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The Philippine Political Elites

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 The Philippine Political Elites

THE PHILIPPINE POLITICAL ELITES: ORIGINS AND BASES OF LEGITIMACY

AND THE QUESTION OF CLASSLESS SOCIETY

I. INTRODUCTION

This paper aims to provide an overview over the historical development of the political elites

as a class in the Philippine society, together with the bases why it continues to persist until today.

A case study over the political families who are considered to be political elites were also

provided, focusing on how they made an entry in the Philippine political scene, especially in the

government, and the patterns of behaviour, political decisions and/or bases of legitimacy that

persist among the different members of the said political families. An excursion over the concept

of classless society was also provided.

II. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

A. Political Elites

According to Georgi L. Manolov, political class or political elite is a group of people

which are directly (when they are entitled with authority) or indirectly (when they are in

opposition) engaged by power, making political decisions and governing the state. They possess

particular privileges and professional qualities, high personal incomes and good material state.

Moreover this class has a particular structure, specific contents and different layers. In summary,

these are people who possess such skill and power in terms of their social statuses. From Etzioni-

Halevy (1993) definition he stated that these are persons on top of the hierarchy and has the

ability to control society and authority resources. Thus, it can be inferred that political elite or

political class is a group of people that has skills and power to perform authority over a society.

Abad, I., Aquino, M. J., Bernardez, K., Cabie, C. F., & Caplis, R. M. Page 1
 The Philippine Political Elites

B. Origin of Political Elites in the Philippines

The Spanish colonial regime, to advance its rule employed the indigenous rulers1 as leaders

of the pueblos. With that, the Spanish rule was legitimized and the indigenous leaders were

accorded with enormous privileges that allowed them to amass land, leading to the formation a

class called principalia (Oliveros, Galvez, Estrella & Andaquig, 2007). With their wealth, they

were able to study and such led to the creation of group of intellectual elites that were referred to

as illustrados (Borbon & Battad, 2009). Arcilla (2006) inferred that the American regime in the

country that was formalized by the Treaty of Paris institutionalized the creation of a political

class in the country. It is because the American regime, through the property and educational

requirements imposed to the voters and to those who want to be voted upon, made the illustrados

rule in the country. Such was made to legitimize the American colonial rule through their

influence and prestige. With that, power was concentrated in a small number of people.

The Philippine Assembly was trumpeted by the Americans as its flagship program in

teaching the Filipinos to self- rule by having the members being directly elected, however by the

propertied and educated electorate. It comes as no surprise that the assemblymen came from

aristocratic families who were young, educated and idealist who were also once members or

descendants of the past principalia (Arcilla, 2006). With that, it can concluded that the

qualifications of a candidate were not the prime consideration in the vote rather it was the nature

of the link that held people together which mattered during elections, a behavior referred to as

parochialism (Lande, 1967).

Arcilla (2006) also said that on the said colonial rule policies created a social hierarchy made

up of three levels. Those on top were the ilustrados who are wealthy and property owners;

1
The term “indigenous rulers” refers to the datus and to the members of the maharlika (i.e., royalty) in the pre-
Hispanic times.
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 The Philippine Political Elites

second to them were middle class made up of teachers, clerks, writers and government

employees who urged continued resistance because they believed that they were capable of self-

rule and did not want another colonizer; and third are the poor which takes up the majority of the

population, who owns not a single property and the ones who cares less about issues unless it

affected them personally. Further, he claims that the American rule sowed the seeds of the

modern- day political dynasties because for long time, not until 1947, suffrage was limited to the

propertied, educated men and because property that allows one to have an access to education

was limited to them who were also in power people of one descent were being elected from one

election to another. The universal suffrage on 1947 came too late for the illustrados already

developed alliances that made entry in the political arena an impossible task for a non- illustrado

or a non-illustrado descendant.

These social changes were aggravated because the ruling Filipinos during those times

overlooked the resolving of the economic development as they fought for independence. Further,

because the same people who took advantage of the people during the Spanish colonization are

the same ones who were in office during the American period, having political position paved

the way of personal advancement and personal political power, neglecting public service

(Arcilla, 2006).

