View source for Politics of the Philippines

{{Short description|none}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] -->
{{good article}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox political system
| name                     = Politics of Republic of the Philippines
| native_name              = Politika ng Pilipinas
| image                    = Coat of arms of the Philippines.svg
| image_size               =
| government               = [[Unitary state|Unitary]] [[Presidential system|presidential]] [[republic]]
| constitution             = [[Constitution of the Philippines]]
| dissolution              =
| website                  = {{url|www.gov.ph}}
| legislature              = [[Congress of the Philippines|Congress]]
| legislature_type         = [[Bicameral]]
| legislature_place        = *[[Senate of the Philippines|Senate]]: [[GSIS Building]]
* [[House of Representatives of the Philippines|House of Representatives]]: [[Batasang Pambansa Complex|Batasang Pambansa]]
| upperhouse               = [[Senate of the Philippines|Senate]]
| upperhouse_speaker       = [[Tito Sotto]]
| upperhouse_speaker_title = [[President of the Senate of the Philippines|Senate President]]
| upperhouse_appointer     = [[Plurality-at-large voting]]
| lowerhouse               = [[House of Representatives of the Philippines|House of Representatives]]
| lowerhouse_speaker       = [[Bojie Dy]]
| lowerhouse_speaker_title = [[Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines|Speaker of the House of Representatives]]
| lowerhouse_appointer     = [[Parallel voting]]
| title_hosag              = [[President of the Philippines|President]]
| current_hosag            = [[Bongbong Marcos]]
| appointer_hosag          = [[Direct election|Direct popular vote]]
| cabinet                  = [[Executive departments of the Philippines]]
| current_cabinet          = [[Cabinet of Bongbong Marcos]]
| cabinet_leader           =
| cabinet_deputyleader     =
| cabinet_appointer        = nominated by the President and presented to the [[Commission on Appointments]]
| cabinet_hq               = [[Malacañang Palace]]
| cabinet_ministries       = [[Executive departments of the Philippines|22]]
| judiciary                = [[#Judiciary|Judiciary of the Philippines]]
| judiciary_head           =
| courts                   =
| court                    = [[Supreme Court of the Philippines|Supreme Court]]
| chief_judge              = [[Alexander Gesmundo]]
| court_seat               = Supreme Court Building<br />[[Padre Faura Street|Padre Faura St.]], [[Ermita]], [[Manila]]
}}

'''Politics in the Philippines''' are governed by a [[Separation of powers|three-branch system]] of government. The country is a [[democracy]], with a [[President of the Philippines|president]] who is directly [[Elections in the Philippines|elected]] by the people and serves as both the [[head of state]] and the [[head of government]]. The president serves as the leader of the executive branch and is a powerful political figure. A president may only hold office for one six-year term. The bicameral [[Congress of the Philippines|Congress]] consists of two separate bodies: the [[Senate of the Philippines|Senate]], with members elected at-large across the country, and the larger [[House of Representatives of the Philippines|House of Representatives]], with members chosen mostly from specific geographic districts. The Congress performs legislative functions. The [[Judiciary of the Philippines|judiciary]] is overseen by the [[Supreme Court of the Philippines]] and has extensive [[Judicial review|review]] jurisdiction over judgments issued by other governmental and administrative institutions.

The legal system, which covers both civil and criminal law, has been impacted by the prior rule of both Spain and the United States. Spanish control was mostly supported by local intermediaries, which resulted in an elite-dominated system. The United States took sovereignty of the whole archipelago following the [[Spanish–American War|Spanish–American war]], [[Philippine–American War|suppressing]] the nascent [[First Philippine Republic]] that had been declared after the end of Spanish administration. Control by the United States resulted in democracy and institutions that were fashioned after the American political system. Martial law's implementation hampered this. National politics were ruled by a two-party system when the country attained independence in 1946 and changes brought about by the restoration of democracy are what led to the multi-party system that exists today. There have been various levels of left-wing insurgencies since independence, as well as a continuous Islamic insurgency.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}

[[Elections in the Philippines|Elections]] are held every three years, although the president, vice-president, and Senators are elected for six-year terms. Results are determined through [[plurality voting]], including [[Multiple non-transferable vote|plurality-at-large]] for elections (such as for the Senate) with multiple winners. A [[mixed-member proportional representation]] system is used to elect a minority of the House of Representatives. [[Local government units]] have some revenue-generating powers, under a code intended to decentralize power away from the national government. Administrative structures at local levels are designed to foster [[civil society]] participation.

Politics is dominated by a powerful elite, with [[Political dynasties in the Philippines|dynastic politics]] common at both the local and national levels. Political parties are weak, with elections instead dominated by individual and familial personalities. Political positions provide extensive opportunities for patronage, and [[clientelism]] and electoral fraud are common. [[Corruption in the Philippines|Corruption]] is considered widespread, while state institutions are relatively weak. Politics has been heavily influenced at times by the [[Catholic Church in the Philippines|Catholic Church]], the [[Armed Forces of the Philippines|Philippine military]], and the United States. Despite pessimism about the potential for political change, democracy maintains strong public support, and voter turnout is high.

== Executive ==
{{Main|President of the Philippines}}
{{See also|Vice President of the Philippines|Cabinet of the Philippines|Executive departments of the Philippines}}
[[Executive power]] is vested to the [[President of the Philippines|president]],<ref name="Rose-Ackerman">{{cite journal |last1=Rose-Ackerman |first1=Susan |last2=Desierto |first2=Diane A. |last3=Volosin |first3=Natalia |title=Hyper-Presidentialism: Separation of Powers without Checks and Balances in Argentina and Philippines |journal=Berkeley Journal of International Law |date=2011 |volume=29 |pages=246–333 |url=https://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5170&context=fss_papers |access-date=November 20, 2020|doi=10.15779/Z38XW8H|doi-access=free}}</ref>{{rp|254}} who is both [[head of state]] and [[head of government]].<ref name="Banlaoi">{{cite book |last1=Banlaoi |first1=Rommel |title=Philippine Security in the Age of Terror: National, Regional, and Global Challenges in the Post-9/11 World |date=13 October 2009 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-1-4398-1551-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hi_NBQAAQBAJ |access-date=December 7, 2020}}</ref>{{rp|31}} This individual is directly elected to a six-year term through a single-round [[first past the post]] election,<ref name="TeehankeeThompson">{{cite journal |last1=Teehankee |first1=Julio C. |last2=Thompson |first2=Mark R. |title=The Vote in the Philippines: Electing A Strongman |journal=Journal of Democracy |date=October 2016 |volume=27 |issue=4 |pages=124–134 |doi=10.1353/jod.2016.0068 |url=https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/the-vote-in-the-philippines-electing-a-strongman/ |access-date=November 19, 2020|url-access=subscription }}</ref> and being limited to one term are unable to seek re-election.<ref name="Rose-Ackerman"/>{{rp|254}} To be eligible for the presidency, an individual must be at least 40 years old, and must have resided in the Philippines for the decade prior to the election. Presidents may legislate through executive orders and other administrative actions, and must approve or veto bills coming from the Congress.<ref name="Rappler20210427">{{cite news |url=https://www.rappler.com/nation/elections/president-vp-philippines-powers-duties |title=Powers and Duties: President, Vice President of the Philippines |work=Rappler |date=April 27, 2021 |access-date=May 2, 2021}}</ref>

[[File:Malacañang Palace (local img).jpg|thumb|left|The [[Malacañang Palace]] is the official residence of the president.]]

The [[Vice President of the Philippines|vice president]], limited to two consecutive six-year terms, is elected separately from the president.<ref name="Lazo">{{cite book |last1=Lazo |first1=Ricardo S. |title=Philippine Governance and the 1987 Constitution |date=2009 |publisher=Rex Bookstore, Inc. |isbn=978-971-23-4546-3 |edition=2006 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fMszAErMRKYC}}</ref>{{rp|201}} This means the president and vice president may be from different political parties.<ref name="TeehankeeThompson"/> While the vice president has no constitutional powers aside from acting as president when the latter is unable to do so, the president may give the former a cabinet office.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/philippines-vice-president-duties-leni-robredo |title=Spare tire or not? The role of the Philippine vice president |last=Gavilan |first=Jodesz |work=Rappler |date=June 3, 2016 |access-date=August 23, 2020}}</ref> In case of death, resignation, or incapacitation, of the president, the vice president becomes the president until the expiration of the term.<ref name="Lazo"/>{{rp|207}} The vice president may also serve as Acting President if the president is temporarily incapacitated.<ref name="Lazo"/>{{rp|206}} Following in the line of succession are the Senate president and the Speaker of the House.<ref name="Rappler20210427"/>

Executive power is exercised through the [[Cabinet of the Philippines|Cabinet]],<ref name="Lazo"/>{{rp|214}} who are appointed by the president. While the appointees may wield executive power, all powers and responsibilities ultimately remain with the president, who may overrule any decision made by a cabinet member. The Cabinet includes the heads of [[Executive departments of the Philippines|executive departments]].<ref name="Lazo"/>{{rp|213}} Actions taken by executive and administrative officials are taken as actions exercised by the president.<ref name="Bernas">{{cite book |last1=Bernas |first1=Joaquin G. |title=A Living Constitution: The Abbreviated Estrada Presidency |date=2003 |publisher=Ateneo University Press |isbn=978-971-550-433-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qWG8WV1xH4wC}}</ref>{{rp|23–24}} Cabinet members may not be members of Congress.<ref name="Lazo"/>{{rp|385}} Close relatives of the president are explicitly barred from certain offices.<ref name="Lazo"/>{{rp|205}}

The president is also the [[commander in chief]] of the [[Armed Forces of the Philippines]],<ref name="Rose-Ackerman"/>{{rp|265}} thereby ensuring civilian supremacy over the military.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hernandez |first1=Carolina G |title=The Philippine military and civilian control: Under Marcos and beyond |journal=Third World Quarterly |date=1985 |volume=7 |issue=4 |pages=910–912 |doi=10.1080/01436598508419874 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01436598508419874?journalCode=ctwq20 |access-date=December 3, 2020|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="Whither">{{cite book |last1=Hernandez |first1=Carolina G. |editor1-last=Severino |editor1-first=Rodolfo C |editor2-last=Salazar |editor2-first=Lorraine Carlos |title=Whither the Philippines in the 21st Century? |date=2007 |publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies |isbn=978-981-230-499-5 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FNFh114RQv8C&pg=PA78 |chapter=The Military in Philippine Politics: Retrospect and Prospects}}</ref>{{rp|80}} This title gives the president several emergency military powers,<ref name="Rose-Ackerman"/>{{rp|266–267}} such as the ability to suspend [[habeas corpus]] and declare martial law,<ref name="Abinales2005"/>{{rp|234}} although these powers automatically end after 60 days unless extended by Congress,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.rappler.com/nation/congress-extend-martial-law-december |title=Congress extends martial law to December 31 |last=Cepeda |first=Mara |work=Rappler |date=July 22, 2017 |access-date=December 22, 2020}}</ref> and can be reviewed by the Supreme Court.<ref name="ChasingtheWind">{{cite book |last1=Miranda |first1=Felipe B. |last2=Rivera |first2=Temario C. |last3=Ronas |first3=Malaya C. |last4=Holmes |first4=Ronald D. |title=Chasing the Wind Assessing Philippine Democracy |date=2011 |publisher=Commission on Human Rights, Philippines |location=Quezon City |isbn=978-971-93106-4-8 |url=https://www.ombudsman.gov.ph/UNDP4/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/DEMOCRACY-with-INDEX-LAYOUT-JAN-04-2012.pdf |access-date=December 5, 2020 |archive-date=May 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509112233/https://www.ombudsman.gov.ph/UNDP4/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/DEMOCRACY-with-INDEX-LAYOUT-JAN-04-2012.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{rp|112}} The president also proposes a national budget, which Congress may alter before they adopt it.<ref name="Rose-Ackerman"/>{{rp|282}}

The president wields significant political power, including [[Padrino System|considerable influence]] over supposedly independent agencies due to the power of appointment.<ref name="Rose-Ackerman"/>{{rp|286}} The president directly controlled the Philippine Development Assistance Fund until the Supreme Court declared this unconstitutional in 2013. Following this, the Disbursement Acceleration Program was created to allow the president to direct funds, although some parts of this new program have similarly been declared unconstitutional. Such influence means that the legislature has never overcome a presidential veto, despite having the theoretical power to do so. A commission on appointments, independent from the legislature but made up of members from it, has the power to veto presidential appointments. However, court rulings mean the president can renominate an individual repeatedly upon rejection, and that that individual can effectively carry out the role by being officially in an acting capacity.<ref name="Relacion">{{cite journal |last1=Relacion |first1=April Farell M. |last2=Magalzo |first2=Grace C. |title=System of Checks and Balances in the Philippine Presidential Form of Government |journal=Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies |date=2014 |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=39–65 |doi=10.7828/JMDS.V4I1.632 |s2cid=154463227 }}</ref> The strength of the presidency combined with weak state institutions exacerbates [[Corruption in the Philippines|corruption in the country]].<ref name="Banlaoi"/>{{rp|31}}

Under the 1987 constitution, the House of Representatives has the power to impeach the president through a vote of one-third of its members, and the Senate decides upon the case. Impeachment proceedings against an individual can not occur more than once per year, which can be abused through the filing cases with weak impeachment claims to forestall the filing of stronger cases. President [[Joseph Estrada]] was the first Asian head of state to be tried following impeachment, although he was not ousted by the Senate. No president has ever been ousted through impeachment.<ref name="Relacion"/>

== Legislature ==
{{main|Congress of the Philippines}}
{{see also|Senate of the Philippines|House of Representatives of the Philippines}}
[[Congress of the Philippines|Congress]] is a [[bicameral]] legislature. The [[upper house]], the [[Senate of the Philippines|Senate]], is composed of 24 senators. These are elected through [[plurality-at-large voting]], with the entire country considered a [[at-large|single district]].<ref name="Carter2010">{{cite web |url=https://www.cartercenter.org/resources/pdfs/news/peace_publications/election_reports/philippines-may%202010-elections-finalrpt.pdf |title=Carter Center Limited Mission to the May 2010 Elections in the Philippines Final Report |publisher=The Carter Center |access-date=August 24, 2020}}</ref> The senators elect amongst themselves a [[President of the Senate of the Philippines|Senate President]].<ref name="Lazo"/>{{rp|159}} Half of the Senate seats are contested every three years,<ref name="Carter2010"/> and senators are limited to serving a maximum of two consecutive six-year terms.<ref name="Teehankee2017"/>

The [[lower house]] is the [[House of Representatives of the Philippines|House of Representatives]],<ref name="Lazo"/>{{rp|163}} currently composed of 311 representatives,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.congress.gov.ph/members/ |title=House Members |publisher=House of Representatives |access-date=August 20, 2022}}</ref> with 20% elected via [[Sectoral representation in the House of Representatives of the Philippines|party-list system]], and the rest elected from [[Legislative districts of the Philippines|legislative districts]]. Legislative districts are intended to be roughly equal in population, and every city with a population of at least 250,000 people is guaranteed at least one representative.<ref name="Lazo"/>{{rp|162–163}} The House of Representatives is headed by the [[Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines|Speaker]].<ref name="Lazo"/>{{rp|159}} Representatives are elected every three years, and are limited to three three-year terms.<ref name="Carter2010"/>

[[File:2011 Philippine State of the Nation Address.jpg|thumb|left|2011 [[State of the Nation Address (Philippines)|State of the Nation Address]] by [[Benigno Aquino III]]]]

Each [[bill (proposed law)|bill]] needs the consent of both houses to be submitted to the president for his signature. If the president [[veto]]es the bill, Congress can override the veto with a two-thirds [[supermajority]].<ref name="Lazo"/>{{rp|180}} If either house voted down on a bill or fails to act on it after an [[adjournment sine die|adjournment ''sine die'']], the bill is lost and would have to be proposed to the next congress, with the process starting all over again. Congress's decisions are mostly via [[majority vote]], except for voting on constitutional amendments and other matters. Each house has its inherent power, with the Senate given the power to vote on treaties, while [[money bill]]s may only be introduced by the House of Representatives.{{sfn|Philippine Constitution|1987|loc=Article VI § 24|ps=.}} The constitution provides Congress with [[Impeachment in the Philippines|impeachment powers]], with the House of Representatives having the power to impeach, and the Senate having the power to try the impeached official.<ref name="Lazo"/>{{rp|433}}

The control the legislature has over funding includes individual [[Discretionary spending|discretionary funds]]. These funds are considered an avenue for patronage politics<ref name="Abinales2005"/>{{rp|235}} and are often seen a symbol of corruption. They are derogatorily referred to as "[[pork barrel]]" funds.<ref name="Abinales2005"/>{{rp|284–285}} In addition to being able to use such funds to curry favor or gain support, politicians can personally benefit from [[Kickback (bribery)|kickbacks]], which are often directly used for re-election campaigns.<ref name="You5"/>{{rp|102–103}}
The [[Priority Development Assistance Fund scam]] highlighted the link between such funding and legislative support for executive initiatives.<ref name="DeinlaThompson"/>{{rp|44–45}}

