Al Jay T.

Mejos
Science 14
BLIS 2005-66052

Political
Prof. Ranjit Rye

An Article Review of
A Changeless Land: Continuity and Change in Philippine Politics1
I.

Philippine Society and Political Culture

The first chapter aptly discusses the history of the Philippines and its

political state from the time before the first colonizers came to the
islands. It described the social and political situation that dominated in the
simple barangay structure and the expanded domains of the sultanates of
Mindanao.

History, as it was

mentioned, is

a rich

resource for

understanding the present and how the evolution of society is reflected in

the political situation in the islands while how the values of and influences
that run along each generation affects the political climate of the time.
According to the timeliness of the creation of the material, the book
highlights the last succeeding chapters of Philippine presidency and uses
these as illustrations for the attitudes that the Filipinos exemplify, that is,
the Marcos administration.
Focused particularly in the chapter is the individual attitude of the
common Filipino to government and leadership. In the first parts if the
chapter, it was explained how the Spaniards controlled the islands by way
of the caciques, a landed elite that replaced the positions and powers of
the maharlika in the economic and political spheres, these Filipinos
exercised power as landlords and used these powers to gain favor and
opportunities from the Spaniard friars who were the prime power holders
at the time. While Philippines still traded with China and the rest of the
Malay region at the time of Spanish colonization as before, control and
appropriations of opportunities still came from Spain through its trade
1 Timberman, David. 1991. A Changeless Land: Continuity and Change in Philippine
Politics. ch. 1-4 pp. 1-123.

route that spans from west east passing by Mexico therefore making
Philippines its farthest colony to the east. This difficulty of travel has
afforded Philippines a stunted development at the hands of the friars
while being maintained under political subjugation from the Spanish
throne and sensitive to the demands of an international market.
The families that ruled the barangays, prior to Spanish colonization,
were independent and the values propagated in these times perpetuated
to the present. The values of close kinship ties, utang na loob and a
personal attitude towards political affiliations and responsibilities reflected
merely a continuity of the values that were propagated in those early
times. Such attitudes have caused disintegration of classes and a more
solid familial bonds to the personal perspective of the individual Filipino.
The chapter tackled how the values and practices of pakikisama,
personalism, ambiguous class identification, skepticism of government
capacities and an overt disobedience of institutions and laws influence
politics in a very complex and elaborate manner.
II.

Traditional Government, Politics and Economic Affairs

The second chapter primarily addressed the elites and their capacity to

rule in the country. In the Philippines, economic power is equated with

political power and the familial bonds created families who control both
the economic and the political spheres of the nation. These elites came
from the cacique families of the Spaniard rule where Filipinos and
mestizos who were able to accumulate resources through trade and land
ownership were able to send their children to Europe for education, in
time these became the next generation of landed elites who not only
economically affluent but now intellectually capable and very ambitious.
With the arrival of the Americans, these elites were recruited as
support in the control of the archipelago and that opportunity then
became the reinforcement through which the elites were able to access
the political domain that the Spaniards had not afforded them before. This

was the opportunity through which the elites accumulated more economic
wealth and reinforce themselves into the political positions they have
achieved.
Where with economic power comes political power which in turn also
affords greater economic power, coupled with traditional values of family
partisanship, loyalty and personal politics, the elites became the
centerfold of governance in the land.
The elaborate mechanism by which the elites grab hold of power
involves the participation of the less fortunate masses who can only see
so far and therefore see that whatever benefits they receive from their
elite landlords actually came at the mercy of these people and not as
actions of responsibilities. Social benefits such as running water and
churches were perceived by the masses as personal gifts from the rich
elites which in turn became their hosts in the coming elections where it
was time to claim payment for their utang na loob.
The entrenchment of elite rule in the Philippines, despite being
outspokenly democratic, actually became a simple elite democracy where
the elite gather as much supporters as they can through whatever means
they can employ and use this political base to maintain or acquire new
political positions where they are able to acquire more resources to
perpetuate their rule. This is exemplified in the senate, congress and
presidency where most who aspire to take these positions came from the
elite class.
Two elements that are influential in the rule of the elite class are the
military and the nature of politics. The military is always wooed by the
politicians to protect them and reinforce their rule when the use of arms is
required and in turn the military officials needs the politicians to grant
them the positions and benefits they aspire, especially since the military
is a window for the low and middle class to rise in the social ladder when
promotions afford them the wealth and opportunities. The local nature of
politics on the other hand allows for easier and short-sighted control of
Philippine politics. The personal attitude of the individual Filipino accords

loyalty to a single candidate who makes his voice heard throughout the
land but pays homage only to those who become his power base during
the elections, the politician-elite sends gifts, invests resources and
provides enrichment opportunities to his voting population and keeps
them happy which after generations become what we now call a baluarte.
Such personalized and localized approach to politics became the reason
through which the politicians have no loyalty to anyone apart from their
loyal voters and makes the party list system very fluid and subject to
shifting bandwagons.
III.

