Political Party

Stability
and
Performance
in the Philippines

1
 political
parties
supposed to serve the purpose of
interest aggregation,
leadership formation and
candidate-selection

However, in some countries like the Philippines, parties

have largely been a mechanism to facilitate patronage
and personality-oriented politics. 2
political
parties
Because of its weaknesses, the party system has
failed to offer meaningful policy choices—and so
to provide for orderly change. (Almonte, 2007)

Philippine-style democracy provides a convenient

system by which power can be rotated at the top
without effective participation of those below.
(Hutchcroft & Rocamora, 2003)
3
 Why are Political Parties
MAL-DEVELOPED?
1.
2. The weak linkage of political parties to citizens.

3.
4. (Timberman 1991; Lande 1965; Aceron, et.al. 2009)
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 Country Report
PHILIPIINES
Baseline the organizational performance
and stability of selected political parties.

Comparative points to elucidate on the

overall picture of party performance
of selected political parties.

Key informant interviews

Analysis of official party documents
Review of literature
Media monitoring

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Short Party History
Institutionalization tool
Raison d’etre, philosophy, ideology, program
Important leaders and their main contribution
Management of the party, including finances  
Target Groups and Main Support Groups Among Voter
Main campaign strategies and why they have been 
successful or not
Coalition capability of the party
International relations, membership in a political 
family
Main contributions to the nation’s progress 
inclusion of women and youth in the party
Specific features of political culture
Role in reform projects to develop the political system
Candidate selection within the party 
Public Relations and general image 
National comparison 
Regional comparison  6
 
 Institutional-legal context

Roots in Autonom
society y Organizational
Level
Management & Finance
Coherence Democratizing Practices
External Relations
Stability

Performance
Coalitional capability
Effectiveness of Strategies
Contributions to Nation’s Progress
Track Record in Political Reform
political culture 7
 Institutional-legal context

Roots in Autonom
society y Organizational
Level
Management & Finance
Coherence Democratizing Practices
External Relations
Stability

Performance
Coalitional capability
Effectiveness of Strategies
Contributions to Nation’s Progress
Track Record in Political Reform
political culture 8
non-mainstream
1) a few members holding
elected posts in the
government (in this case,
only in party-list and local
governments),
1) members in highest 2) cannot field a complete
elected positions in the slate in the national
government, elections, but are with
2) they became once a national prominence
majority party, and through advocacies and
3) normally, they field in coalition-building, and
almost a complete slate of 3) there is also perceived
national candidates in the distinct ideological
elections tendencies among these
parties, at least in paper.

mainstream 9
non-mainstream

mainstream 10
 Party’s “Success” Indicators
• Contributions to nation’s progress
• Role in developing the political system
• Performance of standard/ generic functions
• Level of institutionalization
• Others
multi-party • History
system winner-take-all • Ideology (Vision, Mission)
system that
does not • Membership
encourage
political • Leadership
Plurality system power-sharing
party • Management and finance
• Decision-making processes
• Political education and
party system
the president capability-building program
presidential the institutions • Platform development
becomes the system
electoral
centerofofpower
gravityare • Campaign strategy development
ofaccountable to
government system • Support base & public relations
political
the people
negotiations • Candidate selection
democracy political system • Accountability and disciplinary
processes
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 Party
Stability
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clamor for an independent republic

reaction to the growing force of the

CPP

engage current political dispensation

engage post-EDSA 1 democratic space

fermentation of liberal ideas;

manifestation of US influence
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Linked to political and economic elites

Linked to civil society and grassroots

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PARTY-SWITCHING:
Instability

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 mainstream
political parties

Link to society

temporary

patronage-based

during elections

scattered efforts
owing to reform-
oriented leaders
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 Parties weak vis-a-vis
political elites
 autonomy is hardly felt
 identity, direction and performance dependent on
most famous members
 level of autonomy varies; there are efforts to party
assert autonomy 17
 Weak autonomy Boils down to
candidates
How they select candidates and
And how they form coalitions personalities