{{as of|2019<!-- date on the latest cited source-->}}, the [[PDP-LABAN]], the [[Nacionalista Party]] (NP), the [[Nationalist People's Coalition]] (NPC), [[National Unity Party (Philippines)|National Unity Party]] (NUP), and the [[Liberal Party (Philippines)|Liberal Party]] (LP) are the parties with largest membership in Congress.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bueza |first1=Michael |title=18th Congress, by the numbers |url=https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/numbers-composition-18th-congress-philippines |access-date=29 May 2021 |work=Rappler |date=2 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210529042111/https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/numbers-composition-18th-congress-philippines |archive-date=29 May 2021 |language=en |quote=PDP-Laban also has the biggest contingent in the House, with 84 members, according to their candidacy forms when they ran in the 2019 polls. NP has 42 House members, followed by NPC with 36 members, and National Unity Party with 25 members. ... LP only has 18 members in the House.}}</ref> The [[ruling party|party of the sitting president]] controls the House of Representatives, where members often [[Party switching|change party affiliation]] to join the president's party. The Senate has generally acted more independently.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bueza |first1=Michael |title=Midterm exodus: When political butterflies switch party alliances |url=https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/in-depth/when-political-butterflies-switch-party-alliance |access-date=25 May 2021 |work=Rappler |date=11 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200722050732/https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/in-depth/when-political-butterflies-switch-party-alliance |archive-date=22 July 2020 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Teehankee-2020">{{cite journal |last1=Teehankee |first1=Julio Cabral |title=Factional Dynamics in Philippine Party Politics, 1900–2019 |journal=Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs |date=April 2020 |volume=39 |issue=1 |page=110 |doi=10.1177/1868103420913404 |language=en |issn=1868-1034|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="DeinlaIntroduction"/>{{rp|13–16}}

== Judiciary ==
{{Main|Judiciary of the Philippines}}
[[File:Supreme Court in Manila.JPG|right|thumb|[[Supreme Court of the Philippines]]]]

The judiciary is headed by the [[Supreme Court of the Philippines|Supreme Court]], which lies at the top of three lower court levels. The Supreme Court is the court of last resort,<ref name="Pangalangan">{{cite journal |editor1-last=Pangalangan |editor1-first=Raul C. |title=The Philippine Judicial System |date=March 2001 |url=https://aboutphilippines.org/doc-pdf-ppt-etc/05_Philippine-Judicial-System.pdf |journal=Asian Law Series |publisher=Institute of Developing Economies |archive-date=March 5, 2021 |access-date=January 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210305185845/https://aboutphilippines.org/doc-pdf-ppt-etc/05_Philippine-Judicial-System.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{rp|6–7}} and can [[judicial review|decide on the constitutionality]] of laws.<ref name="Pangalangan"/>{{rp|48–49}} Vested with the responsibility of overseeing the other branches of government, the Supreme Court has significant powers, able to go as far as overruling discretionary decisions made by political and administrative individuals and bodies,<ref name="Context">{{cite book |last1=Pangalangan |first1=Raul C. |editor1-last=Jiunn-rong Yeh |editor2-last=Wen-Chen Chang |title=Asian Courts in Context |date=2015 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-06608-3 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yk1sBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA356 |chapter=The Philippines' post-Marcos judiciary: the institutional turn and the populist backlash}}</ref>{{rp|356–357}} giving it powers usually seen as those of the executive and legislature.<ref name="Ristroph">{{cite journal |last1=Ristroph |first1=Elizabeth Barrett |title=The Role of Philippine Courts in Establishing the Environmental Rule of Law |journal=Environmental Law Reporter |date=September 2012 |volume=42 |issue=9 |url=https://www.elr.info/sites/default/files/article/2012/08/42.10866.pdf|pages=10866–10887}}</ref>{{rp|10874}} The court can effectively [[Judicial activism|create law]] without precedent, and such decisions are not subject to review by other bodies.<ref name="Context"/>{{rp|367–368}}

All lower levels of courts have their bases through legislation, rather than the constitution.<ref name="Pangalangan"/>{{rp|39}} Their proceedings are determined by the Supreme Court.<ref name="Pangalangan"/>{{rp|46}} Courts are arranged in a three-level hierarchy,<ref name="Pangalangan"/>{{rp|8–9}} with each level able to review only rulings at lower levels.<ref name="CACJ-JudicialBranch">{{cite web |url=https://cacj-ajp.org/web/philippines/the-judicial-branch |title=The Judicial Branch |publisher=Council of ASEAN Chief Justices |access-date=December 10, 2020 |archive-date=June 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210605154040/https://cacj-ajp.org/web/philippines/the-judicial-branch |url-status=dead }}</ref> Within the regular court system,<ref name="Pangalangan"/>{{rp|8–9}} the [[Court of Appeals of the Philippines|Court of Appeals]] is the second-highest appellate court.<ref name="CACJ">{{cite web |url=https://cacj-ajp.org/web/philippines/philippine-court-system |title=Philippine Court System |publisher=Council of ASEAN Chief Justices |access-date=December 10, 2020 |archive-date=October 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201008071305/https://cacj-ajp.org/web/philippines/philippine-court-system |url-status=dead }}</ref> Below this, [[Regional Trial Court]]s have original jurisdiction on most criminal matters, and are the main [[trial court]]s. The Regional Trial Courts are organized within judicial regions, which correspond to the administrative [[Regions of the Philippines|regions]].<ref name="CACJ"/> The lowest level courts are the Metropolitan Trial Courts.<ref name="Pangalangan"/>{{rp|41}}<ref name="CACJ"/>

Alongside the regular courts, a variety of special courts have been set up at various levels of the judicial system.<ref name="Pangalangan"/>{{rp|8}} The [[Court of Tax Appeals of the Philippines|Court of Tax Appeals]] was set up specifically to rule on tax matters.<ref name="Pangalangan"/>{{rp|43}} The [[Sandiganbayan]] is a special court set up to deal with cases of government corruption.<ref name="Pangalangan"/>{{rp|42, 52}} Some Regional Trial Courts specialize in a particular sort of case, such as heinous crime courts, [[family court]]s, and environmental courts.<ref name="Pangalangan"/>{{rp|44–45}}<ref name="Hilario">{{cite journal |last1=Davide |first1=Hilario G. Jr. |last2=Vinson |first2=Sara |title=Green Courts Initiative in the Philippines |journal=Journal of Court Innovation |date=2011 |volume=3 |issue=1 |url=https://law.pace.edu/sites/default/files/IJIEA/jciDavide_Philippines%203-17_cropped.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140708081726/http://law.pace.edu/sites/default/files/IJIEA/jciDavide_Philippines%203-17_cropped.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 8, 2014 |page=124 }}</ref> [[Sharia in the Philippines|Sharia]] courts, which have been set up in some regions on the same level as Regional and Metropolitan courts,<ref name="CACJ"/> rule on personal law where both parties are Muslim.<ref name="Pangalangan"/>{{rp|8}}<ref name="AIJC">{{cite web |url=https://aboutphilippines.org/files/code_muslim_sharia_courts.pdf |title=Courts for Muslims A Primer on the Philippine Shari'a Courts |publisher=Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication |access-date=December 16, 2020 |pages=4–5 |archive-date=June 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210605154042/https://aboutphilippines.org/files/code_muslim_sharia_courts.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Some administrative bodies are able to exercise very specific quasi-judicial powers, as determined by law.<ref name="Pangalangan"/>{{rp|7, 9}}

The president appoints justices and judges to the judicial system. For an appointment to the Supreme Court, the president must select from a short-list provided by the [[Judicial and Bar Council]], although they have influence over the shortlist and can ask for it to be changed.<ref name="Rose-Ackerman"/>{{rp|302-206}} The Judicial and Bar Council is responsible for vetting appointments. Congress has no control over appointments, to reduce its political influence on the judiciary.<ref name="Abinales2005"/>{{rp|14}}<ref name="Context"/>{{rp|364}} However, the Chief Justice can be impeached by the legislature, which took place for the first time with the [[Impeachment of Renato Corona|conviction]] of Chief Justice [[Renato Corona]] in 2012.<ref name="Relacion"/> Political pressure is thought to be behind inconsistencies between some court decisions.<ref name="Ristroph"/>{{rp|10875–10876}} Traditionally the most senior [[Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines|associate justice]] became the [[Chief Justice of the Philippines|Chief Justice]]. However, this tradition was broken by President [[Gloria Macapagal Arroyo]], and her successor President [[Benigno Aquino III]] also bypassed seniority in some judicial appointments.<ref name="Relacion"/>

The [[Ombudsman of the Philippines]] is selected by the president from a list provided by the Judicial and Bar Council. This selection does not need confirmation, and lasts for a seven-year term with no re-appointment. The Ombudsman investigates and prosecutes public officials and agencies, except for the president, who is [[Presidential immunity|immune while in office]]. Considerable power lies with the position to request information and direct public officials to carry out certain tasks as required by law.<ref name="Rose-Ackerman"/> The [[Office of the Solicitor General of the Philippines|Office of the Solicitor General]] is an independent body that represents the government in legal cases.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/fast-facts-osg-solicitor-general |title=FAST FACTS: The Office of the Solicitor General and its roles |last=Lim |first=Gerard |work=Rappler |date=January 11, 2016 |access-date=May 2, 2021}}</ref>

== Legal system ==
{{see also|Legal codes of the Philippines}}
[[File:Gold In-Laid Chest (Repository of 1935 Constitution).jpg|thumb|The 1935 [[Constitution of the Philippines]], which served as the basis for the current constitution]]

The Philippine legal system is a hybrid form based on the Spanish [[Civil law (legal system)|civil law]] and American [[common law]] system,<ref name="Gamboa">{{cite journal |last1=Gamboa |first1=Melquiades J. |title=The Meeting of the Roman Law and the Common Law in the Philippines |journal=Philippine Law Journal |date=1974 |volume=49 |url=http://www.plj.upd.edu.ph/wp-content/uploads/plj/PLJ%20volume%2049/PLJ%20volume%2049%20number%203/PLJ%20Volume%2049%20number%203%20-04-%20Melquiades%20J.%20Gamboa%20-%20The%20Meeting%20of%20the%20Roman%20Law%20and%20the%20Common%20Law%20in%20the%20Philippines.pdf |access-date=May 2, 2021 |archive-date=May 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210502135532/http://www.plj.upd.edu.ph/wp-content/uploads/plj/PLJ%20volume%2049/PLJ%20volume%2049%20number%203/PLJ%20Volume%2049%20number%203%20-04-%20Melquiades%20J.%20Gamboa%20-%20The%20Meeting%20of%20the%20Roman%20Law%20and%20the%20Common%20Law%20in%20the%20Philippines.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{rp|304–305}} with a system of Sharia law in place for some areas of law involving Muslims.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mastura |first1=Michael O. |title=Legal Pluralism in the Philippines |journal=Law & Society Review |date=1994 |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=461–475 |doi=10.2307/3054065 |jstor=3054065 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3054065|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="Ristroph"/>{{rp|10874}}

The [[Constitution of the Philippines|Constitution]] is the supreme law of the land<ref name="Consolidation">{{cite book |last1=Teehankee |first1=Julio |editor1-last=Platje |editor1-first=Wies |editor2-last=Croissant |editor2-first=Aurel |editor3-last=Martin |editor3-first=Beate |editor4-last=Dejong |editor4-first=Ben |title=Between Consolidation and Crisis: Elections and Democracy in Five Nations in Southeast Asia |date=2006 |publisher=LIT Verlag Münster |isbn=978-3-8258-8859-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wAY4jO3JrmoC |chapter=Consolidation or Crisis of Clientelistic Democracy? The 2004 Synchronized Elections in the Philippines}}</ref>{{rp|216}} and laws passed by the [[Congress of the Philippines|Congress]] must be consistent with the Constitution.{{sfn|Philippine Constitution|1987|loc=Article X § 5, 19, XVIII §3, 10, 24|ps=.}} Since the establishment of the 1898 Constitution, there have been only three new constitutions, implemented in 1935, 1973, and 1987, respectively.<ref name="Lazo"/>{{rp|10}} Prior to 1898, the [[Spanish Constitution of 1812]] had applied to the Philippines for a short time, and there were numerous proposed constitutions during the [[Philippine Revolution]]. The most notable of these was the [[Malolos Constitution]].<ref name="Lazo"/>{{rp|42}} The presidential system established with the 1935 Constitution<ref name="Lazo"/>{{rp|43}} was replaced by a semi-parliamentary system in 1973 under the authoritarian rule of President Marcos, concentrating power in his hands.<ref name="Lazo"/>{{rp|47–48, 382}}

After the 1986 People Power Revolution brought President Aquino to power, she issued a proclamation establishing a temporary constitution and created a [[Philippine Constitutional Commission of 1986|constitutional commission]]. The commission finished writing a new constitution on October 15, 1986, which was subsequently approved by referendum on February 2, 1987. The 1987 constitution restored the presidential system,<ref name="Lazo"/>{{rp|47–48, 382}} being based on the 1935 constitution rather than the 1973 one.<ref name="Consolidation"/>{{rp|216}} The constitution is designed to provide a number of [[Separation of powers|checks and balances]], including the establishment of independent constitutional commissions and an Ombudsman. The Ombudsman and members of these commissions, in addition to the leaders of the executive (the president and vice-president) and judicial (Justices of the Supreme Court, including the Chief Justice) branches, may be removed through [[impeachment]].<ref name="DeinlaIntroduction">{{cite book |last1=Deinla |first1=Imelda |last2=Dressel |first2=Björn |title=From Aquino II to Duterte (2010–2018): Change, Continuity—and Rupture |date=June 10, 2019 |publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies |isbn=978-981-4843-28-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RVe_DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1 |chapter=Introduction}}</ref>{{rp|9}}

All presidents under the current constitution have proposed some type of [[Constitutional reform in the Philippines|constitutional reform]], although none have succeeded.<ref name="Beltran">{{cite news |url=https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/philippines-political-dance-around-constitutional-change |title=In the Philippines, a political dance around constitutional change |last=Beltran |first=Michael |publisher=The Lowy Institute |date=August 7, 2020 |access-date=April 26, 2021}}</ref> Wariness around such change exists due to the structural aim of the constitution in limiting Presidential power compared to previous constitution, leaving reform open to accusations of being a power grab.<ref name="Beltran"/><ref name="Gatmaytan-Mango">{{cite journal |last1=Gatmaytan-Mango |first1=Dante |title=Changing Constitutions: Judicial Review and Redemption in the Philippines |journal=Pacific Basin Law Journal |date=2007 |volume=25 |issue=1 |url=https://escholarship.org/content/qt6rv2t7j1/qt6rv2t7j1.pdf|doi=10.5070/P8251022195|doi-access=free}}</ref>{{rp|1}} A switch to a unicameral parliamentary system is seen by some as a way to make the legislature and government more responsive and effective.<ref name="Abinales2005"/>{{rp|290}} It has also been argued such a change would weaken the presidency, and strengthen the role of political parties.<ref name="Abinales2005"/>{{rp|292}} Such a proposal gained majority support in the house along with presidential support in the mid-2000s, but stalled due to senate opposition.<ref name="WhitherAbueva"/>{{rp|63–66}} Reforming the country [[Federalism in the Philippines|as a federation]] is a recurring issue arising as a result of a desire for local autonomy. Such considerations influenced the 1987 constitution; while it maintained the unitary state, it included provisions for autonomous regions and for stronger local government.<ref name="WhitherAbueva">{{cite book |last1=Abueva |first1=Jose V. |editor1-last=Severino |editor1-first=Rodolfo C |editor2-last=Salazar |editor2-first=Lorraine Carlos |title=Whither the Philippines in the 21st Century? |date=2007 |publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies |isbn=978-981-230-499-5 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FNFh114RQv8C&pg=PA43 |chapter=Proposed Constitutional Reforms for Good Governance and Nation Building}}</ref>{{rp|54–56}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://verfassungsblog.de/complexities-of-constitutional-change-in-the-philippines/ |title=Complexities of Constitutional Change in the Philippines |last1=Saunders |first1=Cheryl |last2=Yusingco |first2=Michael Henry |publisher=Verfassungsblog |date=April 4, 2018 |access-date=April 26, 2021}}</ref>

