Parties and personalities: The people, groups and organisations that matter in the political arena

The political scene in the Philippines has long been dominated by strong personalities, with particular dynasties and families exercising considerable influence over the running of the republic. These personalities and families are usually centred on a local area, the patronage of which provides a long-term support base. They have tended to eclipse parties as the focus of debate and popular mobilisation. There is also a range of associations, groups and other organisations with an important role in politics. These include the church, business associations, the military, and labour and agricultural unions, as well as political parties.

POLITICAL FAMILIES: Perhaps the most important political family currently is that of the president, Benigno Aquino III, or “Noynoy”. His mother, Corazon, was the first president in office following the fall of President Ferdinand Marcos from power in the EDSA Revolution. Corazon, or “Cory”, was the daughter of a representative – the Cojuangco family is also a political one – and wife of assassinated opposition leader Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. Ninoy was himself a leading senator and former governor, whose father had in turn been a speaker of the House of Representatives.

Ninoy had been highly critical of President Marcos and his wife, Imelda Marcos, a stance that led to his imprisonment and likely his later assassination. Imelda was a first lady who enjoyed considerable power in the years of her husband’s dictatorship. She still has a considerable political following in the Philippines, making the Marcos family a significant political grouping – while Imelda now sits in the House of Representatives.

One of Ferdinand Marcos’ cousins is Fidel Ramos, who served as president between 1992 and 1998. Ramos had, however, broken from Marcos over EDSA, a move widely credited with sparking the latter’s downfall.

Other presidents with powerful political dynasties behind them include former president and current congresswoman Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Her two sons have both had political careers, while her husband, the former first gentleman, Jose Miguel Arroyo, has a brother and sister who are also both politicians. The Macapagal family includes former head of state Diosdado Pangan Macapagal, the country’s ninth president.

Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo succeeded Joseph Estrada as president in 2001, following EDSA II (see overview), with the Estrada family also politically involved.

Parties themselves are generally seen as weak groupings, often coalescing around a single candidate and with little in the way of strict ideology, with the exception of those such as the communists and Islamists.

PARTY POWER: The nation’s current president is a member of the Liberal Party, his father’s party, and one founded by the first president, Manuel Roxas, as a split from the Nacionalista Party (NP). The Nacionalistas ran senator Manny Villar against Noynoy Aquino in the 2010 ballot, coming third, behind Joseph Estrada, with whom Villar had clashed when he was speaker of the House of Representatives in 2000 and backed efforts to impeach Estrada. Estrada, however, was still able to run in the 2010 election as the candidate of the Force of the Filipino Masses (PMP), a party which many see as an election vehicle for its presidential candidate.

The party placing fourth in that presidential ballot was Lakas-Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas Kampi CMD), a centre-right party that elected both Ramos and Arroyo to office in earlier elections. Coming in fifth was Rise Up Philippines (Bangon Pilipinas Party, BPP), whose candidate, Eddie Villanueva, is a Christian evangelical leader.

One more significant party is that of Vice-President Jejomar “Jojo” Binay, the Philippine Democratic Party-People’s Power. Their national general-secretary is Jose “Joey” de Venecia III, son of a former five-term house speaker. The Catholic Church also possesses significant political power in the Philippines, and under the late Cardinal Jaime Lachica Sin it took an important role in the EDSA events of 1986 and 2001. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines is the official organisation of the episcopacy and makes its views known on issues ranging from the family to the environment.