Philippine Business Committee, where she urged American business to
increase its investment in the Philippines.
i.) ratification of a 1991 treaty
A president must also learn how to bow to the inevitable, as Cory had to do with the
negotiations on the renewal of the US lease on its military bases in the Philippines.
After keeping her options open, she signaled her support for the ratification of a
1991 treaty allowing the Americans continued access to the installation for ten
years, with the option to renew for another ten. The Senate voted 12-11 against the
agreement and the Americans were out of the country by 1992.
e.) Administrative Code of 1987
establishes the various Cabinet departments and offices falling within the executive
branch of government, and under the direct control and supervision of the
President. The Code also prescribes the administrative procedure undertaken in
proceedings before the offices under the executive department.
Executive Order No. 228, July 16, 1987 Declared full ownership to qualified
farmer-beneficiaries covered by PD 27. It also determined the value remaining
unvalued rice and corn lands subject of PD 27 and provided for the manner of
payment by the FBs and mode of compensation to landowners.
Executive Order No. 229, July 22, 1987 Provided mechanism for the
implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).

 Proclamation No. 131, July 22, 1987 Instituted the CARP as a major program of
the government. It provided for a special fund known as the Agrarian Reform Fund
(ARF), with an initial amount of Php50 billion to cover the estimated cost of the
program from 1987-1992.

In 1986 Corazon Aquino focused her presidential campaign on the misdeeds of

Marcos and his cronies. The economic correctives that she proposed emphasized a
central role for private enterprise and the moral imperative of reaching out to the poor
and meeting their needs. Reducing unemployment, encouraging small-scale
enterprise, and developing the neglected rural areas were the themes.
Aquino entered the presidency with a mandate to undertake a new direction in
economic policy. Her initial cabinet contained individuals from across the political
spectrum. Over time, however, the cabinet became increasingly homogeneous,
particularly with respect to economic perspective, reflecting the strong influence of
the powerful business community and international creditors. The businesspeople and
technocrats who directed the Central Bank and headed the departments of finance and
trade and industry became the decisive voices in economic decision making. Foreign
policy also reflected this power relationship, focusing on attracting more foreign
loans, aid, trade, investment, and tourists.
It soon became clear that the plight of the people had been subordinated largely to the
requirements of private enterprise and the world economy. As the president noted in
her state-of- the-nation address in June 1989, the poor had not benefited from the
economic recovery that had taken place since 1986. The gap between the rich and
poor had widened, and the proportion of malnourished preschool children had grown.
The most pressing problem in the Philippine international political economy at the
time Aquino took office was the country's US$28 billion external debt. It was also one
of the most vexatious issues in her administration. Economists within the economic
planning agency, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), argued
that economic recovery would be difficult, if not impossible, to achieve in a relatively
short period if the country did not reduce the size of the resource outflows associated
with its external debt. Large debt-service payments and moderate growth (on the order
of 6.5 percent per year) were thought to be incompatible. A two-year moratorium on
debt servicing and selective repudiation of loans where fraud or corruption could be
shown were recommended. Business-oriented groups and their representatives in the
president's cabinet vehemently objected to taking unilateral action on the debt, arguing
that it was essential that the Philippines not break with its major creditors in the

international community. Ultimately, the president rejected repudiation; the

Philippines would honor all its debts.
Domestically, land reform was a highly contentious issue, involving economics as
well as equity. NEDA economists argued that broad-based spending increases were
necessary to get the economy going again; more purchasing power had to be put in the
hands of the masses. Achieving this objective required a redistribution of wealth
downward, primarily through land reform. Given Aquino's campaign promises, there
were high expectations that a meaningful program would be implemented. Prior to the
opening session of the first Congress under the country's 1987 constitution, the
president had the power and the opportunity to proclaim a substantive land reform
program. Waiting until the last moment before making an announcement, she chose to
provide only a broad framework. Specifics were left to the new Congress, which she
knew was heavily represented by landowning interests. The result--a foregone
conclusion--was the enactment of a weak, loophole-ridden piece of legislation.
The most immediate task for Aquino's economic advisers was to get the economy
moving, and a turn around was achieved in 1986. Economic growth was low (1.9
percent), but it was positive. For the next two years, growth was more respectable--5.9
and 6.7 percent, respectively. In 1986 and 1987, consumption led the growth process,
but then investment began to increase. In 1985 industrial capacity utilization had been
as low as 40 percent, but by mid-1988 industries were working at near full capacity.
Investment in durable goods grew almost 30 percent in both 1988 and 1989, reflecting
the buoyant atmosphere. The international community was supportive. Like domestic
investment, foreign investment did not respond immediately after Aquino took office,
but in 1987 it began to pick up. The economy also was helped by foreign aid. The
1989 and 1991 meetings of the aid plan called the Multilateral Aid Initiative, also
known as the Philippine Assistance Plan, a multinational initiative to provide
assistance to the Philippines, pledged a total of US$6.7 billion.
Economic successes, however, generated their own problems. The trade deficit rose
rapidly, as both consumers and investors attempted to regain what had been lost in the
depressed atmosphere of the 1983-85 period. Although debt-service payments on
external debt were declining as a proportion of the country's exports, they remained
above 25 percent. And the government budget deficit ballooned, hitting 5.2 percent of
GNP in 1990.
The 1988 GNP grew 6.7 percent, slightly more than the government plan target.
Growth fell off to 5.7 percent in 1989, then plummeted in 1990 to just over 3 percent.