The [[Civil Code of the Philippines]] is based on the [[Civil Code of Spain]], which was extended to the Philippines on July 31, 1889. A notable feature of this code is the influence of the Catholic Church, which remains to this day.<ref name="Aguiling-Pangalangan">{{cite book |last1=Aguiling-Pangalangan |first1=Elizabeth |editor1-last=Zheng Yongnian |editor2-last=Lye Liang Fook |editor3-last=Wilhelm Hofmeister |title=Parliaments in Asia: Institution Building and Political Development |date=October 23, 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-46965-9 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=acK1AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA122 |chapter=Promoting reproductive health in the Philippines}}</ref>{{rp|122}} Under this code, judicial decisions applying or interpreting the laws or the Constitution is part of the legal system, the doctrine of ''[[stare decisis]]'' applies in deciding legal controversies.<ref name="McGonigle">{{cite journal |last1=McGonigle |first1=Ryan |title=The Role of Precedents in Mixed Jurisdictions: A Comparative Analysis of Louisiana and the Philippines |journal=Electronic Journal of Comparative Law |date=July 2002 |volume=6 |issue=2 |url=https://www.ejcl.org/62/art62-1.html |issn=1387-3091|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190504121355/https://www.ejcl.org/62/art62-1.html|archive-date=May 4, 2019}}</ref> However, the application of ''stare decisis'' is not the same as in full common law jurisdictions, as it incorporates civil law precedent.<ref name="Gamboa"/><ref name="McGonigle"/> The constitution grants the Supreme Court the power of [[Judicial review in the Philippines|judicial review]], through which it can "determine whether or not there has been a grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction on the part of any branch or instrumentality of the Government".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ibarra |first1=Edcel John A. |title=The Philippine Supreme Court under Duterte: Reshaped, Unwilling to Annul, and Unable to Restrain |url=https://items.ssrc.org/democracy-papers/democratic-erosion/the-philippine-supreme-court-under-duterte-reshaped-unwilling-to-annul-and-unable-to-restrain/ |publisher=Social Science Research Council |access-date=May 2, 2020 |date=November 10, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Vitangcol 3rd |first1=Al S. |title=Basic concept of judicial review |url=https://www.manilatimes.net/2020/06/06/opinion/columnists/basic-concept-of-judicial-review/729692/ |access-date=May 2, 2021 |work=The Manila Times |date=June 6, 2020}}</ref>

This power is extensive enough that the court can [[Judicial activism|create new law]] without precedent in such situations, and such decisions are not themselves subject to review from another body.<ref name="Context"/>{{rp|366–368}} The president may issue executive orders, proclamations or other executive issuance.<ref name="Rappler20210427"/> The Philippines adopts the [[Monism and dualism in international law|dualist system]] in the [[incorporation of international law]], with such laws able to come into force either through adoption in domestic legislation or a constitutional declaration.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://batasnatin.com/law-library/political-and-public-international-law/public-international-law/722-article-ii-international-law-how-it-becomes-part-of-domestic-law.html |title=ARTICLE II International law; how it becomes part of domestic law. |publisher=BATASnatin Legal Services |access-date=May 2, 2021}}</ref> The [[Local government in the Philippines#Legislatures|local legislative assemblies]] may enact local ordinances within their respective territorial and political boundaries in accordance with the local autonomy granted by the Local Government Code.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1991/10/10/republic-act-no-7160/|title=Local Government Code of 1991|year=1991|publisher=Official Gasette of the Philippine Government|access-date=January 30, 2021|archive-date=February 26, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226061131/https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1991/10/10/republic-act-no-7160/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Elections ==
{{Main|Elections in the Philippines}}
[[File:People line up to vote at a precinct in San Joaquin, Mabalacat City, Pampanga, Philippines.jpg|thumb|Voting lines in [[Mabalacat]] during the [[2013 Philippine general election|2013 elections]]]]

Since 1935 and the establishment of the [[Commonwealth of the Philippines]], elections have been administered by the [[Commission on Elections (Philippines)|Commission on Elections]] (COMELEC). The elected officials are the president, vice president, members of Congress, regional governors and assemblymen, provincial governors, vice governors, and board members, city and municipal mayors, vice mayors and councilors, and [[barangay]] (village) chairmen and councilors. Elections are for [[fixed-term election|fixed terms]]. Most elected officials have three-year terms, with the exceptions being the president, vice president, and senators, whose terms last for six years.<ref name="Teehankee2002">{{cite book |last1=Teehankee |first1=Julio |editor1-last=Croissant |editor1-first=Aurel |title=Electoral politics in Southeast & East Asia |date=2002 |publisher=Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung |location=Singapore |isbn=978-981-04-6020-4 |url=https://library.fes.de/fulltext/iez/01361inf.htm |access-date=2 December 2020 |chapter=Electoral Politics in the Philippines}}</ref>{{rp|162–163}}

All terms above the barangay level begin and end on June 30 of the election year,<ref>{{harvnb|Philippine Constitution|1987}}, "The term of office of elective local officials, except barangay officials, which shall be determined by law...at noon on the thirtieth day of June next following their election", Article X § 8.</ref> and all elected officials are limited to three consecutive terms, except for senators,<ref name="Querubin">{{cite web |url=https://leitner.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/resources/papers/Querubin_Term_Limits.pdf |title=Political Reform and Elite Persistence: Term Limits and Political Dynasties in the Philippines |last=Querubin |first=Pablo |publisher=Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies |date=October 2011 |access-date=December 24, 2020 |page=3}}</ref> and the vice president, who are limited to two, and for the president, who cannot be reelected.<ref name="Lazo"/>{{rp|201}} 12 of the 24 senators are up for election every 3 years. All are elected on a national basis, with voters selecting up to 12 names from the list of all candidates. It is not required to fill out 12 names for the vote to be valid, and voters select 7.5 candidates on average. This system increases the importance of name familiarity, with up to one-fifth of voters reporting they decide upon their votes while inside the voting booth.<ref name="David">{{cite journal |last1=David |first1=Clarissa C. |last2=San Pascual |first2=Ma. Rosel S. |title=Predicting vote choice for celebrity and political dynasty candidates in Philippine national elections |journal=Philippine Political Science Journal |date=December 21, 2016 |volume=37 |issue=2 |pages=82–93 |doi=10.1080/01154451.2016.1198076 |s2cid=156251503 |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/ppsj/37/2/article-p82_1.xml|url-access=subscription }}</ref>{{rp|84–85}} All positions are voted on separately, including those of president and vice-president.<ref name="Abinales2005"/>{{rp|234}}

Despite the [[plurality voting]] system used to elect presidents, elections are effectively a [[multi-party system]]. Prior to the Marcos regime, the country effectively had a [[two-party system]], however the restriction of presidents to one term in the 1987 has likely prevented that system from reemerging.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Choi |first1=Jungug |title=Philippine Democracies Old and New |journal=Asian Survey |date=May 2001 |volume=41 |issue=3 |pages=488–501 |doi=10.1525/as.2001.41.3.488 |url=http://online.ucpress.edu/as/article-pdf/41/3/488/342157/as_2001_41_3_488.pdf |access-date=August 23, 2020 |publisher=University of California Press |issn=0004-4687 }}{{Dead link|date=May 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>{{rp|488–489}} Even during the two-party era, internal party structures were weak. Three presidents had previously switched parties after falling to obtain the nomination in their previous party's conference.<ref name="Manacsa">{{cite journal |last1=Manacsa |first1=Rodelio Cruz |last2=Tan |first2=Alexander C. |title=Manufacturing Parties: Re-examining the Transient Nature of Philippine Political Parties |journal=Party Politics |date=November 1, 2005 |volume=11 |issue=6 |pages=748–765 |doi=10.1177/1354068805057608 |s2cid=144958165 |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1354068805057608 |access-date=November 17, 2020|url-access=subscription }}</ref>{{rp|754}} Under the 1987 constitution, elections above the barangay level are held every three years since 1992 on the second Monday of May,<ref name="Atienza">{{cite book |last1=Atienza |first1=Maria Ela L. |last2=Arugay |first2=Aries A. |last3=Dee |first3=Francis Joseph A. |last4=Encinas-Franco |first4=Jean |last5=Go |first5=Jan Robert R. |last6=Panao |first6=Rogelio Alicor L. |last7=Jimenez |first7=Alinia Jesam D. |editor1-last=Atienza |editor1-first=Maria Ela L. |editor2-last=Cats-Baril |editor2-first=Amanda |title=Constitutional Performance Assessment of the 1987 Philippine Constitution |date=2020 |isbn=978-91-7671-299-3 |pages=8–9, 26–27, 37 |publisher=International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance and Center for Integrative and Development Studies |url=https://www.idea.int/sites/default/files/publications/constitutional-performance-assessment-1987-philippine-constitution.pdf |access-date=December 1, 2020}}</ref> although senate seats, the presidency, and the vice presidency are only [[Philippine presidential elections|contested]] every six years since 1992.<ref name="Consolidation"/>{{rp|216}}

Ever since elections were first introduced by the United States,<ref name="Teehankee2017">{{cite book |last1=Teehankee |first1=Julio |editor1-last=Schafferer |editor1-first=Christian |title=Election Campaigning in East and Southeast Asia: Globalization of Political Marketing |date=2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-351-94123-5 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SgwkDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT76 |chapter=Electoral Campaigning in the Philippines}}</ref> [[single-winner election]]s have been carried out using a [[plurality voting system]]: the candidate with the highest number of votes is elected.<ref name="Teehankee2002"/>{{rp|149}} Multiple-winner elections, except for representatives elected through [[Party-list representation in the House of Representatives of the Philippines|the party-list system]], are done via [[Multiple non-transferable vote|plurality-at-large voting]].<ref name="Teehankee2002"/>{{rp|162}} Each voter has ''x'' votes, from which the ''x'' candidates with the highest number of votes are elected.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://home.uchicago.edu/~rmyerson/research/philippines_rbm.pdf |title=A Theoretical Perspective on Possible Political Reforms for the Philippines |last=Myerson |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Myerson |publisher=University of Chicago |date=August 2016 |access-date=June 5, 2021 |page=2}}</ref> A constitutional commission was assembled after the 1986 [[People Power Revolution]] in part to consider the process of elections. It determined to keep plurality/[[first-past-the-post voting]] for 80% of seats, but to use a [[mixed-member proportional representation]] party-list system to allocate up to 20% of seats. However, such a system was not used until the [[1998 Philippine general election|1998 general election]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hunter |first1=Jessica |title=Creative Approaches Used in Philippines; Non-traditional Funding Sources Secured |journal=Elections Today |date=1998 |volume=7 |issue=Summer 1998 |page=22 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=02AEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT21 |access-date=25 April 2022 |publisher=IFES |language=en |issn=1073-6719}}</ref><ref name="Shin">{{cite book |author=Jae Hyeok Shin |editor-last1=Tomsa |editor-first1=Dirk |editor-last2=Ufen |editor-first2=Andreas |title=Party Politics in Southeast Asia: Clientelism and Electoral Competition in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-51942-7 |pages=104–105 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aQxflEvYWSkC&pg=PA104 |chapter=Electoral system choice and parties in new democracies: lessons from the Philippines and Indonesia}}</ref> which followed the passing of the Party-List System Act in 1995. Prior to this law passing, sectoral representatives were appointed by the President.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Casiple |first1=Ramon C |title=The Party-List Path to a Broadened Philippine Democracy |journal=Public Policy |date=June 2003 |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=1–22 |url=https://cids.up.edu.ph/wp-content/uploads/Public-policy-Journal-vol.7-no.1-Jan-June-2003.pdf |access-date=April 25, 2022 |publisher=University of the Philippines |issn=0118-8526 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509093508/https://cids.up.edu.ph/wp-content/uploads/Public-policy-Journal-vol.7-no.1-Jan-June-2003.pdf |archive-date=9 May 2021 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[File:Valencia City local elections, May 2013 - 3.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Electoral official in [[Valencia, Bukidnon|Valencia]] checking an [[electoral roll]] during the [[2013 Philippine general election|2013 elections]]]]

A group participating in the party-list system (which may not be running in any single-member constituencies) must receive 2% of votes cast to enter congress, and can win a maximum of three seats. The 1998 election saw 123 organizations run, and only 32% of voters selecting a party-list organization, meaning only 13 organizations passed the 2% threshold taking up only 14 of the 52 seats allocated to party-list organizations. COMELEC decided to allocate the remaining seats to organizations that had not reached the 2% threshold despite prior rules indicating they would be distributed among parties that passed the threshold by vote share. Following a legal challenge, the Supreme Court overruled COMELEC, implementing its own system to allocate the seats, limiting the maximum three seats to only the most-voted organization. In the run-up to the 2001 election COMELEC approved over 160 organizations. Following a legal challenge at the Supreme Court COMELEC all but 42 were disqualified, including seven which had won more than 2% of the votes. Two court later nullified two of the disqualifications.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Casiple |first1=Ramon C |title=The Party-List Path to a Broadened Philippine Democracy |journal=Public Policy |date=June 2003 |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=6–13 |url=https://cids.up.edu.ph/wp-content/uploads/Public-policy-Journal-vol.7-no.1-Jan-June-2003.pdf#page=9 |access-date=August 26, 2020 |publisher=University of the Philippines |issn=0118-8526 |archive-date=May 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509093508/https://cids.up.edu.ph/wp-content/uploads/Public-policy-Journal-vol.7-no.1-Jan-June-2003.pdf#page=9 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The 1986 commission also kept the "open ballot" system, where voters had to write the name of their chosen candidate on the voting form.<ref name="Shin"/> The distribution of sample filled-in ballots to voters by politicians provided more opportunities for patronage through the determination of which other names appear on a politicians sample ballot, and increased the power of local politicians who were better able to distribute these ballots to voters.<ref name="Schaffer"/> The [[1992 Philippine presidential election|1992]] and [[2004 Philippine presidential election|2004]] presidential elections were contested in court following accusations of [[electoral fraud]]. Neither case succeeded.<ref name="Hedman2010">{{cite journal |last1=Hedman |first1=Eva-Lotta E. |title=Democratisation & new voter mobilisation in Southeast Asia: beyond machine politics?: reformism, populism and Philippine elections. |journal=IDEAS Reports - Special Reports |date=2010 |volume=SR005 |pages=30–31 |url=http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/43564/1/Democratisation%20&%20new%20voter%20mobilisation%20in%20Southeast%20Asia_beyond%20machine%20politics(lsero).pdf |access-date=August 23, 2020}}</ref>

[[Vote counting in the Philippines|Vote counting in these elections]] could take up to 18 hours, and tabulation could take up to 40 days. In 1992 COMELEC adopted a strategic plan to modernize voting, and the first electronic vote-counting pilot test took place in the [[1996 Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao general election]]. This pilot was considered a success.<ref name="Goldsmith">{{cite web |url=https://www.ndi.org/sites/default/files/6_Philippines.pdf |title=Case Study Report on the Philippines 2010 Elections |last1=Goldsmith |first1=Ben |last2=Ruthrauf |first2=Holly |publisher=National Democratic Institute |pages=276–277 |access-date=August 24, 2020}}</ref> In 1997 a law was based calling for the open ballots to be replaced by pre-printed ballots.<ref name="Schaffer"/> However, it was not until the May 2010 elections that electronic vote-counting was used for a national election.<ref name="Goldsmith"/> This change in the process saw ballots shift from the "open ballot" system to ballots where voters fill in ovals next to the candidate names.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://asiafoundation.org/2010/05/05/will-automated-elections-in-the-philippines-increase-public-confidence/ |title=Will Automated Elections in the Philippines Increase Public Confidence? |last=Meisburger |first=Tim |publisher=The Asia Foundation |date=May 5, 2020 |access-date=August 24, 2020 |archive-date=May 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509095010/https://asiafoundation.org/2010/05/05/will-automated-elections-in-the-philippines-increase-public-confidence/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> It has been reported by COMELEC that this new system reduces the ability for vote-buyers to monitor how people vote.<ref name="Schaffer"/> It also reduced vote count time, with manual counting previously taking perhaps months.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Reyes |first1=Vincente |title=The Impact of Automation on Elections: Case Study of the May 2010 Philippine Presidential Contests |journal=Journal of Developing Societies |date=August 28, 2013 |volume=29 |issue=3 |page=262 |doi=10.1177/0169796X13494276 |s2cid=154904425 |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0169796X13494276 |access-date=November 19, 2020|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

[[National election|National]] and [[local election]]s began to be held on the same day from May 1992, following the passage of Republic Act (RA) 7166.<ref name="Manacsa"/>{{rp|757}} The country has a [[voting age]] of 18.<ref name="Nohlen">{{cite book |last1=Nohlen |first1=Dieter |last2=Grotz |first2=Florian |last3=Hartmann |first3=Christof |title=Elections in Asia and the Pacific: A Data Handbook: Volume I: Middle East, Central Asia, and South Asia |date=15 November 2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-153041-8 |page=14 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BVFBXa69tWMC&pg=PA14}}</ref> Under the 1987 constitution all registered parties are allowed [[poll watcher]]s, whereas under the previous system poll watchers were only allowed from the two main parties.<ref name="Teehankee2002"/>{{rp|179}} [[Campaign advertising|Political advertising]] was allowed beginning in 2001. Various forms of [[electoral fraud]] occur throughout the various elections, and are even expected by a majority of voters. Vote buying is especially prevalent, and campaigns are estimated to cost as much as 16 times the legal campaign finance limit.<ref name="You5"/>{{rp|103–104}}