The Forces of Change

By the time Ferdinand Marcos rose into presidency, the Philippines

faced a radical change in the political and socio-economic climate. Rapid

urbanization, population growth, increasing unemployment of welleducated Filipinos and a very low financial source for the government
were the primary root of the crises he was about to face in his
administration. There too is the fading away of support and popularity for
the mechanized traditional politics by students and academic intellectuals
who saw the vulnerabilities and inconsistencies of the ongoing form of
government, couple these with the rise of Marxist-Leninist-Maoist
ideologies that are rapidly sweeping in the United States and Europe that
propose a different form of government that is pro-masses and antiimperialist. This has been the time of great test for what must have been
the smartest Philippine president.
The doing away of the peoples support for traditional politics came with
the social dissatisfaction of the competing elites. By this time there have
been many elites fighting for what have been the scare resources,
germinating industries and financial sources in the country. The rise of
many lower class and middle class citizens by way of education, job
opportunities and enterprises have led to an overcrowding of elites in the

business sector where they control both the state and the economy by
way of supporting and opposing economic policies in congress.
The Church, which was traditionally a passive institution that merely
reacts when its interests are on the table, also underwent a time of
change as it was the time of the council of Vatican II at which conclusion it
declared itself to be a poor church for the poor in its reorientation
towards supporting the masses. This time, bishops and priests have taken
a more active role in governance which was manifested clearly later on
during the Martial Law when Cardinal Sins declarations have shown to
have gathered enormous support from the people.
This had also been a time of increasing scope of governmental control
over economic trends in the country. The highly centralized unitary form
of government in Metro Manila virtually controlled the local governments
all over the archipelago through its monopoly over the revenue sources
and capacity to allocate budget. Local governments and provinces were
very much dependent upon the national budget allocated to them to as
much as half or more of their total sources for expenditure as congress,
filled with elite-businessmen, passed laws and allocations that favor their
own industries and the provide for the source funds in the continuous
effort to keep their local voters happy.
Despite the changing political climate the age old attitudes of personal
and patronage politics of the elite endured and this had caused such
strain on the countrys leadership that reached its peak and found its
demise at the proclamation of martial law.
IV.

Authoritarianism and Its Impact

The declaration of Martial Law by Ferdinand Marcos marked the

transition

of

new

form

of

governance

in

the

Philippines,

authoritarianism. It was marked by the loss of institutions such as the

closing of the Senate and Congress and civil rights for those who opposed
or are suspects of opposition to the current administration at the time.

The most affected people to the loss of civil rights are the opposition
politicians, the elite oligarchies and the students-academicians because
the nature of the time involved the proliferation and spread of communistsocialist and anti-establishment ideas. In the University of the Philippines
where there exists the most open opportunity for such ideals to propagate
in the rich academic atmosphere of open expression, Professor Jose Maria
Sison who organized the nationalistic student organization Kabataang
Makabayan (KM) and later on became the leading character in the
leadership of the Communist Party of the Philippines became influential
figures of the time. Other faculty members of the University who were not
necessarily aligned with Sison but taught different forms of political forms
and allowed political debate in their classes as a form of teaching were
now scared and no longer able to hold their classes in the same manner
because of the police elements who roam the corridors of Palma Hall and
harasses them, some even literally ate their books just so they wont be
caught in the possession of questionable materials while others went
underground and hid.
Marcos original intention for the authoritarian rule was to get rid of the
traditional politics that has infused into the Philippine culture. His prime
targets were the business minded oligarch families who controlled the
countrys economy through their representatives in congress. Marcos
perceived them to be the source of the countrys being stuck to
underdevelopment as they only think for themselves and their businesses
when they make their policies and oppose development when it threatens
their business positions. These families were the elite oligarchies who own
vast tracts of land but keep it underdeveloped because it is more
profitable for that way insensitive to the social condition of the workers of
that land and the national economy, the remnant families from the
caciques of old Spanish times.
The authoritarian rule intended to create a new brand of elites based
on capacities and not resource conditions, Marcos paved the way for

technocrats to help frame and orient the Philippines to progress. It also

did away with the faulty and inefficient government system that is
exemplified in the selfish competition of politicians in congress and senate
that hinders projects and development by concentrating political control
to the presidency. Every political decision that went through in the country
and every policy made came from the presidents office in Malacaang.
Marcos was able to do this by harnessing the military to subdue other
forces and the possibility of reactionary efforts by the opposition. Marcos
also campaigned to discredit and reveal to the public the capitalist
attitude of the vast land-owning elites who he blamed for the countrys
stunted development. He strengthened the states rule by strengthening
himself and the technocrats at his side were aiming for a Philippines
geared towards development when the sweeping economic depression of
the time reached the emerging Philippine market. This preempted Marcos
from instituting an continuity of iron grip in government that could have
controlled the situation which in turn started the climate that ended in his
downfall from the presidency.
V.

Conclusion
Philippine politics is best studied in the light of its history and context.

Through this we will see the unique form and the dynamics that have
continuously played the central roles in the formation of the present
image of Philippine politics. The institutions, people and forces that form a
country are the same elements that influence its politics and how the
citizens think and behave.