All the mainstream parties claim

presence at the local level, but
generally, they are only active during
elections and are largely hinged on
local candidates or member-
politicians in the locality
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 In terms of being programmatic

there are efforts to solidify and

operationalize their ideology

Engagement/connection with
CSO who have governance
advocacies and
political reform agenda
provision of services prevailing political trend
directly to the poor remains personality-
seems consistent: oriented; diluted by
economic liberty political horse-trading
first before political
rights 19
PARTY-SWITCHING:
Instability

CANNOT BE ABATED
Unless serious structural
change is introduced
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 Number of Votes and Seats of Non-Mainstream Parties

3.9 M votes
1998
3.5 M votes Akbayan! Bayan Muna

Election Votes Seats Votes Seats

1998 232, 376 1

2001 377,852 2 1,708,253 3

852,473 3
1999
2004 1,203,305 3

9 M votes 2007 446,000 2 979,039 3

2010 1,057, 370 2 746,019 2

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 non-mainstream political parties
Sustained connection to grassroots

Integral to party’s operations and survival

weakness in translating their ideological resources

to programmatic options that are politically
palatable in electoral and governance arena.

Challenge: establish clear link Dynamics

between advocacies and in terms of
tactics to grand ideological ideological
vision and goals tendencies
NO party-switching
Only defections 22
 Level of
Organization

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Management
Has a headquarters administered by the
Director General with the Deputy Directors
and a lean support staff.
has the most progress in maintaining the basic org requirements

Has a headquarters managed by the

Secretary General with some staff.
org structure and its efficacy is still hard to assess given their new
structure after the recent merger
Headquarters is adjunct to the office of
Villar Foundation, without demarcation of
responsibilities for staff.
poorest organizational condition as they see no need for it
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Management

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Membership

Conservative Estimate: 10,000

changes at an undetermined rate due to the fluidity of party loyalty amongst its members

Estimate: 2,000,000 card bearing mems

there is hardly any way this can be validated

More than 40,000 registered as of 2010

as evidenced by chapter rosters across the country

Estimate 100,000 to 150,000

it also lacks a more systematized accounting, as it does not also maintain a database

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 Finance

For the Nacionalista Party, finance is known to depend

on Party President Manuel Villar’s largesse.
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 Finance
Funding for non-mainstream parties is also a problem,
which they address by collaborating with affiliate NGOs and
international partners

This however is no without problem because of lack of

consistency and problems on sustainability.

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Membership Fees
LP was able to make arrangements with
the salary system of its elected members
in Congress where contributions are
automatically deducted
somehow successful in getting support, but efficiency of the
scheme is still unknown

collects fees from members occupying

national seats while the local chapters are
left to collect fees from their local
members
collection is hardly enforced

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Membership Fees
largely relies on its local chapters to
implement their own schemes in charging
and collection dues
collected fees are harldy substantial to fund party operations

by-laws prescribes a minimal annual

membership dues determined according
to financial capacity of its members,
which are to be collected from the local
chapters
this is not strictly enforced as well

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Decision-making processes

Even if they have officers,

these positions are vague
and have no clear-cut
definitions; primarily ad-
hoc.
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 Decision-making processes
Members at the barrio level is organized into Municipal
and City Chapters.
Municipal and City Chapters are represented in the
highest governing body of the party called the National
Convention, which meets every 3 years or as decided
upon by the National Council.
The National Council elects the National Executive
Committee.
National Congress (held every 3 years) is composed of the
party leadership and representatives from local branches.
Top officials can only be elected by the National Congress.
The National Executive Council is formed through the
National Congress, with the election of 7 representatives per
geographical region, 5 representatives for the National
Capital Region, 8 sectoral representatives, 3 representatives
from locally-elected members, 1 party ombudsman/arbiter,
and all their elected representatives in Congress.
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Accountability Mechanisms
The LP and Lakas
Constitution provides for
specific disciplinary
actions and procedures
for removing or
suspending officials on
certain grounds.
The party members’
dependence on Villar serve
as an informal mechanism for
control. The party itself claims
that it recognizes the
autonomy of its member
politicians in making
decisions.
Akbayan’s strong social
movements pressures leaders
to account on the agenda
agreed upon by the parties.
Bayan Muna also has
records of sanctioning
some members who
violated rules, although
such incidents were
rather isolated, which the
party attributes to their
strong disciplinary
mechanisms. 33
Majority of the 46 parliamentary seats won by LP
in the 2010 elections were won by entrenched
political families