== Local government ==
{{main|Local government in the Philippines}}
{{see also|Administrative divisions of the Philippines}}
{{Philippine LGU hierarchy|Barangays are grouped into cities and municipalities. Most cities and municipalities are then grouped into provinces. Some provinces and independent cities are further grouped into autonomous regions.|70%}}

The Philippines has been highly centralized since Spanish rule, being governed from an "[[Imperial Manila]]". The Spanish created some bodies to bring together barangays in 1893, and the Americans organized provincial governments in 1905. Both actions, however, left the majority of power with the capital. During the Commonwealth period, local governments remained under the direct control of the president, before some autonomy was granted to cities and municipalities in 1959 through RA 2264, "An Act Amending the Laws Governing Local Governments by Increasing their Autonomy and Reorganizing Provincial Governments", and to barangays (then called barrios) through RA 2370, the "Barrio Charter Act". Further powers were given under the "Decentralization Act of 1967" (RA 5185) before local elections were abolished with the imposition of martial law in 1972.<ref name="Brillantes">{{cite journal | last1=Brillantes | first1=Alex B. Jr. |title=Decentralized Democratic Governance Under the Local Government Code: A Governmental Perspective |journal=Philippine Journal of Public Administration |date=April 1998 |volume=42 |issue=1–2 |url=https://pssc.org.ph/wp-content/pssc-archives/Philippine%20Journal%20of%20Public%20Administration/1998/Num%201-2/10_Decentralized%20Democratic%20Governance%20Under%20the%20Local%20Government%20Code.pdf |access-date=4 December 2020}}</ref>{{rp|40–42}}

The 1987 constitution mandates that local governments must have local autonomy.<ref name="Brillantes"/>{{rp|43}} The 1991 Local Government Code (Republic Act 7160) shifted some power away from the capital.<ref name="Atienza"/> Barangays are grouped into [[Municipalities of the Philippines|municipalities]] or [[cities of the Philippines|cities]], while municipalities and cities may be further grouped into [[Provinces of the Philippines|provinces]]. Each barangay, municipality or city, and the province is headed by a [[Barangay captain|captain]], mayor, or governor, respectively, with its legislatures being the [[Sangguniang Barangay]] (village council), the [[Sangguniang Bayan]] (municipal council) or the [[Sangguniang Panlungsod]] (city council), and the [[Sangguniang Panlalawigan]] (provincial board), respectively.<ref name="Turner">{{cite book |last1=Turner |first1=Mark |title=Central-Local Relations in Asia-Pacific: Convergence or Divergence? |date=July 27, 2016 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-349-27711-7 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DEq_DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA97 |chapter=Philippines: From Centralism to Localism}}</ref>{{rp|102–105}} The Local Government Code seeks to enhance civil participation in local government, mandating civil society representation on bodies such as school and health boards. There are also mechanisms for the [[Recall election|recall]] of elected officials, and local legislation through publicly organized referendum, although such mechanisms are rarely used.<ref name="Teehankee2002"/>{{rp|181}}<ref name="Turner"/>{{rp|111}}

Regions are groupings of adjacent provinces created by the national government, often with linguistic or ethnic similarities. However, they do not by themselves have any local government. The exception is the autonomous region in Muslim Mindanao, which has its own regional government.<ref name="Tusalem">{{cite journal |last1=Tusalem |first1=Rollin F |title=Imperial Manila: How institutions and political geography disadvantage Philippine provinces |journal=Asian Journal of Comparative Politics |date=April 9, 2019 |volume=5 |issue=3 |pages=3, 8–9, 11–12 |doi=10.1177/2057891119841441 |s2cid=159099808 |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/2057891119841441 |access-date=December 4, 2020|url-access=subscription }}</ref> While Article X of the 1987 constitution allows autonomous regions in the Cordilleras and Muslim Mindanao, only the [[Bangsamoro|Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao]] (BARMM) exists.<ref name="Atienza"/> A referendum held in 1989 led to four provinces voting to be part of the [[Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao]] (ARMM). In 1990 [[1990 Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao general election|elections were held]] for a regional governor, a vice-governor, and for representatives in the [[ARMM Regional Legislative Assembly|Regional Assembly]].<ref name="Teehankee2002"/>{{rp|186}}

A 2018 law confirmed through a [[2019 Bangsamoro autonomy plebiscite|2019 plebiscite]] transformed the ARMM into the more powerful BARMM.<ref name="Atienza"/> Elections in Mindanao have a reputation for electoral anomalies.<ref name="Teehankee2002"/>{{rp|187}} Two laws aimed at creating the proposed autonomous region in Cordillera were defeated<ref name="Atienza"/> after [[1990 Cordillera Autonomous Region creation plebiscite|two plebiscites]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Camfili |first1=Matyline A. |last2=Gapasin |first2=Mursha D. |last3=Banes |first3=Gigy G. |last4=Licyayo |first4=Christian M. |last5=Batani |first5=Ruth S. |title=Awareness and Support of Benguet Constituents on Cordillera Regional Autonomy |journal=Benguet State University Research Journal |date=2016 |volume=75 |page=70 |url=http://journals.bsu.edu.ph/index.php/BRJ/article/view/79/241}}</ref> The [[National Capital Region]] has a unique governing body, the [[Metropolitan Manila Development Authority]], which carries out some region-equivalent functions.<ref name="Turner"/>{{rp|105–107}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.neda.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/FAQs_Regional-Development-Council.pdf |title=The Regional Development Council |publisher=National Economic and Development Authority |access-date=December 4, 2020 |archive-date=August 11, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190811133532/http://www.neda.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/FAQs_Regional-Development-Council.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The concentration of political and economic power in Manila leads has created the demand for changes such as decentralization or [[Federalism in the Philippines|federalism]].<ref name="Atienza"/> Most of the local governments' budgets are derived from the [[Internal Revenue Allotment]] (IRA), a disbursement from the national government's budget. This makes most local government units ultimately dependent on the national government,<ref name="Rose-Ackerman"/> with provinces further from the capital, which tend to be poorer, more reliant on IRA funding from the national government.<ref name="Tusalem"/> However, local governments do have the ability to raise income through other measures, such as taxes, which is reflected by significantly increased responsibilities.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Teng-Calleja |first1=Mendiola |last2=Hechanova |first2=Ma. Regina M. |last3=Alampay |first3=Ramon Benedicto A. |last4=Canoy |first4=Nico A. |last5=Franco |first5=Edna P. |last6=Alampay |first6=Erwin A. |title=Transformation in Philippine local government |journal=Local Government Studies |date=2017 |volume=43 |issue=1 |page=4 |doi=10.1080/03003930.2016.1235561 |s2cid=157880958 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03003930.2016.1235561 |access-date=4 December 2020|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==Culture and influences==
Despite the challenges faced by Filipino elections, and a sometimes pessimistic view about the potential of elections,<ref name="White"/>{{rp|214}} there is broad public support for democracy,<ref name="Teehankee2002"/>{{rp|179}}<ref name="Hermida">{{cite book |last1=Hermida |first1=Ranilo Balaguer |title=Imagining Modern Democracy: A Habermasian Assessment of the Philippine Experiment |date=19 November 2014 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-1-4384-5388-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=exGXBQAAQBAJ}}</ref>{{rp|4}} coupled with a free press and an established legal system.<ref name="Bankoff">{{cite book |last1=Bankoff |first1=Greg |last2=Weekley |first2=Kathleen |title=Post-Colonial National Identity in the Philippines: Celebrating the Centennial of Independence |date=November 22, 2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-351-74209-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Se1HDwAAQBAJ}}</ref><ref name="White"/>{{rp|4}} Voter turnout in legislative and executive elections averages above 75 percent. However, other forms of political participation, such as membership in a political party, civil society organization, and labor unions, are rarely used.<ref name="Holmes">{{cite journal |last1=Holmes |first1=Ronald D. |title=The Dark Side of Electoralism: Opinion Polls and Voting in the 2016 Philippine Presidential Election |journal=Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs |date=December 1, 2016 |volume=35 |issue=3 |pages=15–38 |doi=10.1177/186810341603500302 |doi-access=free}}</ref> There are several examples of mass [[direct action]] throughout history, including the long-running [[communist rebellion in the Philippines]] and the multiple "People Power" events.<ref name="Abinales2017">{{cite book |last1=Abinales |first1=Patricio N. |last2=Amoroso |first2=Donna J. |title=State and Society in the Philippines |date=July 6, 2017 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-5381-0395-1 |edition=Second |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TwglDwAAQBAJ}}</ref>{{rp|16}} A distrust of the state, and of state institutions such as the police, is a continuing legacy of martial law.<ref name="Abinales2005"/>{{rp|2}}

Political parties continue to be weak, often created to propel a single candidate before fading from relevancy. The power of the president within the political system may be one factor limiting the development of stable political parties, as the president is in a position to considerably support their allies.<ref name="Manacsa"/>{{rp|756–757}} Parties often serve to ally various political families,<ref name="McCoy"/>{{rp|8}} and it is common for politicians elected on losing party tickets to switch allegiance to the party of the president.<ref name="Teehankee2002"/>{{rp|177}} The power of traditional elites outside of the government has also inhibited the development of strong national institutions.<ref name="Banlaoi"/>{{rp|30–31}} Broad democratic political debate is linked with the concept of [[good governance]], rather than political movements related to class.<ref name="Rodan"/>{{rp|122}} The persistence of poverty is widely linked in political discourse to the presence of corruption.<ref name="Rodan"/>{{rp|124–125}} Campaigns focus on personal qualities and records, rather than party platforms.<ref name="You5">{{cite book |author1=Jong-sung You |title=Democracy, Inequality and Corruption |date=January 22, 2015 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-07840-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rq4PBgAAQBAJ |chapter=Elections, clientelism and political corruption}}</ref>{{rp|102}}

There has been strong continuity in class structures from the Spanish period to the present.<ref name="Simbulan"/>{{rp|54–55}} One prominent [[Historiography|historical narrative]] sees Philippine history through the lens of an "unfinished revolution", tracing the takeover of the [[Philippine Revolution]] by elites from the masses to unfulfilled expectations of reform following the [[People Power Revolution]].<ref name="Bankoff"/> Electoral pressure is absorbed through elections, despite the winners of elections invariably coming from various factions of the elite, and political parties being differentiated more by patronage networks than by policies. The importance of election funding creates a cyclic effect as political positions provide access to state power which provides the ability to generate funds.<ref name="Hedman2005"/>{{rp|17–18}} This [[state capture]] means that reforms occur slowly, even if popular.<ref name="Abinales2005"/>{{rp|2}}

While [[Land reform in the Philippines|questions over land reform]] have persisted since the colonial era, and have been considered by multiple administrations faced with peasant and communist-related political instability, the links between legislators and landlords mean progress has been limited and the vast majority of farmers continue to work on land owned by others.<ref name="Hermida"/>{{rp|125}}<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Overholt |first1=William H. |title=Land Reform in the Philippines |journal=Asian Survey |date=May 1976 |volume=16 |issue=5 |pages=428, 433–436, 445–448 |doi=10.2307/2643192 |jstor=2643192 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2643192}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.esquiremag.ph/politics/opinion/land-reform-in-the-philippines-a2212-20191028-lfrm
|title=Of Rice and Bullets: The Story of Land Reform in the Philippines |last=Umali |first=Justin |date=October 28, 2019 |access-date=May 22, 2021}}</ref> This failure to achieve significant land reform is thought to have restricted the growth of the Philippine economy, and is linked to continuing political inequality.<ref name="You4">{{cite book |author1=Jong-sung You |title=Democracy, Inequality and Corruption |date=January 22, 2015 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-07840-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rq4PBgAAQBAJ |chapter=The genesis of inequality, land reforms and path dependence}}</ref>{{rp|69–70}} Despite such inequality, the strength of the left movement has declined since the restoration of democracy.<ref name="RoutledgeIntroduction">{{cite book |last1=Thompson |first1=Mark R. |last2=Batalla |first2=Eric Vincent C. |title=Routledge Handbook of the Contemporary Philippines |date=February 19, 2018 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-48526-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DmkPEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA1 |chapter=Introduction}}</ref>{{rp|12}}

A small professional and technical middle class, mostly concentrated in urban areas such as Metro Manila, are relatively trusted within the civil service and play a significant role in civil society organization. Such organizations are examples of cause-based politics, an exception to the usual model of Philippine political parties and political organization. While too small to change the overall political structure, civil society organizations are sometimes able to influence policy on specific issues.<ref name="Kimura2003">{{cite journal |last1=Kimura |first1=Masataka |title=The Emergence of the Middle Classes and Political Change in the Philippines |journal=The Developing Economies |date=June 2003 |volume=XLI |issue=2 |pages=264–284 |doi=10.1111/j.1746-1049.2003.tb00941.x |url=https://www.ide.go.jp/library/English/Publish/Periodicals/De/pdf/03_02_08.pdf|hdl=10.1111/j.1746-1049.2003.tb00941.x |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Thompson |editor-first1=Mark R. |editor-last2=Batalla |editor-first2=Eric Vincent C. |title=Routledge Handbook of the Contemporary Philippines |date=February 19, 2018 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-48526-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DmkPEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA262 |pages=262, 367}}</ref> Notably, the role they played in the People Power Revolution led to a brief political consensus towards a more technocratic and relatively economically liberal state.<ref name="Magno">{{cite journal |last1=Magno |first1=Alexander R. |title=PHILIPPINES: Trauma of a Failed Presidency |journal=Southeast Asian Affairs |date=2001 |volume=2001 |pages=251–262 |jstor=27912279 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27912279}}</ref>{{rp|252–253}}

Some tension exists between this middle class with the larger but less active poorer class,<ref name="Wataru">{{cite book |author=Wataru Kusaka |title=Moral Politics in the Philippines: Inequality, Democracy and the Urban Poor |date=2017 |publisher=National University of Singapore Press |isbn=978-981-4722-38-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hb7WDgAAQBAJ}}</ref>{{rp|42–44}} most clearly expressed in the different outcomes and opinions regarding the entwined [[Second EDSA Revolution|EDSA II]] and [[EDSA III]] protests. Unlike in the first People Power Revolution, which saw joint participation from both classes, these following mass protests are generally considered to have predominantly middle and lower class movements respectively, with EDSA III failing to overturn the success of EDSA II.<ref name="Wataru"/>{{rp|81–83}}

Politicians at local and national levels are usually either [[List of political families in the Philippines|dynastic candidates]] or popular celebrities. [[Political dynasties in the Philippines|Dynastic politics]] is very common.<ref name="David"/>{{rp|83}} Members of the House and local government officials can be elected for a maximum of three terms, although positions often pass to family members.<ref name="Atienza"/> In 1992, 32% of the representatives in the restored Congress were children of politicians, and 15% represented a third or fourth generation.<ref name="McCoy">{{cite book |last1=McCoy |first1=Alfred W. |title=An Anarchy of Families: State and Family in the Philippines |date=2009 |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |isbn=978-0-299-22984-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fawaNZu-yqUC}}</ref>{{rp|xviii}} In 2010, over half of the members of the House of Representatives and over half of all Governors were related to someone who had been in Congress over the previous 20 years. Over 60% of high-level local elective offices were held by a dynastic candidate. For both dynastic candidates and celebrities, voter familiarity with their names is thought to drive their electoral success.<ref name="David"/>{{rp|84}}

Levels of education correlate with voting for each of the types of candidates, with those with less education more likely to vote for celebrity candidates and those with more education more likely to vote for dynastic candidates. Less wealthy voters are more likely to vote for celebrity candidates, although it has little impact on votes for dynastic candidates. Older voters are more likely to vote for celebrity candidates, and voters in Luzon are more likely to vote for celebrity candidates than voters in the Visayas or Mindanao.<ref name="David"/>{{rp|91–92}} While the constitution bans political dynasties, no legislation has been passed to define what this means.<ref name="Querubin"/> Term limits have had a limited effect on such dynasties.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://correctphilippines.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Kasuya-Clan-Politics-and-Term-Limits-in-the-Philippines-1.pdf |title=Much Ado about Nothing?: Clan Politics and Term Limit in the Philippines |last=Kasuya |first=Yuko |publisher=Correct Movement |access-date=December 24, 2020 |page=26}}</ref>