Many factors contributed to the 1990 decline. The country was subjected to a
prolonged drought, which resulted in the increased need to import rice. In July a major
earthquake hit Northern Luzon, causing extensive destruction, and in November a
typhoon did considerable damage in the Visayas. There were other, more human,
troubles also. The country was attempting to regain a semblance of order in the
aftermath of the December 1989 coup attempt. Brownouts became a daily occurrence,
as the government struggled to overcome the deficient power-generating capacity in
the Luzon grid, a deficiency that in the worst period was below peak demand by more
than 300 megawatts and resulted in outages of four hours and more. Residents of
Manila suffered both from a lack of public transportation and clogged and
overcrowded roadways; garbage removal was woefully inadequate; and, in general,
the city's infrastructure was in decline. Industrial growth fell from 6.9 percent in 1989
to 1.9 percent in 1990; growth investment in 1990 in both fixed capital and durable
equipment declined by half when compared with the previous year. Government
construction, which grew at 10 percent in 1989, declined by 1 percent in 1990.
The Aquino administration appeared to be unable to work with the Congress to enact
an economic package to overcome the country's economic difficulties. In July, as the
government deficit soared Secretary of Finance Jesus Estanislao introduced a package
of new tax measures. Then in October, stalemated with Congress, Aquino agreed to
seek a reduction in the budget gap without new taxes. The agreement met with
resistance from the Congress for being an onorous imposition on an economy in crisis,
growth would be stifled and the poor would be impacted negatively. The willingness
of the Congress to pass the tax package called for in the IMF agreement was in doubt.
In 1990 Congress placed a 9 percent levy on all imports to provide revenues until an
agreement could be reached with the administration on a tax package. In February
1991, however, it was learned that in its agreement with the IMF for new standby
credits, the government had promised that it would indeed implement new taxes.
Accusations were widespread in Manila's press about the 1990-91 impasse. On the
one hand, it was claimed that Aquino and her advisers had no economic plan; on the
other hand, the Congress was said to be unwilling to work with the president.
Traditional political patterns appeared to be reasserting themselves, and the
technocrats had little ultimate influence. One study of the first Congress elected under
the 1987 constitution showed that only 31 out of 200 members of the House of
Representatives, were not previously elected officials or directly related to the leader
of a traditional political clan. Business interests directly influenced the president to
overrule already established policies, as in the 1990 program to simplify the tariff
structure. Business and politics have always been deeply interwoven in the

Philippines; crony capitalism was not a deviant model, but rather the logical extreme
of a traditional pattern. As the Philippines entered the 1990s, the crucial question for
the economy was whether the elite would limit its political activities to jockeying for
economic advantage or would forge its economic and political interests in a fashion
that would create a dynamic economy.

Executive Order No. 129-A, July 26, 1987 streamlined and expanded the power
and operations of the DAR.
Republic Act No. 6657, June 10, 1988 (Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law) An
act which became effective June 15, 1988 and instituted a comprehensive agrarian
reform program to promote social justice and industrialization providing the
mechanism for its implementation and for other purposes. This law is still the one
being implemented at present.
Executive Order No. 405, June 14, 1990 Vested in the Land Bank of the
Philippines the responsibility to determine land valuation and compensation for all
lands covered by CARP.
Executive Order No. 407, June 14, 1990 Accelerated the acquisition and
distribution of agricultural lands, pasture lands, fishponds, agro-forestry lands and
other lands of the public domain suitable for agriculture.

BENEFICIARIES OF THE LAWS AND PROGRAMS

The Common People Because they were just coming out of the Marcos Regime.
They were looking for democracy and freedom.
Corporate Owners of the Lands (Agrarian Reform) There were holes in the law
which made it possible for the companies to distribute stocks instead of land
ownership to the farmers.

HOLES AND SHORTCOMINGS OF THE LAWS

She wasnt really able to solve the countrys problems by implementing all that she
promised because she was constantly distracted by coups that threatened the
country and her administration. She focused a lot on disaster management but it
was necessary for her to keep the peace.

ISSUES AND CONTROVERSIES

Aquino was not spared from the controversies that eventually centered on Hacienda
Luisita, a 6,453-hectare estate located in the Province of Tarlac, which she inherited
from her family. She was scored for allowing Hacienda Luisita, which was now

owned by the Tarlac Development Corporation, to opt for stock distribution, instead
of land redistribution. She also has an issue concerning the farmers of Mendiola
being massacred.

SUMMARY OF GOVERNANCE
Corazon Aquino became the president of the country because the people believed
she was the positive change they needed especially since her husband, Ninoy, who
was supposed to be the change for the country, passed away in a gunshot. During
her administration, Cory was plagued by coup detats by various groups that foreign
investors started to pull their investments from the country. Thats why a lot of her
efforts were pointed towards disaster management from the various groups and
sometimes, her motherly methods such as giving cake worked. She was also linked
to controversies such as massacring farmers in Mendiola and holding the land she
inherited rather than having it distributed. Despite these problems, The economy
still had a positive growth during her term with an average of 3.8% by the end of it.
Cory, although wasnt the best qualified president, still did a pretty good job.
Compared to Marcos or Ramos though, it still fell short of what truly makes a
spectacular leader which is why shes rated as average.