to be a candidate of Nacionalista Party’s,

one must already have had a solid,
personally-built base in one’s locality.
Capacity building seminars of Lakas are
usually given to position-bearing
members or running candidates
Mainstream Parties focus on resources
and Winnability in Candidate Selection
Non-Mainstreaam Parties have Democratic
Process but Shallow Pool of Leaders
Bayan Muna highlights Track Record
An incentive for members in Akbayan party to
internally organize is proportional representation
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YOUTH in the Party

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Women in the Party
Nacionalista Party does not have an
automatic representation of women in its
organizational structure.

Akbayan is the only party that ensures automatic

allocation of seats to women, 30% of seats, in all
structures and bodies of the party.
Bayan Muna has an affiliate women
group, Gabriela.

The Liberal Party and Lakas, recognizes the

need to work more on women participation in
the party and in politics as a whole.
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Party
Performance

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Relating with the Public
Mainstream parties are catch-
all in scope and are therefore
not specifically catering to
certain sectors or segments of
the population based on a
program.
Non-mainstream cannot be classified
as catch-all parties, owing to their
ideological underpinning and program
Campaign strategies remain personality-
based and are more often just about
packaging the party candidate, since hardly
does the electoral respond to party-based
campaigning

There is no indication that the votes

garnered by the candidates are consisting
of the base of supporters of the
mainstream political parties

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Relating with the Public
Parties/Elections ’98 ’04 ’10
NP President - GMA Manny Villar
Candidate 12,905,808 5,573,835
LP President Alfredo Lim GMA Noy Aquino
Candidate 2,344,362 12,905,808 15,208,678
Lakas-Kampi-NUCD JoeDV GMA Gibo Teordoro
4,268,483 12,905,808 4,095,839
Senatorial Elections Results for 2010: Highest and Lowest /Party

LP Lakas
Candidates Candidates

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Campaign Strategies

Even the non-mainstream in the

2010 elections had to contend
with personality-oriented brand
of politics in the Philippines

Strategies that the parties

employ during elections are Weak Coalitional Politics
largely personality-oriented

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Contribution to Nation’s Progress &
Track Record on Party Reform
There are hardly any R
PE
significant advocacies won by CAR
the mainstream parties as a
party
Cheaper
Medicines

Peace
h t s
Non-mainstream parties have Rig
many advocacies that are an
party-driven Hum

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Contribution to Nation’s Progress &
Track Record on Party Reform
ills
B
Akbayan consistently 4 2 Ch
f ed
supported but w/ less fervor o
t ss Ch arter
u
o pa an
BM: reform proposals not 2 ge
e f o rm
solving the problem
a r t y R
P
Bill
Liberal and Lakas, however, n e n ts
were observed to have Propo
stronger drive towards Local Government
reforms than Nacionalista Code of 1992
that only sees political
reform possible with
economic liberty
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Contribution to Nation’s Progress &
Track Record on Party Reform

Patronage politics is Non mainstream parties consciously

accepted as a norm in veer away from patronage politics but
some parties are not free from it

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Contribution to Nation’s Progress &
Track Record on Party Reform

The political system Post Martial Law

Reforms
that is present in the Decentralization Policy
Philippines and its Party-list System
Comprehensive Agrarian
resilience to change, Reforms Program
can be attributed to
National Anti-Poverty
mainstream political Commission
parties, especially to Breaking of economic
monopolies
the two oldest parties

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Conclusion
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non-mainstream
political parties
presence of strong
party-based politics

autonomy
coherence
link to society

organization
46
mainstream
political parties
Scattered efforts of
leaders (LP & Lakas)
autonomy

coherence

link to society

organization

Absence of conducive institutional-legal framework

and prevailing political culture which hinders efforts
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mainstream political parties
Establish
Maintain
Traditional Political Order

elitist
patronage-based

personality-oriented

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 MAXIMIZE

bright spots
policy advocacy
cross-party dialogue

build support constituency

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End
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