Such neglect of public service proliferated even in the proceeding lawmakers and political

leaders because they had not changed and still adapted the attitudes of their precursors - still

blinded by their desire personal gains rather than magnifying on public service (Arcilla 2006).

Arcilla (2006) also furthered that because the people involved in politics aimed to change the

government instead of having good governance, state of public service in the country is dismal.

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 The Philippine Political Elites

III. GENERAL SITUATIONER AND THE BASES OF LEGITIMACY ON THE

PERPETUATION OF POLITICAL ELITES IN THE PHILIPPINES

Majority of political elites basically came from families that actively pursue elective or

appointive office at the local or national level and has also managed to maintain it through

generations. These are new emerging families as well as old established families. It can also be

observed that most of these clans are political elites but are also economic elites and corporate

elites as they have control over industries and businesses in the country (Agence France-Presse,

2013).

According to Chua, Coronel, Cruz, and Rimban (2004), there are seven Ms that

contributes to the persistence of the political elites in the Philippine political scene. The seven

Ms are as follows:

Money. In the Philippines, a lot of money is needed to finance electoral campaigns and

other expenses that go with it, as evidenced by the advertisements, and in the practice of vote

buying. Most of these political elites are rich, owning many hectares of lands and the majority of

the stocks in the leading corporations in the country, with the Cojuangcos as an example.

Machine is the ability to mobilize people and resources in favor of a certain person or

candidate. These people work for another person in a higher rank of the hierarchy. They usually

move during elections to ensure votes.

Media. Media play a very significant role in the careers of political elites as the media

can make or break them. The media can play up a story in favor of the elite or against the elite.

They can portray the elite as some hero, thus, boosting the image of the clan. Also, some elites

marry celebrities thus also increasing their popularity. An example will be the marriage of Ralph

Recto to “Star for All Seasons,” Vilma Santos who is now serving as the Governor of Batangas.

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 The Philippine Political Elites

Marriage. Marriages among political elites or intermarriage with economic elites are

made to strengthen networks and expand the reach of their clans. Like in the medieval period

where marriages are used to unite kingdoms, marriages of the political elites are for merging

powerful clans for their own benefits. Famous marriages include the Romualdez-Marcos,

Cojuangco-Aquino and the Macapagal-Arroyo.

Murder and mayhem refers to the mobilization of guns and goons in a certain area to

inflict fear in a society and secure a more powerful person. This is what John Sidel (1997) speaks

to as bossism.

Another M is myth which can sustain elites for generations. It is employed to legitimize

the rule of the political elites and to make a lasting impression on the minds of the voting public.

An example of which is the myth that Marcos earned more than 20 medals for fighting against

the Japanese and that the Marcoses were able to have such gigantic amount of wealth due to the

fact the Ferdinand Marcos found the hidden treasures of General Yamashita.

And lastly, mergers of political elites with other influential clans and politicians expand

the reach of political elites, especially those running in the national level. The short lives of such

mergers vis-à-vis marriages can be explained by the fact the Filipino society is kin- based, where

mergers among interpersonal organization are of little value.2

2
This is another display of the parochial Filipino political culture (Lande, 1967).
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 The Philippine Political Elites

IV. CASE STUDIES ON THE PHILIPPINE POLITICAL ELITES3

A. Macapagal Family

The poor boy from Lubao, Pampanga: Diosdado Macapagal

The entry of the Macapagal family in the Philippine political scene was spearheaded by

Diosdado Macapagal. He is one of the four children of a peasant named Romana Pangan in her

marriage to Urbano Macapagal who is a vernacular playwright. Hailing from San Nicolas,

Lubao, Pampanga, he belongs to a poor family as evidenced by the anecdotes that they are

lacking food often that may be aggravated by the fact that his father has a mistress in Tarlac.