In addition to strong divisions in class identity, the Philippines has a diversity of regional identities, driven by its archipelagic nature and varied history.<ref name="Bankoff"/> Regional and ethnic identities are sometimes stronger than national identity,<ref name="Banlaoi"/>{{rp|30}} with national identity often being driven by Christians, and more specifically Tagalogs.<ref name="Bankoff"/> Contrasted with the broad Christian Filipino identity is that of the Muslims, and that of often-marginalized [[Indigenous peoples of the Philippines|indigenous peoples]].<ref name="Banlaoi"/>{{rp|9}} Winning a presidential election usually comes with winning the highly populous Tagalog areas of Southern Luzon. Most winning candidates have done well throughout the Philippines, winning pluralities in Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao. However, some elections have been won without the Visayas or Mindanao, and in a single case, the [[2004 Philippine presidential election|2004 election]], the Presidency was won without a plurality in Luzon. However, the importance of national image has been increasing in presidential contests.<ref name="White"/>{{rp|156}}

Despite the centralization of national power, politics itself is very decentralized.<ref name="Hedman2005"/>{{rp|18}} Political patronage relationships extend vertically through the various levels of political administration.<ref name="RoutledgeKimura">{{cite book |last1=Kimura |first1=Masataka |editor1-last=Thompson |editor1-first=Mark R. |editor2-last=Batalla |editor2-first=Eric Vincent C. |title=Routledge Handbook of the Contemporary Philippines |date=February 19, 2018 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-48526-1 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DmkPEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA17 |chapter=Clientelism revisited}}</ref>{{rp|20}}<ref name="RoutledgeSidel">{{cite book |last1=Sidel |first1=John T. |editor1-last=Thompson |editor1-first=Mark R. |editor2-last=Batalla |editor2-first=Eric Vincent C. |title=Routledge Handbook of the Contemporary Philippines |date=February 19, 2018 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-48526-1 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DmkPEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA26 |chapter=Patrons, Bosses, Dynasties, and Reformers in Local Politics}}</ref>{{rp|26}} National politicians then relied on local politicians to drive turnout within the constituency of the local politician, incentivizing government funding of local projects rather than national ones to shore up support, and causing national political parties to function more as an alliance of local politicians rather than centralized platforms.<ref name="Shin"/>

Decentralization of power to local governments and widespread poverty have reinforced the presence of [[clientelism]] within politics.<ref name="Hedman2010"/><ref name="Hedman2005"/>{{rp|18}} Such an effect is particularly strong in the geographically defined House of Representative seats.<ref name="Abinales2005"/>{{rp|15}} The importance of [[Epal (politics)|name recognition]] in politics (especially under the open ballot system) and the use of [[single-member district]] entrenchs local politicians.<ref name="Shin"/> Politics is defined by clans and personalities rather than political parties, and politicians receive support from members of their linguistic group or from a geographical area that identifies with them.<ref name="Holmes"/> Political, cultural, and geographical borders are mutually reinforcing.<ref name="Bankoff"/>

Factional rivalries have dominated local politics since the late 19th century. As democracy expanded under American rule, these rivalries influenced provincial and national politics.<ref>{{cite book |last1=McCoy |first1=Alfred W. |editor1-last=Paredes |editor1-first=Ruby R. |title=Philippine Colonial Democracy |date=1989 |publisher=Ateneo de Manila University Press |isbn=978-971-11-3072-5 |page=121 |chapter=Quezon's Commonwealth: The Emergence of Philippine Authoritarianism}}</ref> Local politics is thus often more personal and potentially violent than national politics.<ref name="Manacsa"/>{{rp|755}} It can also grow more authoritarian, even as national politics becomes more democratic.<ref name="RoutledgeSidel"/>{{rp|28}} The competitiveness of different localities varies greatly, from having a long-entrenched dynasty, to having regular electoral turnover.<ref name="RoutledgeSidel"/>{{rp|30}}

Furthermore, a strong emphasis on family, so entrenched it is enshrined in the civil code, makes local familial links more important than state support,<ref name="McCoy"/>{{rp|7}} and personal links more important than ideological interests.<ref name="RoutledgeKimura"/>{{rp|18}}{{efn|Families in Filipino culture refer not just to the nuclear family, but to a wide network of both blood and marriage ties.<ref name="McCoy"/>{{rp|9–10}}}} Particular families are associated with certain areas, and a seat passing within a family is often seen as political continuity, with competition provided instead by seats passing to another family.<ref name="McCoy"/>{{rp|41}} A paternalistic landlord-tenant relationship typifies politician voter relationships in rural areas.<ref name="RoutledgeKimura"/>{{rp|20}}

Local politicians attend events such as baptisms, funerals, and weddings within their constituency, often providing a direct financial donation.<ref name="You5"/>{{rp|102}} In urban areas, where established patron-client links are weaker, patronage takes the form of [[Political machine|machine politics]], being more specific and short-term.<ref name="RoutledgeKimura"/>{{rp|20–21}} In such situations, electoral fraud and physical coercion is more common.<ref name="RoutledgeSidel"/>{{rp|28–30}} Vote buying is extremely prevalent, including "negative vote buying", where voters are taken out of their constituency on voting day or have their [[Election ink|fingers inked]] without having cast a ballot.<ref name="Schaffer">{{cite journal |last1=Schaffer |first1=Charles |title=Might Cleaning Up Elections Keep People Away from the Polls? Historical and Comparative Perspectives |journal=International Political Science Review |date=2002 |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=76–78 |doi=10.1177/0192512102023001004 |s2cid=154673192 |url=https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/files/gov2126/files/schaffer_2002_0.pdf#page=9 |access-date=August 26, 2020 |archive-date=February 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224200524/https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/files/gov2126/files/schaffer_2002_0.pdf#page=9 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Over time, this model of control, supported through the economic benefits of state capture, has become more prominent compared to the older paternalistic model.<ref name="RoutledgeSidel"/>{{rp|28–30}}

===Catholic Church===
{{See also|Catholic Church in the Philippines}}
[[File:Protests against RH Bill at EDSA 20120804 (06) - Flickr.jpg|thumb|Protests against the [[Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012|Reproductive Health Act of 2012]] (RH Bill)]]

The influence of the Church in civil society dates back to the Spanish era, when the Church exercised considerable secular power.<ref name="Hedman2005"/>{{rp|16, 25}} Despite the [[separation of Church and State]] that was [[Freedom of religion in the Philippines|established]] under American rule, the Church retained social influence among both elites and the wider population and a desire to promote its global values within the country.<ref name="Hedman2005"/>{{rp|32–34}} The Church provides a unifying moral framework that transcends class lines, linking the rich with the poor.<ref name="Rodan">{{cite book |last1=Rodan |first1=Garry |last2=Hughes |first2=Caroline |title=The Politics of Accountability in Southeast Asia: The Dominance of Moral Ideologies |date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-870353-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v34fAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA117}}</ref>{{rp|118}}<ref name="Wataru"/>{{rp|42, 87}}

National structures were established shortly after independence,<ref name="Hedman2005"/>{{rp|50}} and the Church became directly involved in elections, both through its administrative hierarchy and through the actions of individual clergy.<ref name="Hedman2005"/>{{rp|50–51}} The politicization of the Church increased after the [[Second Vatican Council]], in great part due to the activism of Catholic youth.<ref name="Hedman2005"/>{{rp|75–77}} Another factor was the increasing filipinization of the Church following independence.<ref name="Hedman2005"/>{{rp|85}} The Church did not initially strongly oppose Marcos<ref name="Hedman2005"/>{{rp|87}} and agreed with his anti-communist stance. However, internal opposition grew over the course of the martial law era.<ref name="Abinales2005"/>{{rp|220}}

Public political opposition from individual clergy members eventually shifted the opinion of the Church hierarchy, who supported the candidacy of [[Corazon Aquino]] and the subsequent [[People Power Revolution]].<ref name="Abinales2005"/>{{rp|223–224}} Due to these events, the Church began to see itself as a "guardian of democracy".<ref name="DeinlaThompson"/>{{rp|45}} Later, the Church was one of the institutions that became opposed to the Presidency of Joseph Estrada.<ref name="Abinales2005"/>{{rp|275}}

[[Religious order (Catholic)|Religious order]]s, such as the [[Society of Jesus]] and [[Opus Dei]], run private educational establishments for law, medicine, and business.<ref name="Hedman2005"/>{{rp|34}} The Church is active in social and economic development, in ways not always in alignment with the desire of state authorities.<ref name="Hedman2005"/>{{rp|75}} It has organized to assist in anti-corruption efforts.<ref name="Rodan"/>{{rp|125, 145}} The Church maintains strong influence on the topic of family, notably through its support of large family size and its opposition to [[birth control]].<ref name="Abinales2005"/>{{rp|295–296}} Catholic influence led to the removal of [[Divorce law by country#Philippines|divorce laws]] following independence.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Reyes |first1=Deogracias T. |title=History of Divorce Legislation in the Philippines since 1900 |journal=Philippine Studies |date=June 1953 |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=50–52 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/42718998 |publisher=Ateneo de Manila University|jstor=42718998 }}</ref>

The political influence of the Church has decreased in the 21st century, following [[Catholic Church sexual abuse cases by country#Philippines|sexual abuse revelations]] and the death of the prominent Cardinal [[Jaime Sin]].<ref name="DeinlaThompson"/>{{rp|45–46}} A symbolic moment for Church influence was the passing of the [[Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012|Reproductive Health Act of 2012]] by the [[Presidency of Benigno Aquino III|Benigno Aquino administration]]. This law aimed to make contraception and family planning more accessible, a topic which had faced long-standing Church opposition. Public opinion was thought to be in favor of the law.<ref>{{cite news |title=Power of the Catholic Church slipping in Philippines |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2013/0306/Power-of-the-Catholic-Church-slipping-in-Philippines |access-date=13 May 2021 |work=[[The Christian Science Monitor]] |date=6 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130307075323/https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2013/0306/Power-of-the-Catholic-Church-slipping-in-Philippines |archive-date=7 March 2013}}</ref> The [[Presidency of Rodrigo Duterte|Rodrigo Duterte administration]] has also clashed with the Church,<ref>{{Cite news |first=Thomas |last=Maresca |title=Catholic Church dissents on Duterte's drug war |url= https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/04/25/duterte-roman-catholic-church-philippines/100461312/ |work= USA Today |pages= 4B |date= 29 April 2017 |access-date= 13 May 2017 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170425200229/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/04/25/duterte-roman-catholic-church-philippines/100461312/ |archivedate=25 April 2017 |quote=}}</ref> with Duterte at times directly positioning himself against the Church.<ref name="DeinlaIntroduction"/>{{rp|26}}<ref name="DeinlaThompson"/>{{rp|46}} While Duterte himself is not in favor of a divorce law, proposals to legalize divorce gained significant support in Congress [[17th Congress of the Philippines|following his election]],<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/03/20/1798661/legalizing-divorce-philippines-what-you-need-know |title=Legalizing divorce in the Philippines: What you need to know |last=Patag |first=Kristine Joy |work=PhilStar |date=March 20, 2018 |access-date=May 13, 2021}}</ref> with one bill being passed by the House of Representatives before rejection by the Senate.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2020/2/5/House-panel-OKs-divorce.html |title=House panel OKs bills legalizing divorce |last1=Dimatulac |first1=Crissy |last2=Jalea |first2=Glee |work=CNN Philippines |date=February 5, 2020 |access-date=May 13, 2021 |archive-date=May 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513150753/https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2020/2/5/House-panel-OKs-divorce.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The measure was reintroduced in the [[18th Congress of the Philippines|next session of Congress]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2020/02/09/1991591/proposed-divorce-law-wont-be-easy-way-out-marriage |title='Proposed divorce law won't be easy way out of marriage' |last=Punay |first=Edu |work=PhilStar |date=February 9, 2020 |access-date=May 13, 2021}}</ref> During the [[2022 Philippine presidential election|2022 presidential elections campaign]], the Church endorsed the candidacy of vice president [[Leni Robredo]] to prevent [[Bongbong Marcos]], son of dictator [[Ferdinand Marcos]], from winning the election. Robredo, who won in 18 of the 86 dioceses in the country,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Saludes |first1=Mark |title=Catholic nation? The Filipino Church rethinks its role in politics. |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2022/0629/Catholic-nation-The-Filipino-Church-rethinks-its-role-in-politics |work=[[Christian Science Monitor]] |date=29 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220629165724/https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2022/0629/Catholic-nation-The-Filipino-Church-rethinks-its-role-in-politics |archive-date=29 June 2022}}</ref> lost the presidential race in a landslide.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Buan |first1=Lian |title=36 years after ousting Marcos, Filipinos elect son as president |url=https://www.rappler.com/nation/elections/ferdinand-bongbong-marcos-jr-wins-president-philippines-may-2022/ |access-date=December 27, 2023 |work=[[Rappler]] |date=May 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220509211847/https://www.rappler.com/nation/elections/ferdinand-bongbong-marcos-jr-wins-president-philippines-may-2022/ |archive-date=May 9, 2022}}</ref>

===Military===
{{See also|Armed Forces of the Philippines}}
[[File:2007ManilaPenSiegeMap.jpg|thumb|The 2003 [[Oakwood mutiny]] and 2007 [[Manila Peninsula siege]] saw prominent buildings in [[Makati]] occupied by military forces in opposition to the [[Gloria Macapagal Arroyo]] administration.]]

The Philippine military became officially involved in socioeconomic issues during the [[Hukbalahap Rebellion]].<ref name="Whither"/>{{rp|81}}<ref name="Abinales2005"/>{{rp|179}} Its involvement was expanded further by Ferdinand Marcos, who actively used the military for civil work.<ref name="Selochan2004">{{cite book |last1=Selochan |first1=Viberto |editor1-last=May |editor1-first=Ron |editor2-last=Selochan |editor2-first=Viberto |title=The Military and Democracy in Asia and the Pacific |date=March 2004 |publisher=ANU Press |isbn=9781920942007 |url=https://press.anu.edu.au/publications/military-and-democracy-asia-and-pacific |chapter=The Military and the Fragile Democracy of the Philippines |chapter-url=https://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p33231/pdf/ch0434.pdf |page=59}}</ref> While the 1935 constitution designated the president the Commander in Chief, the 1973 constitution was the first to explicitly include the principle of civilian control of the military.<ref name="Bernas"/>{{rp|8}} Despite this change, during [[martial law under Ferdinand Marcos|martial law under Marcos]], military leaders took over aspects of local government and became directly involved in the economy,<ref name="Whither"/>{{rp|80–81}} and the military itself expanded threefold.<ref name="Hedman2005"/>{{rp|88–89}} During this period, the [[Communist rebellion in the Philippines|communist]] and [[Moro National Liberation Front|Islamist rebellions in the Philippines]] led to further involvement by the military in politics.<ref name="Whither"/>{{rp|82}} Internal opposition to Marcos developed as corruption became more apparent, and following the 1986 elections an apparently failed coup by a military faction sparked what became the [[People Power Revolution]]<ref name="Abinales2005"/>{{rp|223–224}} The military's perceived role in this overthrowing of President Marcos<ref name="Whither"/>{{rp|82}} created a precedent for direct intervention into politics.<ref name="Bernas"/>{{rp|11}}

The 1987 constitution kept the 1973 text on civilian rule over the military, although it added that the armed forces were the "protector of the people and the state".<ref name="Whither"/>{{rp|83}}<ref name="Bernas"/>{{rp|8}} It also separated the [[Philippine Constabulary]] from the military, while shifting response for internal security from the military to the police.<ref name="Whither"/>{{rp|86–87}} However, the military has remained more involved in politics than it was before martial law, playing a role in the 2001 [[Second EDSA Revolution]] which overthrew [[Joseph Estrada|President Estrada]].<ref name="Whither"/>{{rp|82}} Failed or suspected coups took place in [[1986–90 Philippine coup attempts|the late 1980s]], [[Oakwood mutiny|2003]], [[2006 state of emergency in the Philippines|2006]],<ref name="Whither"/>{{rp|83–84}} and [[Manila Peninsula siege|2007]].<ref name="ChasingtheWind"/>{{rp|98}}

Civilian oversight of the military includes a dedicated deputy ombudsman for the military, investigation by the [[Commission on Human Rights (Philippines)|Commission on Human Rights]], and the jurisdiction of civilian courts. The [[1989 Philippine coup d'état attempt]] led to rebellion and mutiny becoming crimes.<ref name="Whither"/>{{rp|80}} As an institution the military is supportive of democracy, with many factions often coming out in opposition to attempted coups.<ref name="ChasingtheWind"/>{{rp|110}} However, weak civilian institutions continue to provide openings for military influence.<ref name="Whither"/>{{rp|85, 93}} Amnesty was granted to those involved in past coup attempts in 1992.<ref name="Whither"/>{{rp|86}}

