The proprietary presidency and the limits of Philippine democracy
Antoinette Raquiza
16 March 2005
Three years under Arroyo have institutionalized personalistic rule and eroded the democratic system of checks and balances that constrains the abuse of power.... Indeed, the emerging highly centralized, personalistic rule has more in common with constitutional authoritarianism than the administration will admit.
The lost hope for a strong republic
Randy David for the Inquirer News Service
In a modern state, the president of the country does not possess authority in her own right. Her powers come from the office. The resources she gives away do not personally belong to her. The citizens do not receive the benefits that come their way as private favors but as entitlements under a system of law defining the relationship between public authorities and citizens. In our system of government, we have a term for the private appropriation of the powers inherent in a public office: corruption.
Unmasking a privatized government
Felipe Miranda for the Philippine Star
How is a privatized government to be unmasked in this country? Certainly not by the constitutional and legal agencies that are now formally tasked to expose this particular political anomaly. So far, all our constitutions and laws have failed to endow the political system with requisite transparency to prevent national plunder from being perpetrated. The main reason has to be that far too many Filipinos continue to mistake for a democratic polity what legal rhetorical veils have so successfully masked--an enduring oligarchy.
Powerless
Luis Teodoro for TODAY
The irony is that, for all the emphasis on the 'strong Republic' and the general perception that the presidency is on top of everything, there are indications that it's losing its grip on many institutions.
Alternatives to a dysfunctional government
Randy David for the Inquirer News Service
28 November 2004
Our problem is not that the presidency lacks powers. Our problem is that we have an incumbent who cannot exercise the powers inherent in the office. This situation arises from the deeply flawed manner by which Ms. Arroyo rose to the presidency in 2001 and 2004.
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