Amidst the hardships he faced, he managed to graduate as a valedictorian in his elementary

grade. He placed fourth in the secondary school4. He took up a two- year pre- law course in the

University of the Philippines College of Liberal Arts. However, being a working student took a

toll on his health, collapsing one day due to undernourishment. Such fateful event made the head

of the UP Infirmary advice him not to work and study at the same time. With this, Macapagal

decided to quit studying and his job altogether and return to Pampanga. After a year, he enrolled

at Philippine Law School and simultaneously continued to fulfil the requirements of his

Associate in Arts degree in UP. He benefited from the support of Honorio Ventura, a

philanthropist, who recommended to Macapagal that he transfer to University of Santo Tomas,

where Macapagal finished his degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1936. He passed the bar as the

topnotcher on the same year. In his private practice of law, he established his own law firm on

1954. In this early phase of his career that he married Purita dela Rosa, giving birth to Cielo and

3
Families were the subject of the study and not individual persons, institutions nor social groups because it is
considered that the family is the basic unit of a Filipino society and that Filipinos are kin- based, family oriented
people.
4
Other authors claim that Macapagal must have been the Salutatorian of their batch if his History teacher did not
altered his grade in favour of a classmate who happens to be a nephew of one of the faculty members of the said
school (Serrano, 2005).
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 The Philippine Political Elites

Arturo. Dela Rosa died in 1943, attributed to the scarcity of medical services and supplies during

the Japanese interregnum. Afterwards, he married Evelina Macaraeg, a doctor of medicine and

the mother of Gloria and Diosdado, Jr., on 1946 (Serrano, 2005 and Reynolds & Bocca, 1965).

Ascent to power

His brilliance, as well as his stellar performance in the bar served as his passport to the

government. His first government position is by being a legal assistant of President Manuel

Quezon. This was interrupted by the Second World War. After which, he worked as the chief of

the Law Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1947 (Serranp, 2005). He was

described as a man who “will go far, he is not the kind who will cling to his position at any cost”

(Gil as quoted by Serrano, 2005: 23). He then served as the second secretary of the Philippine

Embassy in Washington, DC. Further, he served as the Chief Negotiator of the transfer of the

Great Britain of the Turtle Islands back to the country after a period of lease in 1949 (Reynolds

& Bocca, 1965). He formally entered the politics when the Liberal Party summoned him home to

run as a Congressman in the First District of Pampanga in 1950 (Serrano, 2005). He ran for the

second term on 1953 and he won again. It was he who fought for the restoration of the Philippine

ownership of North Borneo (Reynolds & Bocca, 1965). However, he failed in his bid to the

senate in 1955 (Serrano, 2005). When he became the Vice President in 1957, he was deprived of

any Cabinet post by then President Carlos Garcia. With that, Macapagal invested his energy in

touring the country and in strengthening the Liberal Party. In the presidential elections in 1961,

he stood against Roxas. With funding as his basic problem, Macapagal appeared easy to defeat.

However, the Ayalas, Sorianos and Elizaldes, then the top business families of the country came

with generous financial support. The United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) also

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 The Philippine Political Elites

backed up his bid5. With that, he won the Philippine presidential elections and was sworn in as

the President of the Republic on December 31, 1961 (Serrano, 2005). In his term, he was

described as a man of honesty, integrity and delicadeza (Reynolds & Bocca, 1965). He

strengthened the Philippine- American diplomatic ties. He launched the decontrol program where

the exchange rate of the Philippine peso was allowed to float6. This led to the increase in prices

and smuggling to the country. To promote Philippine tourism, he advocated for heavy

government expenditure on infrastructures. Furthermore, he advocated the distribution of large

landholdings to the tenants. Such advocacy led to the fact that he lost support from the wealthy

landowners in Central Luzon. However, his actions were severely limited by the fact that his

party is not the ruling party in the both houses of the Congress (Serrano, 2005). His integrity was

also questioned when he deported Harry Stonehill and his purported cohorts in bribing the

government officials to expand his business empire in the middle of trial made by the Senate

Blue Ribbon Committee for such deprived the Committee of its right to deduce more information

from Stonehill. Stonehill is one of the most generous supporters of his campaign (Serrano, 2005).

He was also keen in appointing his kabalens and his close associates as members of the Cabinet.

Descendants to power

After losing the 1965 Presidential elections to Ferdinand Marcos, Macapagal retired

peacefully. His last political stint was when he headed the 1971 Constitutional Convention.