The practice of recruiting retired military officers for some executive branch roles, such as ambassadorships, or within cabinet, was started by Marcos and continued after the restoration of democracy.<ref name="Whither"/>{{rp|81, 93}} The separation between the police and the military was impeded by the continuing communist and Islamic rebellions.<ref name="Whither"/>{{rp|91}} The president remains able to use the military to rule by decree.<ref name="ChasingtheWind"/>{{rp|102}} Localized instances of martial law have been declared in [[Maguindanao massacre#Declaration of martial law|2009]]<ref>{{cite news |title=Arroyo proclaims martial law in Maguindanao |url=https://www.abs-cbn.com/nation/12/04/09/arroyo-orders-martial-law-maguindanao |access-date=30 May 2021 |work=ABS-CBN News |date=4 December 2009 |language=en}}</ref> and [[Proclamation No. 216|2017]], both in Mindanao.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Morales |first1=Yvette |title=Duterte declares martial law in Mindanao |url=https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2017/05/24/Duterte-declares-martial-law-in-Mindanao.html |access-date=30 May 2021 |work=CNN Philippines |date=24 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170524090145/https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2017/05/24/Duterte-declares-martial-law-in-Mindanao.html |archive-date=24 May 2017 |url-status=dead |language=en }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/martial-law-declaration-philippines |title=Martial Law 101: Things you should know |last=Gavilan |first=Jodesz |work=Rappler |date=August 15, 2017 |access-date=December 22, 2020}}</ref>

===United States===
{{See also|Philippines-United States relations}}
[[File:President Ronald Reagan with President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos and Imelda Marcos.jpg|thumb|Philippine President [[Ferdinand Marcos]], American President [[Ronald Reagan]], and [[Imelda Marcos]] during a Philippine state visit to the United States]]

Even after Philippine independence, the United States remained entwined within Philippine politics and the Philippine economy.<ref name="Hedman2005"/>{{rp|23}}<ref name="Politico-Diplomatic">{{cite web |url=http://ncca.gov.ph/subcommissions/subcommission-on-cultural-heritagesch/historical-research/politico-diplomatic-history-of-the-philippines/ |title=Politico-Diplomatic History of the Philippines |last=Tan |first=Samuel K. |publisher=National Commission for Culture and the Arts |date=April 16, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180818140153/http://ncca.gov.ph:80/subcommissions/subcommission-on-cultural-heritagesch/historical-research/politico-diplomatic-history-of-the-philippines/ |archive-date=August 18, 2018 |url-status=dead |access-date=April 9, 2021 }}</ref> Influence also remains in social and civil institutions.<ref name="Hedman2005"/>{{rp|24–25}} In the context of the [[Cold War]], direct and indirect influence was leveraged in the early days of independence to reinforce democratic institutions.<ref name="Hedman2005"/>{{rp|49–50}} Early civil influence was particularly strong among veterans' networks, and the American military maintained support for Philippine military campaigns against the Hukbalahap.<ref name="Hedman2005"/>{{rp|59–60}} During the Hukbalahap rebellion the United States also supported land reforms to reduce potential attraction to communism, although this pressure subsided as the rebellion ceased.<ref name="You4"/>{{rp|87}}

When Marcos declared martial law, to muted American response and with general acquiescence,<ref name="Abinales2005" />{{rp|205}} the strategic value of the Philippines and its American military bases led to continued official support.<ref name="Abinales2005" />{{rp|211}} While the United States eventually pressured Marcos to bring back elections,<ref name="You5"/>{{rp|100}} such support enabled Marcos to stay in power even as civil society and the military began to turn against him.<ref name="Abinales2005" />{{rp|224}} Eventually, the United States supported the development of an anti-Marcos coalition,<ref name="Franco"/>{{rp|109}} and in 1989 intervened to halt a coup against the new Aquino government.<ref name="Gross"/>{{rp|200}}

The influence of the United States decreased in the 1990s, when agreements to host American military bases ended and the country increased the regional aspects of its foreign policy.<ref name="Abinales2005"/>{{rp|11}} Following the [[September 11 attacks]] in the United States, security ties deepened once more, as the Moro insurgency became linked with the global [[war on terror]]. This growing cooperation included the limited return of some US forces to Philippine soil.<ref name="Gross"/>{{rp|221}}

== History ==
{{Main|Political history of the Philippines}}

===Pre-independence===
[[File:Walled City of Manila, detail from Carta Hydrographica y Chorographica de las Yslas Filipinas (1734).jpg|thumb|The Spanish established [[Manila]] as the capital of the [[Captaincy General of the Philippines]].]]

Before the onset of Spanish rule in the 16th century, the Philippines was split into numerous [[Precolonial barangay|barangays]], which were small entities while being part of region-wide trade networks.<ref name="Abinales2005">{{cite book |last1=Abinales |first1=P. N. |last2=Amoroso |first2=Donna J. |title=State and Society in the Philippines |year=2005 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-7425-1024-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xiOQdEzgP9kC |language=en}}</ref>{{rp|26–27}} The arrival of Hindu influence increased the power of Indianized [[datu]]s.<ref name="Abinales2005"/>{{rp|24–25}} The first large state was [[Sultanate of Sulu|Sulu]], which adopted Islam in the 15th century.<ref name="Abinales2005"/>{{rp|43–44}} Spanish Captain-General [[Miguel López de Legazpi]] established a settlement in Cebu in 1565. Maynila was conquered in 1571, and Manila subsequently became the center of Spanish administration.<ref name="Ooi"/>{{rp|1076}}

Spain gradually conquered the majority of the modern Philippines, although full control was never established over some Muslims areas in the south and in the [[Cordillera Central (Luzon)|Cordillera highlands]].<ref name="Ooi"/>{{rp|1076}} In the 19th century Spain eventually gained control over the seas and coasts.<ref name="Abinales2017"/>{{rp|95–96}} Inward migration in the Cordilleras to escape Spanish control and an increase in trade saw settlements in interior areas increase in population and political complexity.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Acabado |first1=Stephen |title=The Archaeology of Pericolonialism: Responses of the "Unconquered" to Spanish Conquest and Colonialism in Ifugao, Philippines |journal=International Journal of Historical Archaeology |date=8 April 2016 |volume=21 |pages=10, 22 |doi=10.1007/s10761-016-0342-9 |s2cid=147472482 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/300085455}}</ref> Throughout Spanish rule, the archipelago remained divided by regional identity and language.<ref name="Abinales2005"/>{{rp|83–84}}

Rule during the Spanish era was dominated by the church, especially friars.<ref name="Abinales2005"/>{{rp|53}} Ultimate power was held by the King and the [[Council of the Indies]], with the Philippines being part of [[New Spain]],<ref name="Ooi"/>{{rp|1077}} although the islands functioned practically autonomously.<ref name="Newsom">{{cite book |last1=Newson |first1=Linda A. |title=Conquest and Pestilence in the Early Spanish Philippines |date=April 16, 2009 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |isbn=978-0-8248-6197-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A40BEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA3}}</ref>{{rp|25}} The Philippines had their own [[Governor-General of the Philippines|Governor]]<ref name="Ooi"/>{{rp|1077}} and a [[Real Audiencia of Manila|judicial body]] was established in 1583.<ref name="Newsom"/>{{rp|25}} Direct Spanish rule did not extend far from Manila,<ref name="Yeo">{{cite book |last1=Yeo |first1=Andrew |editor1-last=Haggard |editor1-first=Stephan |editor2-last=Kang |editor2-first=David C. |title=East Asia in the World: Twelve Events That Shaped the Modern International Order |date=2020 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-47987-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gdj8DwAAQBAJ |chapter=Philippine National Independence, 1898⁠—1904}}</ref>{{rp|208}} and locals were relied upon for administration.<ref name="Newsom"/>{{rp|24–26}} Traditional native elites, along with some native officeholders and high-value tax payers, became part of a group known as the ''principalia''.<ref name="Anastacio">{{cite book |last1=Anastacio |first1=Leia Castañeda |title=The Foundations of the Modern Philippine State: Imperial Rule and the American Constitutional Tradition in the Philippine Islands, 1898–1935 |date=22 August 2016 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-02467-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sVfWDAAAQBAJ |page=51}}</ref><ref name="Cullinane">{{cite book |last1=Cullinane |first1=Michael |title=Ilustrado Politics: Filipino Elite Responses to American Rule, 1898-1908 |date=2003 |publisher=Ateneo University Press |isbn=978-971-550-439-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sjMa5dt7gTQC}}</ref>{{rp|16–17}} Over time, this elite class became more culturally distinct, gaining an education unavailable to most and intermarrying with Spanish officials and Chinese merchants.<ref name="Simbulan">{{cite book |last1=Simbulan |first1=Dante C. |title=The Modern Principalia: The Historical Evolution of the Philippine Ruling Oligarchy |date=2005 |publisher=University of the Philippines Press |isbn=978-971-542-496-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=55ZQdJG1G6IC}}</ref>{{rp|20–21}}

In the 19th century, Philippine ports opened to world trade and shifts started occurring within Filipino society.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hall |first1=Daniel George Edward |title=History of South East Asia |date=1981 |publisher=Macmillan International Higher Education |isbn=978-1-349-16521-6 |page=757 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XD9dDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA757 |access-date=July 30, 2020 |language=en }}{{Dead link|date=October 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Bacareza |first1=Hermógenes E. |title=The German Connection: A Modern History |date=2003 |publisher=Hermogenes E. Bacareza |page=10 |isbn=978-971-93095-4-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RsBxAAAAMAAJ&q=philippines+ports+world+trade+19th+century |access-date=July 30, 2020 |language=en}}</ref> An expanding civil service and a changing economy saw more complex social structures emerge with new upper and middle classes.<ref name="Cullinane"/>{{rp|12–14}} The [[Spanish American wars of independence|Latin American wars of independence]] and renewed immigration led to shifts in social identity, with the term ''Filipino'' shifting from referring to [[Peninsulares|Spaniards born in the Iberian Peninsula]] and [[Criollo people|in the Philippines]] to a term encompassing all people in the archipelago. This identity shift was driven by wealthy [[mestizos|families of mixed ancestry]], for which it developed into a national identity.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hedman |first1=Eva-Lotta |last2=Sidel |first2=John |title=Philippine Politics and Society in the Twentieth Century: Colonial Legacies, Post-Colonial Trajectories |date=2005 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-75421-2 |page=71 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X_lDpY3vj60C&pg=PA71 |access-date=July 30, 2020 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | quote=The cultural identity of the mestizos was challenged as they became increasingly aware that they were true members of neither the indio nor the Chinese community. Increasingly powerful but adrift, they linked with the Spanish mestizos, who were also being challenged because after the Latin American revolutions broke the Spanish Empire, many of the settlers from the New World, Caucasian Creoles born in Mexico or Peru, became suspect in the eyes of the Iberian Spanish. The Spanish Empire had lost its universality. |chapter=Chapter – 3 A SINGULAR AND A PLURAL FOLK |last=Steinberg |first=David Joel |title=THE PHILIPPINES A Singular and a Plural Place |publisher=Routledge |date=2018 |pages=47 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6NFMDwAAQBAJ |doi=10.4324/9780429494383 |isbn=978-0-8133-3755-5}}</ref> A class of educated individuals became known as the [[Ilustrados]]. This group gained prominence in Philippine administration, and became increasingly involved in politics.<ref name="Cullinane"/>{{rp|26–34}}

[[File:Ilustrados 1890.jpg|thumb|The [[Ilustrado]]s in Madrid, {{Circa|1890}}]]

In the 1880s, some prominent Ilustrados launched the [[Propaganda Movement]].<ref name="Cullinane"/>{{rp|35–36}} For the most part this was a campaign for secular self-government as a full part of Spain,<ref name="Abinales2005"/>{{rp|105–107}} but as proposed liberal reforms were rejected, some saw the movement as the beginning of a [[National revival|national awakening]].<ref name="Cullinane"/>{{rp|36}} In 1892 the [[Katipunan]] split from the movement, led by members of Manila's urban middle class.<ref name="Cullinane"/>{{rp|39}} The Katipunan advocated complete Philippine independence, and began the [[Philippine Revolution]] in 1896.<ref name="Halili">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gUt5v8ET4QYC&pg=PA119 |title=Philippine History |last=Halili |first=Maria Christine N. |publisher=Rex Bookstore |year=2004 |isbn=978-971-23-3934-9 |pages=137, 145}}</ref> The Spanish–American war reached the Philippines on May 1 with the [[Battle of Manila Bay]]. The Katipunan under [[Emilio Aguinaldo]] [[Philippine Declaration of Independence|proclaimed the independence]] of the Philippines on June 12, 1898.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Malolos Congress |date=1999 |publisher=The National Historical Institute |isbn=978-971-538-122-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/TheMalolosCongress/ |pages=13–15}}</ref> Aguinaldo proclaimed a [[Revolutionary Government of the Philippines|revolutionary government]], and convened a congress that approved the [[Malolos Constitution]], inaugurating the [[First Philippine Republic]].<ref name="Aguiling-Pangalangan"/>{{rp|123}}

Spain [[Treaty of Paris (1898)|ceded the Philippines]] to the United States in 1898.<ref>{{cite book |title=America's War for Humanity Related in Story and Picture: Embracing a Complete History of Cuba's Struggle for Liberty, and the Glorious Heroism of America's Soldiers and Sailors |year=1898 |publisher=N.D. Thompson Publishing Company |pages=593–595 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hq8TAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA593 |access-date=16 April 2021 |language=en}}</ref> The [[Philippine–American War]] erupted in February 1899 in a [[Battle of Manila (1899)|skirmish in Manila]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The American Contribution to Philippine Education: 1898-1998|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nyycAAAAMAAJ|year=1998|publisher=United States Information Service}}</ref> Aguinaldo was captured on April 1, 1901.<ref name="Ooi"/>{{rp|1076}} The Americans gave Filipinos limited self-government at the local level by 1901.<ref name="Teehankee2002"/>{{rp|150–151}} The hierarchical social structure that existed under Spanish rule was co-opted by the United States, with democracy introduced in a manner which did not threaten the power of the existing elites.<ref name="Manacsa"/>{{rp|752}} Local elites were entrenched into the national system.<ref name="Teehankee2002"/>{{rp|151}}

The [[1907 Philippine Assembly elections|first election]] of the [[Philippine Assembly]] in 1907 was won by the independence-supporting Nacionalista Party, led by [[Sergio Osmeña]].<ref name="Teehankee2002"/>{{rp|151–152}} The Nacionalista party would [[Dominant-party system|maintain electoral dominance]] until independence.<ref name="Simbulan"/>{{rp|42}} In some rural areas opposition to American rule persisted among the poorer population,<ref name="Abinales2017"/>{{rp|128–130}} and the development of [[class consciousness]]-based political organization led to [[Sakdalista|peasant revolts]] in the 1930s.<ref name="RoutledgeKimura"/>{{rp|21–22}} American forces extended their control over the entirety of the islands,<ref name="Duka">{{cite book |last1=Duka |first1=Cecilio D. |title=Struggle for Freedom |date=2008 |publisher=Rex Bookstore, Inc. |isbn=978-971-23-5045-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4wk8yqCEmJUC&pg=PA200 |pages=200–202}}</ref> [[Kiram-Bates Treaty|securing the Sultanate of Sulu]]<ref name=Bates>{{cite web|url=http://www.philippineupdate.com/Bates.htm |title=The Bates Treaty|first=Madge|last=Kho|publisher=PhilippineUpdate.com|access-date=December 2, 2007}}</ref> and establishing control over interior mountainous areas.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/42633435|title=The Igorot as Other: Four Discourses from the Colonial Period|author=Aguilar-Cariño, Ma. Luisa|year=1994|journal=Philippine Studies|volume=42|issue=2|pages=194–209|jstor=42633435|url-access=subscription}}</ref> The Philippine government pursued a policy of gradually strengthening government in Mindanao, supported by immigration from Christian areas.<ref name="Fry">{{cite journal |last1=Fry |first1=Howard T. |title=The Bacon Bill of 1926: New Light on an Exercise in Divide-and-Rule |journal=Philippine Studies |date=1978 |volume=26 |issue=3 |url=http://www.philippinestudies.net/ojs/index.php/ps/article/viewFile/1655/4612}}</ref>{{rp|269–270}} Despite this, the traditional political structures of Sultanates and Datus continued as a parallel political structure.<ref name="Milligan">{{cite book |last1=Milligan |first1=Jeffrey Ayala |title=Islamic Identity, Postcoloniality, and Educational Policy: Schooling and Ethno-Religious Conflict in the Southern Philippines |date=2020 |publisher=Springer Nature |isbn=978-981-15-1228-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_yLTDwAAQBAJ}}</ref>{{rp|93}}

The 1916 [[Jones Law (Philippines)|Jones Law]] envisioned eventual Philippine independence.<ref name="Ybiernas">{{cite journal |last1=Ybiernas |first1=Vicente Angel |title=Contested National Development: Executive-Legislative Relations in American Colonial Philippines and the Cabinet Crisis of 1923 |journal=Asian Studies |date=2015 |volume=51 |issue=2 |page=103 |url=https://asj.upd.edu.ph/mediabox/archive/ASJ-51-2-2015/ASJ%2051-2%202015.pdf |access-date=3 December 2020}}</ref> The Nacionalista-dominated legislature grew more powerful, seizing state bodies and using nationalism to weaken American oversight.<ref name="Abinales2005"/>{{rp|139}}<ref name="Fry"/>{{rp|271}}<ref name="Ooi">{{cite book |last1=Ooi |first1=Keat Gin |title=Southeast Asia: A Historical Encyclopedia, from Angkor Wat to East Timor |date=2004 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-57607-770-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QKgraWbb7yoC&pg=PA1117}}</ref>{{rp|1117}}<ref name="Abinales2005"/>{{rp|141–142}} The establishment of the senate led to the Nacionalistas forming opposing camps loyal to Osmeña (the Unipersonalistas) and Senate President [[Manuel L. Quezon]] (the Colectavistas).<ref name="Simbulan"/>{{rp|44}} The 1934 [[Tydings–McDuffie Act]] paved the way for the [[Commonwealth of the Philippines]] and mandated U.S. recognition of independence of the Philippine Islands after a ten-year transition period.<ref name=TMact>{{USStatute|73|127|48|456|1934|03|24}}</ref><ref name="Ooi"/>{{rp|1117}}

[[File:Signing the Constitution of the Philippine Commonwealth, 23 March 1935.jpg|thumb|United States President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] signs the 1935 Constitution of the Philippines in the presence of then Philippine Senate President [[Manuel L. Quezon]].]]

