A revolutionary government was declared by the Katipunan during the Philippine Revolutionor

the War for Independence of the Philippines against the Spanish colonial administration over
the islands. The Tejeros Convention of 1897 saw the election of officers for a revolutionary
government. The independence of the Philippines from Spain was declared by Katipunan
leader, Emilio Aguinaldo, who is recognized as the first President of the country, on June 12,
1898. Six days later a revolutionary government over the Philippines was officially declared.

Following the fall of the authoritarian administration of President Ferdinand Marcosdue

to the People Power Revolution of February 1986, Marcos' successor, President Corazon
Aquino established a revolutionary government with the signing of the "Freedom
Constitution" by the virtue of Proclamation No. 3, which established human rights as the
core of Philippine democracy.

WHEREAS, the direct mandate of the people as manifested by their extraordinary

action demands the complete reorganization of the government, restoration of
democracy, protection of basic rights, rebuilding of confidence in the entire
government system, eradication of graft and corruption, restoration of peace and
order, maintenance of the supremacy of civilian authority over the military, and the
transition to government under a New Constitution in the shortest time possible.

In October 13, 2017, Rodrigo Dutertethreatened the opposition that he shall declare a
de facto authoritarian government through a revolutionary government that will hinder
liberalism in the Philippines. He cited the revolutionary government of Corazon Aquino,
however, experts disagree with his citing of Aquino's People Power Revolution as the
1986 revolution was initiated by the people of the Philippines, and not by an incumbent
president. The opposition criticized Duterte's statements, stating that his revolutionary
government will be another martial law age in the Philippines.
He has threatened communist rebels of arrest and a full-scale war against the CPP–
NPA–NDF once a revolutionary government that would last until the end of his term was
declared. Though by November 2017, Duterte has dropped the idea saying that he
doesn't need to declare a revolutionary government in order to arrest communist rebels.
1.) Existing institutions and processes will no longer be functioning.
The Congress, Senate, and courts may have to be abolished or decrease in power. That
means the positions of politicians will be diminished. All local government officials or
politicians such as mayors, governors will be replaced or included under the military. The
courts, including the Supreme Court, may have to be neutralized and overruled by the
executive department. The people in the bureaucracy will remain but they cannot work
effectively and efficiently under a new set of rules.

2.) The President will have both executive and legislative powers.
Since the Congress will lose its power, the president will have both executive and legislative
powers. Like the former President Cory Aquino, soon after the People Power uprising in
1986 that oust the late President Ferdinand Marcos, President Aquino released a
proclamation including the adoption of a provisional charter as she discarded the 1973
constitution and also implementing changes in the government
She guaranteed an “orderly transition” to a government under a new constitution (which is
the 1986 Freedom constitution) that limits all future presidents from implementing martial
law the same way as the late President Ferdinand Marcos did and as well as shutting down
the Congress and all elected officials.

3.)The economic implications of a revolutionary government will dire.

Our domestic and foreign investments will decrease, it is also the case in other countries
under a dictatorship. OFW remittances, BPOs and Tourism will go down taking with them
our domestic demand. Then our poverty level, which has been going down, will start going
up.

4.) Communist insurgents will expand.

Because of the increasing level of our poverty rate, communist insurgents or protests will
start to grow. The fastest membership expansion of the NPA was in the martial law years
wherein injustice and poverty in the urban and rural areas were forced to rebel due to lack
of better choices.
5.) The country will be under an autocratic form of government.
If a revolutionary type of government will occur, the country will be under a one-man rule
which others do not agree of. But, according to a survey, five (5) out of ten (10) Filipinos are
still open to an autocratic form of government (Pew Research Center).

Advatages

A revolutionary government is the only solution to fast-track the constitutional reforms in

our political system and pave the way for the cultural renaissance that should ideally
come along.

Recall that the revolutionary government first established by the Katipuneros during the
fight for independence against the Spaniards was weak, divided and thus wavered and
fell.

Likewise, the revolutionary government instituted by the late Cory Aquino after booting
out the Marcos dictatorship cracked due to power play, greed, corruption and the rise of
a new oligarchy.

Hopefully, these twin episodes in our governance history can serve as models for
PRRD to think about to avoid committing the mistakes of his predecessors and fall into
the same traps.

First of all, a revolutionary government will effectively take down basic notorious political
institutions where corruption dwelt and thrived. At the same time, it will get rid of the
millions of deadwoods in the bureaucracy and take in fresh and progressive minds into
the government service.

A revolutionary government will hasten the country’s shift to federalism; empower the
citizens to draw directions to self-determination; to cultivate

positive values that have eluded us because of the negative effects of foreign
colonization; and give rise to a new breed of young, energetic good leaders who have
otherwise been sidetracked by the vicious cycle of the trditional political system and
patronage.

A revolutionary government will also get rid of the unfair business cycle where only a
few (called the oligarch) has risen to peaks of success while the millions of small Filipino
micro-entrepreneurs painfully struggle to earn a decent living.

In my view, a revolutionary government will create fair and just living conditions among
the citizens and level the playing field. This has been a national aspiration.

I find the circumstances today very encouraging as the Duterte government carefully
moves to re-chart the political directions of the nation. The Marawi conflict mirrors the
need for federalism, people empowerment and united stand against abuses and mal-
governance.