Among his children, his two daughters mastered entered the political arena. Cielo Macapagal

worked in the Philippine National Bank starting 1966, where she became vice president until

1987. The following year, she ran and won as vice governor (1988- 1992). In 1992, she ran for

governorship but failed. She ran again on 1995 and won as vice governor. After her term in

5
Macapagal served as a CIA agent (Serrano, 2005).
6
“Float” in economic lingo means that the exchange rates are determined by the demand and supply for domestic
and foreign currency.
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 The Philippine Political Elites

1998, she gave up her political career and returned to PNB as a member of its Board of Directors

(Serrano, 2005).

The case of then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is quite similar to his father. She

was appointed by then President Corazon Aquino as undersecretary of the Department of Trade

and Industry and executive director of the Garments and Textile Export Board. In 1992, she ran

successfully as a senator, a feat that her father failed to reach, and was re-elected in 1995. She

also served as the vice president of then President Joseph Estrada in 1998, and was accorded

with the position of being the secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

She was swept into presidency through the EDSA II on January 25, 2001 (Serrano, 2005).

Patterns and Discontinuities

Just like her father, Macapagal- Arroyo made bold economic actions that increased the

prices of commodities, with the claim that such will benefit the nation in the long run.7 One of

which is the Expanded Value Added Tax law that imposed a 12% value added tax. She also

pushed for heavy government infrastructure expenditure. In her term, the Philippine- United

States ties were strengthened. Over- all, she re- echoes her father’s cries to bridge the gap

between the poor and the rich. Both of them sought to legitimize or to strengthen their political

clout by machinery as evidenced by their appointments of close associates in the strategic

positions in the government.8 However, unlike her father, she enjoys the support of the Congress,

as evidenced by the thwarted impeachment complaints against her. More importantly, while her

father is trumpeted as the “Macapagal: The Incorruptible,” with the current Philippine political

7
It can be noted that both Macapagal and Macapagal- Arroyo are holders of PhD degrees in Economics from the
University of the Philippines.
8
Gloria Arroyo made such through the celebrated appointment of Renato Corona to as the Supreme Court Chief
Justice.
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 The Philippine Political Elites

landscape, the name Gloria Macapagal Arroyo shall linger in the minds of the Filipino people as

the arch- nemesis of transparency and good governance.

B. Aquino Family

Like the Cojuangcos, the Aquinos were a wealthy owner of a sugar plantation in Concepcion,

Tarlac. Often, business, politics or provincial celebrations would bring the two families together.

The Aquinos and the Cojuangcos both have wealth, privilege and power in common (White,

1989).

General Servillano Aquino, the grandfather of Benigno, Jr. or Ninoy, is a member of the

secret Katipunan society and was appointed military governor of Tarlac after the Spanish

occupation by the First Philippine Republic. During the American occupation, General Aquino

was appointed by then President Emilio Aguinaldo to be a general in the resistance of the

Filipinos against the Americans. In September, 1900, he surrendered and was imprisoned. He

stayed in prison until 1904, when he was granted amnesty by President Theodore Roosevelt

(White, 1989).

Benigno Aquino, Sr., son of General Aquino was first elected as the deputy from Tarlac in

the Philippine Assembly during the American occupation. He was an orator and a debater.
9
Benigno Aquino, Sr. was considered to be the most powerful man in Filipino politics by 1983

(White, 1989).

Benigno Aquino, Jr. popularly known as Ninoy was married to a scion of the rich Cojuangco

clan, Corazon, in 1954.10 On 1955, Ninoy was elected as the youngest mayor of Concepcion,

9
Benigno, Sr., is also considered as the first Campaign Manager of Partido Nacionalista.
10
Philippine Centre for Investigative Journalism puts it this way: “In medieval times, marriages were used to
consolidate kingdoms and expand empires. In the same way, political marriages consolidate political networks and
expand the reach of clans. The marriage of Benigno Aquino Jr. and Corazon Cojuangco in 1954 united two of the
most powerful political clans in Tarlac” (http://pcij.org/stories/the-seven-ms-of-dynasty-building/).