Quezon and Osmeña were elected as president and vice president, respectively, in [[1935 Philippine presidential election|1935]].<ref name="Chamberlain">{{cite book |last1=Chamberlain |first1=Sharon W. |title=A Reckoning: Philippine Trials of Japanese War Criminals |date=5 March 2019 |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |isbn=978-0-299-31860-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JByIDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA11}}</ref>{{rp|12}} In 1937 the voting franchise was [[1937 Philippine women's suffrage plebiscite|expanded to include literate women]].<ref name="Abinales2005"/>{{rp|147}} A national curriculum similarly sought to impose a single vision of a Filipino identity across the diverse ethnolinguistic groups of the islands,<ref name="Milligan"/>{{rp|110}} and [[Tagalog language|Tagalog]] was established as [[Filipino language|a national language]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Thompson |first1=Roger M. |title=Filipino English and Taglish: Language Switching from Multiple Perspectives |date=1 January 2003 |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing |isbn=978-90-272-4891-6 |pages=28–29 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W1h9oF9rj-MC&pg=PA28}}</ref> Treatment of the Commonwealth by the United States was inconsistent: sometimes it was treated as a separate country, sometimes as under US jurisdiction.<ref name="Bühler">{{cite book |last1=Bühler |first1=Konrad G. |title=State Succession and Membership in International Organizations: Legal Theories Versus Political Pragmatism |date=February 8, 2001 |publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers |isbn=978-90-411-1553-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ty7NAG1Jl-8C&pg=PA37}}</ref>{{rp|37–40}} The presidential system of the Commonwealth government was based on that of the United States.<ref name="Teehankee2002"/>{{rp|154}} However, while dividing power between three branches similarly to the constitution of the United States, the 1935 constitution gave the Philippine president significantly more power both politically and economically than that accorded to the president of the United States.<ref name="Hedman-Sidel2000">{{cite book |last1=Hedman |first1=Eva-Lotta E. |last2=Sidel |first2=John Thayer |title=Philippine Politics and Society in the Twentieth Century: Colonial Legacies, Post-colonial Trajectories |date=2000 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-415-14791-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3CFvxgEccfkC}}</ref>{{rp|16}}

The [[Battle of the Philippines (1941–42)|Japanese invasion of 1941]] at the onset of [[World War II]] forced the Commonwealth government to go into [[Government in exile of the Commonwealth of the Philippines|exile]],<ref name="Ooi"/>{{rp|1118}} and subjected the country to a puppet government.<ref>Alphonso J. Aluit, ''By Sword and Fire: The Destruction of Manila in World War II, 3 February-3 March 1945'', Bookmark Inc., 1994</ref> The [[KALIBAPI]] became the sole legal political party, and [[Jose P. Laurel]] was declared president of an independent [[Second Philippine Republic]].<ref name="Chamberlain"/>{{rp|14–15}}<ref name="Rottman">{{cite book |last1=Rottman |first1=Gordon L. |title=World War II Pacific Island Guide: A Geo-military Study |date=2002 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-313-31395-0 |pages=288 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ChyilRml0hcC&pg=PA288}}</ref><ref name="Bankoff"/> In rural areas, a sudden vacuum of elite power led to the formation of new local governments by the remaining populace, beginning the [[Hukbalahap Rebellion]].<ref name="Franco">{{cite book |last1=Franco |first1=Jennifer C. |editor1-last=Alagappa |editor1-first=Muthiah |title=Civil Society and Political Change in Asia: Expanding and Contracting Democratic Space |date=2004 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-0-8047-5097-4 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fqNsVB0hJRYC&pg=PA97 |chapter=The Philippines: Fractious Civil Society and Competing Visions of Democracy}}</ref>{{rp|105}} The [[Philippines campaign (1944–45)|Americans reconquered the Philippines in 1944]], and Osmeña, who had succeeded Quezon upon the latter's death, restored the Commonwealth government.<ref name="Chamberlain"/>{{rp|15}}

The Nacionalistas were divided following the war, with a leadership struggle leading to [[Manuel Roxas]] setting up what would later be the [[Liberal Party (Philippines)|Liberal Party]].<ref name="Teehankee2017"/> Roxas defeated Osmeña in the [[1946 Philippine presidential election|1946 presidential election]], and became the last president of the Commonwealth.<ref name="Hernandez">{{cite book |last1=Hernandez |first1=Jose Rhommel B. |editor1-last=Lee Lai To |editor2-last=Zarina Othman |title=Regional Community Building in East Asia: Countries in Focus |date=2016 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-317-26556-6 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WCwlDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA142 |chapter=The Philippines: Everything in place}}</ref>{{rp|145}} A left-wing political movement that spawned from the Hukbalahap fight against the Japanese was suppressed by the former elite with American support, leading to the continuation of the rebellion against the new government.<ref name="Franco"/>{{rp|105}} The Americans [[Treaty of Manila (1946)|granted independence]] on July 4, 1946, and Roxas became the first president of the new [[Republic of the Philippines]].<ref name="Hernandez"/>{{rp|145}}

===Independence===
[[File:Manuelroxasinaguration.jpg|thumb|President [[Manuel Roxas]]' inauguration as the first president of an independent Philippines]]

The impact of the war led to a weaker civil service and a reduction in the dominance of Manila, with provincial politicians gaining political power and in some cases ''de facto'' autonomy. Many leveraged their provincial power to engage in national politics.<ref name="McCoy"/>{{rp|19–20}} Universal suffrage saw an expansion of voter participation, although power remained concentrated in the hands of a small elite.<ref name="Hedman-Sidel2000"/>{{rp|14–15}} A diversifying post-war economy largely brought an end to the land-based [[cacique democracy]] patronage system. Political offices became lucrative by themselves, and patronage became more reliant on access to government funds.<ref name="Raquiza">{{cite book |last1=Raquiza |first1=Antoinette R. |title=State Structure, Policy Formation, and Economic Development in Southeast Asia: The Political Economy of Thailand and the Philippines |date=17 June 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-50502-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g5bkhjFAzyMC}}</ref>{{rp|69}} These changes did not shift the overall shape of Filipino politics, which remained a [[two-party system]] dominated by a narrow elite.<ref name="Hedman-Sidel2000"/>{{rp|15}} There was little policy difference between the parties.<ref name="Hedman2005">{{cite book |last1=Hedman |first1=Eva-Lotta |title=In the Name of Civil Society: From Free Election Movements to People Power in the Philippines |date=November 30, 2005 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |isbn=978-0-8248-2921-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CIYn9_ZMMesC}}</ref>{{rp|17}}

Roxas suffered a fatal [[heart attack]] in 1948, allowing Vice President [[Elpidio Quirino]] to rule the country for the next six years.<ref name="Chamberlain"/>{{rp|16}} Quirino sought to significantly expand executive power.<ref name="Hedman-Sidel2000"/>{{rp|18}} Quirino's Liberal government was widely seen as corrupt and was easily beaten by his former Defense secretary [[Ramon Magsaysay]] in [[1953 Philippine presidential election|1953]]. Magsaysay, who oversaw the surrender of the long-running [[Hukbalahap Rebellion]], was massively popular.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Miller |first1=Roger J. |last2=Cochran |first2=James A. |journal=Air University Review |title=Counterinsurgency in Perspective |date=1963 |volume=14 |page=71 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aTk7AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA71 |publisher=United States Department of the Air Force |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Greenberg |first1=Lawrence M. |title=The Hukbalahap Insurrection: A Case Study of a Successful Anti-insurgency Operation in the Philippines, 1946-1955 |date=1987 |publisher=Analysis Branch, U.S. Army Center of Military History |pages=64, 133 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NFJyAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA133 |access-date=16 April 2021 |language=en}}</ref> Magsaysay implemented a plan to settle surrendered Hukbalahap rebels in Mindanao,<ref name="Milligan"/>{{rp|111}} cementing a demographic shift in Mindanao from a Muslim to a Christian majority.<ref name="Gross">{{cite book |last1=Gross |first1=Max L. |title=A Muslim Archipelago: Islam and Politics in Southeast Asia |date=2007 |publisher=United States Department of Defense |isbn=978-1-932946-19-2 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aJHaAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA170 |chapter=Islam in the Philippines}}</ref>{{rp|177, 180}}

Before the [[1957 Philippine presidential election|1957 election]], Magsaysay was killed in a [[1957 Cebu Douglas C-47 crash|plane crash]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Magsaysay, Philippine President, Dies in Crash of Private Plane; Israel Blames U.N. for Gaza Crisis |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1957/3/18/magsaysay-philippine-president-dies-in-crash/ |access-date=16 April 2021 |work=The Harvard Crimson |agency=Associated Press |date=18 March 1957 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180422045709/http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1957/3/18/magsaysay-philippine-president-dies-in-crash/ |archive-date=22 April 2018}}</ref> His vice president, [[Carlos P. Garcia]], succeeded him and won the election.<ref>{{cite book |title=Republic of the Philippines: Background |date=1961 |publisher=Office of Armed Forces Information & Education |page=7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q-962VHQhQgC&pg=PA7 |access-date=12 May 2021 |language=en}}</ref> He continued Magsaysay's "Filipino First" policy<ref name="White">{{cite book |last1=White III |first1=Lynn T. |title=Philippine Politics: Possibilities and Problems in a Localist Democracy |date=December 17, 2014 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-57422-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4mvfBQAAQBAJ}}</ref>{{rp|69}} and implemented an [[austerity]] program.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Antonio |first1=Eleanor D. |last2=Dallo |first2=Evangeline M. |last3=Imperial |first3=Consuelo M. |last4=Samson |first4=Maria Carmelita B. |last5=Soriano |first5=Celia D. |title=Kayamanan I: Kasaysayan ng Pilipinas |date=2005 |publisher=Rex Book Store |isbn=978-971-23-4040-6 |page=297 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g48ITuwh8uQC&pg=PA297 |language=fil}}</ref> Garcia was defeated by his vice president, [[Diosdado Macapagal]] of the Liberal Party, [[1961 Philippine presidential election|in 1961]]. Macapagal initiated a return to a system of free enterprise, and sought land reform and electrification.<ref name="Ooi"/>{{rp|808}} Macapagal was defeated in [[1965 Philippine presidential election|1965]] by Senator [[Ferdinand Marcos]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Chronology of Events Leading to Marcos Resignation |url=https://apnews.com/article/81c64880d76b56f913bf02b0f8638600 |access-date=12 May 2021 |work=AP News |date=26 February 1986 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512114423/https://apnews.com/article/81c64880d76b56f913bf02b0f8638600 |archive-date=12 May 2021}}</ref>

[[File:Marcos Declares Martial Law.jpg|thumb|left|upright|President [[Ferdinand Marcos]] declares [[Martial law in the Philippines|martial law]].]]

The growing and diversifying economy of the 1960s led to a growth in private business power<ref name="Hedman2005"/>{{rp|78}} and an expansion in mass media.<ref name="Hedman2005"/>{{rp|80}} Marcos was the first president to be re-elected, in [[1969 Philippine presidential election|1969]], although the election was tainted by violence and allegations of fraud and vote buying.<ref name="Hedman2005"/>{{rp|87}} Civil unrest heightened after the election.<ref name="Hedman2005"/>{{rp|87}} [[Communist rebellion in the Philippines|Communist rebellion]] strengthened during Marcos' rule,<ref name="Abinales2005"/>{{rp|219–220}} and a [[Moro insurgency in the Philippines|Moro insurgency]] emerged in Mindanao.<ref name="Abinales2005"/>{{rp|216}} Marcos declared [[Martial law in the Philippines|martial law]] in 1972.<ref name="Hedman2005"/>{{rp|87}}

Attempts to end the war in Mindanao led Marcos to recognize Islamic holidays, introduce a code of Muslim personal laws, and formally recognize a number of sultans in Mindanao and Sulu.<ref name="Gross"/>{{rp|190–197}} Marcos framed his government as fighting against the rich landed elite that traditionally dominated politics. He relied on the growing technocratic civil service, who were receptive to such arguments, to effectively run the country under martial law.<ref name="Raquiza"/>{{rp|69–71}} Marcos also relied on the military, which gained increased power and resources during the martial law period.<ref name="Hedman-Sidel2000"/>{{rp|46–47}} A constitutional convention finalized a new constitution in November 1972,<ref name="HouseRepresentativesHistory">{{cite web |url=https://congress.gov.ph/about/?about=history |title=Philippine Congress History |publisher=House of Representatives |access-date=7 April 2021 |archive-date=May 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509171015/https://congress.gov.ph/about/?about=history |url-status=dead }}</ref> which introduced a [[Semi-presidential system|semi-presidential]] system.<ref name="Teehankee2017"/>

Marcos continued to rule by decree without elections until 1978, when the [[Interim Batasang Pambansa]] (IBP) legislature was elected.<ref name="Teehankee2017"/> Marcos had complete control over the bureaucracy, local governments, military, the press, and COMELEC. The [[1978 Philippine parliamentary election|1978 parliamentary]] and the [[1980 Philippine local elections|1980 local]] elections were dominated by Marcos' [[Kilusang Bagong Lipunan]] party.<ref name="Teehankee2017"/><ref name="Hedman2005"/>{{rp|88}} The unicameral IBP had little real power.<ref name="Aguiling-Pangalangan"/>{{rp|125}} The Supreme Court affirmed the expansive executive powers claimed under martial law.<ref name="Bernas"/>{{rp|10–11}} Marcos laid out a vision of a "new society", which would represent an end to old oligarchies.<ref name="White"/>{{rp|70}}

Some political dynasties who were not Marcos allies were stripped of assets and power,<ref name="McCoy"/>{{rp|41}} in many cases replaced in local politics by Marcos allies.<ref name="McCoy"/>{{rp|437}} Marcos ended martial law in 1981, shortly before a visit to the Philippines by [[Pope John Paul II]], although he retained immense executive powers.<ref name="Bernas"/>{{rp|12–13}} Opposition groups still boycotted the [[1981 Philippine presidential election|1981 presidential election]],<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Rosenberg |first1=David A. | title=Communism in the Philippines | publisher=Documentary Studies Section, International Information Administration | volume=33 |issue=1–6 | year=1984 | issn=0032-941X | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eU5GAQAAIAAJ | access-date=2022-04-14 |journal=Problems of Communism |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=eU5GAQAAIAAJ&pg=RA4-PA45 45]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Franco |first1=Jennifer |title=Elections and Democratization in the Philippines |date=24 March 2020 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-54191-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LIkECwAAQBAJ&pg=PT295 |access-date=12 May 2021 |language=en}}</ref> which Marcos easily won.<ref name="Overholt">{{cite journal |last1=Overholt |first1=William H. |title=The Rise and Fall of Ferdinand Marcos |journal=Asian Survey |date=November 1986 |volume=26 |issue=11 |pages=1137–1163 |doi=10.2307/2644313 |jstor=2644313 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2644313|url-access=subscription}}</ref>{{rp|1151}} Opposition leader [[Benigno Aquino Jr.]] was slain upon his return to the Philippines in 1983.<ref name="ChasingtheWind"/>{{rp|97}}

By this time, the government was marred by a weak economy, rampant corruption, and a loss of political support.<ref name="Overholt"/>{{rp|1153–1154}} A [[United Nationalist Democratic Organization|united opposition]] participated in the [[1984 Philippine parliamentary election|1984 parliamentary election]], making gains.<ref name="Franco"/>{{rp|108}} A snap election saw the opposition nominate Benigno's widow Corazon as their candidate.<ref name="Bernas"/>{{rp|11}}<ref name="White"/>{{rp|70}} Marcos was declared the winner of the [[1986 Philippine presidential election|1986 election]], but the opposition refused to accept the result, alleging that the election was rigged. The [[People Power Revolution]] drove Marcos from power, and Aquino became president.<ref name="ChasingtheWind"/>{{rp|98}}

[[File:Corazon Aquino inauguration.jpg|thumb|[[Corazon Aquino]] was inaugurated president on February 25, 1986; it was one of two presidential inaugurations that day.]]

The 1987 constitution restored democracy along the lines of the 1935 constitution.<ref name="Teehankee2017"/> The new constitution introduced some elements of direct democracy.<ref name="Bernas"/>{{rp|6}} The [[1988 Philippine local elections|1988 local elections]] saw the traditional elite recapturing local political office.<ref name="Franco"/>{{rp|112}}<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ilano |first1=Alberto |title=The Philippines in 1988: On a Hard Road to Recovery |journal=Southeast Asian Affairs |date=1989 |pages=251–252 |jstor=27911979 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27911979|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Aquino's government was mired by [[1986–90 Philippine coup attempts|coup attempts]],<ref name="Bankoff"/> and saw continued rebellions by communists and Islamic separatists.<ref name="Franco"/>{{rp|109}} In 1991, a new Local Government Code shifted some power and resources to lower levels of government.<ref name="Franco"/>{{rp|115}}

Aquino did not wish to run for election again,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Avila |first1=John Laurence |title=Southeast Asian Affairs 1990 |date=2019 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-000-24046-7 |page=268 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IGQPEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA268 |chapter=A gathering crisis in the Philippines}}</ref> and leading up to the [[1992 Philippine presidential election|1992 presidential election]] she supported [[Fidel V. Ramos]], who had left her party to form his own.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Branigin |first1=William |title=Aquino Endorses Ex-aide |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1992/01/26/aquino-endorses-ex-aide/3a00bea3-fb08-4f1b-b756-e6e7a03039eb/ |access-date=10 April 2021 |newspaper=Washington Post |date=26 January 1992}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Putzel |first1=James |title=Democratization and Clan Politics: The 1992 Philippine Elections |journal=South East Asia Research |date=March 1, 1995 |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=24–26 |doi=10.1177/0967828X9500300103 |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0967828X9500300103|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Ramos won, albeit under controversial circumstances and allegations of electoral fraud.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Daljit |last2=Kiat |first2=Liak Teng |title=Southeast Asian Affairs 2005 |year=2005 |publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies |isbn=978-981-230-306-6 |page=293 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZMBaxmiPJL8C&pg=PA293 |access-date=10 April 2021 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Ramos Is Declared New President 6 Weeks After Philippine Election |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/23/world/ramos-is-declared-new-president-6-weeks-after-philippine-election.html |access-date=10 April 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=23 June 1992}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Guerrero |first1=Aileen |title=Cheating Apparently A Way Of Life In Philippine Politics With PM-Philippines-Election |url=https://apnews.com/article/5d31e6710e662582047c454ae4c84bbc |access-date=10 April 2021 |work=AP News |date=22 May 1992}}</ref> The [[1992 Philippine general election|1992 elections]] were the first to be synchronized, with presidential, legislative, and local elections held simultaneously.<ref name="Teehankee2002"/>{{rp|167–169}} With the [[1997 Asian financial crisis]] damaging the image of economy liberalism, and with no clear successor to Ramos,<ref name="Magno"/>{{rp|252–253}} Ramos's vice president [[Joseph Estrada]] won the [[1998 Philippine presidential election|1998 election]] with a comfortable margin on a populist campaign appealing directly to poorer voters.<ref name="Wataru"/>{{rp|95–97}}

The Estrada administration was embroiled in charges of cronyism and corruption, leading to his impeachment by the [[House of Representatives of the Philippines|House of Representatives]].<ref name="Abinales2005"/>{{rp|274–276}} In the [[Trial of Joseph Estrada|impeachment trial]], Estrada's allies in the Senate successfully prevented evidence to be presented, triggering [[2001 EDSA Revolution|massive protests]].<ref name="WashingtonPost2001">{{cite news |last1=Chandrasekaran |first1=Rajiv |title=Estrada Impeachment Trial Thrown Into Chaos |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2001/01/17/estrada-impeachment-trial-thrown-into-chaos/4f8f0b07-028b-4b15-a10c-fc0e51bcba41/ |access-date=16 April 2021 |newspaper=Washington Post |date=17 January 2001}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Bociurkiw |first1=Michael |title=Revolution by Cell Phone |url=https://www.forbes.com/asap/2001/0910/028.html |access-date=16 April 2021 |work=Forbes |date=2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010918183200/https://www.forbes.com/asap/2001/0910/028.html |archive-date=18 September 2001 |quote=When hundreds of thousands of protesters massed in central Manila in January to oust disgraced Philippine President Joseph Estrada, they were lured out of their homes and offices, not by megaphones or gunfire but by millions of instant messages broadcast to their cellular telephones.}}</ref> The military withdrew their support from Estrada and transferred their allegiance to Vice President Arroyo; the Supreme Court later ruled the presidency as vacant, and Estrada left [[Malacañang Palace]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Estrada leaves presidential palace |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/estrada-leaves-presidential-palace-20010120 |access-date=11 April 2021 |work=News24 |date=20 January 2001}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Philippines President to Resign |url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=81657&page=1 |access-date=11 April 2021 |work=ABC News |language=en}}</ref>

[[File:Rodrigo Duterte and his predecessors (Ramos, Estrada, Arroyo and Aquino III).jpg|thumb|left|Presidents [[Joseph Estrada]], [[Gloria Macapagal Arroyo]], [[Rodrigo Duterte]], [[Fidel V. Ramos]], and [[Benigno Aquino III]]]]

Arroyo was sworn in as president on January 20, 2001. Estrada's supporters launched their own [[EDSA III|mass movement]], which was ultimately unsuccessful.<ref name="Wataru"/>{{rp|101–103}}<ref>{{cite news |title=Rebellion' quashed in the Philippines |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2001/fyi/news/05/01/philippines/index.html |access-date=16 April 2021 |work=CNN |date=May 1, 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180107063320/http://edition.cnn.com/2001/fyi/news/05/01/philippines/index.html |archive-date=7 January 2018}}</ref> Arroyo's [[People Power Coalition]] won a majority of seats in the [[2001 Philippine general election|2001 elections]] and therefore consolidated power. In 2003, [[Oakwood Mutiny|a failed coup attempt]] took place in the central business district.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Banlaoi |first1=Rommel |title=Philippine Security in the Age of Terror: National, Regional, and Global Challenges in the Post-9/11 World |date=October 13, 2009 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-1-4398-1551-9 |page=104 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hi_NBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA104 |access-date=31 January 2021 |language=en}}</ref> As she had served less than four years as president, Arroyo was eligible for re-election.<ref name="Gatmaytan-Mango"/>{{rp|7}} She won the [[2004 Philippine presidential election|2004 election]] with a slim plurality. It was later exposed that Arroyo [[Hello Garci scandal|rigged the election]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=SarDesai |first1=D. R. |title=Southeast Asia, Student Economy Edition: Past and Present |date=October 3, 2018 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-429-97268-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=USZhDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT269 |access-date=31 January 2021 |language=en}}</ref> This second term saw [[Manila Peninsula siege|another coup attempt]].<ref name="Dayley2019">{{cite book |last1=Dayley |first1=Robert |title=Southeast Asia in the New International Era |date=2019 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-429-76888-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6_rADwAAQBAJ&pg=PT166 |access-date=16 April 2021 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Grote-Beverborg |first1=Tobias |title=Failed Putsch Attempt in the Philippines |url=https://www.dw.com/en/failed-putsch-attempt-in-the-philippines/a-5213334 |access-date=16 April 2021 |work=DW News |date=29 November 2007}}</ref> By the end of her presidency, Arroyo was the most unpopular president since the 1986 People Power Revolution.<ref>{{cite news |title=Manila's Arroyo most unpopular leader since 86: poll |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-philippines-arroyo-idUSSP6098620080718 |access-date=31 January 2021 |work=Reuters |date=18 July 2008 |language=en}}</ref>

Before the [[2010 Philippine presidential election|2010 election]], former president Aquino died, and her son, [[Benigno Aquino III]], won the election.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gomez |first1=Jim |title=Aquino opens up lead in Philippine vote |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna37074632 |access-date=30 January 2021 |work=NBC News |date=11 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210130234800/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna37074632 |archive-date=30 January 2021 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Philippine elections get under way |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2010/5/10/philippine-elections-get-under-way |access-date=30 January 2021 |work=Al Jazeera |publisher=Al Jazeera Media Network |date=10 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210130234628/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2010/5/10/philippine-elections-get-under-way |archive-date=30 January 2021 |language=en}}</ref> His administration was politically stable, seen as relatively clean, and had the highest ratings since Marcos.<ref name="DeinlaThompson">{{cite book |last=Thompson |first=Mark R. |title=From Aquino II to Duterte (2010–2018): Change, Continuity—and Rupture |date=June 10, 2019 |publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies |editor1-last=Deinla |editor1-first=Imelda |editor2-last=Dressel |editor2-first=Björn |isbn=978-981-4843-28-7 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RVe_DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA39 |chapter=The Rise of Illiberal Democracy in the Philippines: Duterte's Early Presidency}}</ref>{{rp|42–43}} While his popularity dipped towards the end of his administration, it was linked to perceptions about the failure of change within the wider political system, rather than to Aquino himself.<ref name="DeinlaThompson"/>{{rp|45}} In the [[2016 Philippine presidential election|2016 presidential election]], Aquino's [[Mar Roxas|handpicked successor]] was decisively defeated by [[Davao City]] mayor [[Rodrigo Duterte]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Official count: Duterte is new president, Robredo is vice president |url=https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2016/05/27/official-count-duterte-president-robredo-vp.html |access-date=30 January 2021 |work=CNN Philippines |date=28 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160528155551/http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2016/05/27/official-count-duterte-president-robredo-vp.html |archive-date=28 May 2016 |url-status=dead |language=en }}</ref>

Duterte ran on a populist platform, winning votes from various socioeconomic classes, with particularly strong appeal to the middle classes.<ref name="DeinlaIntroduction"/>{{rp|18}} Duterte implemented a [[Philippine drug war|war on drugs]] that led to thousands of deaths.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Romero |first1=Alexis |title=Duterte gov't probing over 16,000 drug war-linked deaths as homicide, not EJK |url=https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/12/26/1771944/duterte-govt-probing-over-16000-drug-war-linked-deaths-homicide-not-ejk |access-date=30 January 2021 |work=The Philippine Star |date=26 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180103072433/http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/12/26/1771944/duterte-govt-probing-over-16000-drug-war-linked-deaths-homicide-not-ejk |archive-date=3 January 2018}}</ref> Duterte then prioritized [[Dutertenomics|infrastructure spending]],<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lema |first1=Karen |title=Beyond war on drugs, Philippines' Duterte seen setting up economic boom |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-philippines-economy-duterte-idUSKCN10X2A2 |access-date=19 April 2021 |work=Reuters |date=23 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822231619/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-philippines-economy-duterte-idUSKCN10X2A2 |archive-date=22 August 2016 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=de Vera |first1=Ben O. |last2=Yee |first2=Jovic |last3=Camus |first3=Miguel R. |title=Dutertenomics: 'Golden age of infrastructure' |url=https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/890225/dutertenomics-golden-age-of-infrastructure#ixzz4mWLxrxbs |access-date=19 April 2021 |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |date=19 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170422134513/https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/890225/dutertenomics-golden-age-of-infrastructure |archive-date=22 April 2017 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Malindog-Uy |first1=Anna |title="Build Build Build" Program Amid a Pandemic |url=https://theaseanpost.com/article/build-build-build-program-amid-pandemic |access-date=19 April 2021 |work=The ASEAN Post |date=13 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126174423/https://theaseanpost.com/article/build-build-build-program-amid-pandemic |archive-date=26 January 2021 |language=en}}</ref> and sought to end the communist insurgency.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Studies (IISS) |first1=The International Institute for Strategic |title=Armed Conflict Survey 2020 |date=25 May 2020 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-000-19224-7 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=13rnDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT151 |access-date=10 April 2021 |language=en |chapter=Table 1}}</ref><ref name="SchreerTan2019">{{cite book |last1=Schreer |first1=Benjamin |last2=Tan |first2=Andrew T. H. |title=Terrorism and Insurgency in Asia: A contemporary examination of terrorist and separatist movements |date=1 Apr 2019 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-429-63224-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=twWQDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT291 |access-date=19 April 2021 |language=en}}</ref> The administration made peace with the [[Moro Islamic Liberation Front]], replacing the ARMM with the more powerful [[Bangsamoro]] region.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Punzalan |first1=Jamaine |title=Duterte on Bangsamoro anniversary: 'Give full support to the BARMM' |url=https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/01/21/21/duterte-muslim-leaders-celebrate-2nd-bangsamoro-anniversary |access-date=30 January 2021 |work=ABS-CBN News |date=21 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126051235/https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/21/21/duterte-muslim-leaders-celebrate-2nd-bangsamoro-anniversary |archive-date=26 January 2021 |language=en |url-status=live |quote=The Bangsamoro or "nation of Moros" is the culmination of a tumultuous peace process separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and successive governments, aimed at ending conflict that has killed at least 120,000 people since the 1970s.}}</ref> The Duterte government has largely continued Aquino's economic policies, including those focused on the poor. Its political policies have shown a shift towards [[illiberal democracy]], with the politicization of legal institutions and less regard for checks and balances.<ref name="DeinlaIntroduction"/>{{rp|26–28}}

In May 2022, [[Bongbong Marcos|Ferdinand Marcos Jr]] (known by his nickname "Bongbong"), son of former president Ferdinand Marcos, received nearly 59 percent of the vote and won the [[2022 Philippine presidential election|presidential election]] by landslide. His vice presidential candidate was [[Sara Duterte]], daughter of then-president Rodrigo Duterte.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ferdinand Marcos Jr wins landslide election victory in the Philippines |url=https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20220509-ferdinand-marcos-jr-wins-landslide-election-victory-in-the-philippines |work=France 24 |date=9 May 2022 |language=en}}</ref> On 30 June 2022, Marcos was sworn in as the Philippine president and Sara Duterte was sworn in as vice-president.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ferdinand Marcos Jr sworn in as Philippines president, replacing Duterte |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-61976940 |work=BBC News |date=30 June 2022}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Censorship in the Philippines]]
* [[Sovereignty of the Philippines]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
* {{cite web|url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/constitutions/1987-constitution/|title=The Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines|year=1987|publisher=Official Gazette of the Government of the Philippines|ref={{harvid|Philippine Constitution|1987}}|access-date=December 24, 2020|archive-date=January 5, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190105085906/https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/constitutions/1987-constitution/|url-status=dead}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |last1=Hutchcroft |first1=Paul D. |title=Booty Capitalism: The Politics of Banking in the Philippines |date=1998 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-1-5017-3863-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lOyYDwAAQBAJ}}
* {{cite book
|last1=Kalaw
|first1=Maximo M.
|url=http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=philamer;idno=AFJ2233.0001.001
|title=The development of Philippine politics (1882-1920)
|publisher=Oriental commercial
|year=1927}}
* {{cite web |last1=Mendoza |first1=Ronald |last2=Beja |first2=Edsel Jr. |last3=Venida |first3=Victor |last4=Yap |first4=David |title=Political dynasties and poverty: Resolving the "chicken or the egg" question |url=https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/48380/ |website=Munich Personal RePEc Archive |publisher=Munich University Library |date=July 17, 2013}}
* {{cite book |last1=Muñoz |first1=Mauro R. |title=Philippine Governance and Constitution |date=2002 |publisher=Goodwill Trading Co., Inc. |isbn=978-971-574-062-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uDUcZOS9nPQC}}
* {{cite web |last1=Weissenbach |first1=Kristina |title=Political Parties and Party Types - Conceptual Approaches to the Institutionalization of Political Parties in Transitional States: The Case of the Philippines |url=https://www.kas.de/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=316a3cff-b3cf-e6c0-9662-344bb61e58ef&groupId=252038 |publisher=Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung e.V. |date=2010}}

{{Philippines topics}}
{{Asia topic|Politics of}}

[[Category:Politics of the Philippines| ]]
[[Category:Politics of Southeast Asia|Philippines]]