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 The Philippine Political Elites

Tarlac at the age of 22. He was then elected as the youngest Vice-Governor of the province by

year 1959 and became the Governor two years later. He also became the youngest senator in

Philippine history at the age of 34, year 1967 (http://www.ninoyaquino.ph/about-ninoy-

timeline.html). The President of the Philippines during that time, Ferdinand Marcos, declared

Martial Law on September 21, 1972. He had Ninoy imprisoned the next day. However, Ninoy

suffered a heart attack and was allowed by Marcos to fly to the United States for a bypass

surgery. In 1983, he was determined to return to the Philippines. He was shot to the ground as he

exited the plane on August 21, 1983 (http://www.ninoyaquino.ph/fight-for-freedom.html).

This pushed Corazon Aquino to run for President against Ferdinand Marcos on the 1986

Snap Elections. The allegations of widespread cheating, with the defection of the military from

Marcos, the People Power Revolution in 1986 forced the Marcoses to depart from the country.

As a result, Corazon Aquino became the first female president of the Republic.

The story of Ninoy and Cory Aquino were imprinted in the hearts of the Filipinos through the

different media outfits. After the death of Cory in 2009, Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino, their only

son, ran for presidency during the May 2010 Elections. During his 2010 campaign, he was

hounded by the demands for the controversy concerning the distribution of the Hacienda Luisita

(http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/190457/news/specialreports/in-the-age-of-ninoy-and-

cory-being-noynoy-aquino-is-not-easy). Since Kris Aquino, her sister was on his side and is

considered as the “Queen of All Media,” Noynoy Aquino still gained the massive support of the

people despite the issues being thrown to him through the influence, charisma and followership

of Kris. Thus, it can be established that the pattern of the two Aquinos who made it in the highest

office in the land is that they are both heavily dependent in the media and on the myth that the

Aquinos are freedom fighters and the superheroes- Cory as the “Superwoman” against the

Marcos Dictatorship and Nonoy as the “Superman” against a corrupt Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
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 The Philippine Political Elites

to legitimize their existence. This phenomenon is being referred by Brilliantes (n.d.) as the “de-

institutionalization” of the Office of the Philippine Presidency. De- institutionalization happens

when the person in the Office is already stronger than the Office, such that the legitimacy of his/

her rule is derived from his/her person and not from the institution.

V. CLASSLESS SOCIETY

In the Philippines, classes and strata can be defined as the large group of people differing

from each other by four qualifications, namely: (a) “the place they occupy in a historically

determined system of social production,” (b) “their relation to (ownership and non-ownership of)

the means of production,” (c) “their role in the social organization of labor” which talks of the

hierarchical body of the actual production and (d) “by the dimensions of the share of social

wealth of which they dispose and the mode of acquiring it” (Guerrero, 1970: p.79).

According to The Philippine Society and Revolution, the Philippine society is made up of

four major classes and strata. These are the Landlord class, the Bourgeoisie, the Peasantry and

the Proletariat. The landlords are those that own and control vast lands but never work on it. This

class can be divided into categories, depending on the amount of land they own and the political

power they hold. Next, the Bourgeoisie class which is also called the middlemen. The

bourgeoisie class can be further divided. The Comprador Big Bourgeoisie is made up of the big

exporters of raw materials use for production outside the country. National Bourgeoisie and/or

middle bourgeoisie on the other hand are businessmen in town and country who pushes forward

“nationalist industrialization” through strengthening local industries. The Petty bourgeoisie is the

vast majority of intelligentsia like teachers, professionals, students and youth who has the

smallest amount of property among the bourgeoisie class. The next class is the peasantry made

up of those who actually work on the farm and fields of the landlord class. They can be

categorized as rich peasants who work at their own farm, middle peasants who own only a part
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 The Philippine Political Elites

of the land they work on, and poor peasants who work at the land they do not own. The last

classification of class (at least in the Philippine context) is the Proletariat or the working class.

They are also called the industrial workers because they work inside the factories. They live

entirely from the sale of their labor and skills and do not draw profit from any kind of capital

(Guerrero, 1970: p. 79-87).

Basically, this social stratification boils down to the antagonism between the ruled and

the ruler, the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, the oppressed and the oppressor which moved the

history to endless class conflicts and struggle. With the premise that the existence of class only

heightens the antagonistic relations of men, classless society aims to abolish the idea of private

ownership, along with the idea of individualism and all the classes that ever existed. In theory,

production, means of commerce and exchange and distribution of products will be taken away

from the hands of capitalists, thus overproduction will not happen anymore because workers will

only produce what is only the need of the people. In agriculture, since private ownership is

completely abolished, farmers can freely work without the pressure of their landlords; thus could

be more productive. Hostile contradictions between classes will no longer be necessary. The

essence of class originated from division of labor which only entitles workers to master part of

the product they were putting together. In a classless society, workers would not be alienated

from their product since everyone will be encouraged to appreciate production in its entirety. The

difference between city and country will disappear. The management of agriculture and industry

will not be managed by two different classes but by same people since distinction between

classes has vanished (https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1847/11/prin-com.htm).

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 The Philippine Political Elites

VI. CONCLUSION

Using the framework imposed by Carl Lande, Philippine politics is characterized by

relationships of power- wielding patrons and dependent clients. In this study, it was stated that

these power- wielding patrons are the Philippine political elites. The persistence of the Philippine

political elites was made possible through legal means that disenfranchised most of the Filipinos

from participating in the system. The political elites buttressed their hold of power by money,

marriages, media manipulation, mergers, murders and mayhems and political machineries,

making them an enduring feature of the Philippine political landscape. Undeniably, this structure

promoted lack of accountability in the public service and poverty. The proponents of classless

society argue that in a classless society, the mentioned problems caused by the existence of

political elites will be eradicated.

The existence of political elites in a society, especially in the Philippine polity, is an

inevitable fact stemming from the Philippine culture that is particularistic- it demands a specific,

concrete leader who will provide their need, and that Filipinos tend to attribute certain qualities

to a certain group of people. This inevitable fact is also desirable for the political elites provide

leadership, and without leadership, a polity will vanish, especially in the Philippines that has a

tradition of having a strong leader to keep the country intact (Agpalo, 1981). What is essential is

that electorate must be equipped through education so that one can more actively participate in

the discussion of the public policies to the end that the entry to the Philippine political elite is

through an honest election and that the Philippine political elites are held accountable by the

people through swift yet just Constitutional means.

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 The Philippine Political Elites

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books

Borbon, A., & Battad, T. (2009). The Philippines and the modern world. Makati City:

Bookmark.

Chua, Y., Coronel, S., Cruz, B., & Rimban, L. (2004). The rulemakers: How the wealthy and

well-born dominate Congress. Quezon City: Philippine Center for Investigative

Journalism.

Guerrero, A. (1970). Philippine Society and Revolution.

Oliveros, R., Galvez, M. C., Estrella, Y., & J. P. Andaquig. (2007). Ang Kasaysayan at

Pamahalaan ng Pilipinas. Quezon City: Ibon Books.

Reynolds, Q., & Bocca, G. (1965). Macapagal: The incorruptible. New York, USA: David

McKay Co.

Serrano, C. (2005). Beating the odds: The life, the times and the politics of Diosdado Macapagal.

Quezon City: New Day Publishers.

White, M. (1989). Aquino. United States of America.

Websites

Agence France-Presse. (2013). Philippines’ elite swallow country’s new wealth. Retrieved from

http://business.inquirer.net/110413/philippines-elite-swallow-countrys-new-wealth

Aquino, N. (2014, March 10). Retrieved from http://www.ninoyaquino.ph/

Engels, M. (1847). Retrieved from https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1847/11/prin-

com.htm

Sisante, J. (2010, May 9). In the age of Ninoy and Cory, being Noynoy Aquino is not easy. GMA

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News [Online]. Retrieved from http://gmanetwork.com

Journals

Agpalo, R. (1981). The Philippines: From communal to societal pangulo regime. Philippine

Law Journal.

Arcilla, J. (2006). The origin of the Philippine political elite. Illes i imperis. (8), 133- 144.

Lande, C. (1967). The Philippine political party system. Southeast Asian History Journal, (5),

19- 27.

Sidel, J. (1997). The Philippine politics in town, district and province: Bossism in Cavite and

Cebu. Journal of Asian Studies, 56 (4), 947- 966.

Abad, I., Aquino, M. J., Bernardez, K., Cabie, C. F., & Caplis, R. M. Page 16

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