1.

1.

One of the prominent interpretations of Philippine politics is the contested democracy

which is more relevant when explaining the politics of the Philippines today. As Quimpo (2012)
stated, the contested democracy approach acknowledges that the colonial and post-colonial elite
rules constituted a single continuous seam in Philippine politics and consider the fight against the
Filipinos' hierarchical structures. Philippine politics started even before the colonial period with
the existence of Datu and Rajah, yet the Spaniards incorporated generals and structured the
politics of the Philippines.

Since the colonialism period, Filipinos were colonialized by the Spaniards in a way that
we became one of their colonies and gained benefit from our national treasures and natural
resources. However, our ancestors were also fighting for our freedom in the middle of that elite
rule from the Spaniards. Under Spanish colonialism, Filipinos planned to fight against the
Spaniards. The revolution resulted in the imprisonment of those who went against the
government. Filipinos continued to fight for our freedom, and in the end, we regained our
freedom and became a democratic government. The contested democracy that we have
developed was because of the fight against hierarchical structures while being ruled by the
colonial and post-colonial elites was accounted.

These events are relevant to political interpretation in our country because the Philippines
has been fighting for its independence in different wars and revolts. The elites and the lower
classes have fought for our independence. The revolution was for the lower classes to go against
foreign intervention and domination in our politics, just like the colonization of Spain and Japan.
We should also consider the struggle of the Muslims against oppression and discrimination
alongside the CPP's armed struggles. All of the triggering factors of these revolutionary
movements is the "democracy from below." The people "below" are the Filipino people;
therefore, democracy exists because of the power of the people.
 2.

An issue I would like to identify is the Marcos Regime and the Estrada Regime, which
were both ousted by the use of EDSA People Power. EDSA People Power I and People Power II
ousted the former presidents in this regime. In considering both the regimes, elites ruled the
uneducated Filipinos. It happened because none of them were educated enough to have the
courage to run for a position. It ended up having elites in the said positions. In the case of
Marcos Regime, he assigned the positions to the elites as well. Therefore, the Philippines is
being ruled by the elites, just like in the colonial period of the Philippines.

These regimes were also ousted because another group of elites was not satisfied with the
ruling of these elites. The movement became successful with the help of the people "below"
voices to fight for social justice. The goal of the EDSA was to oust elite politics and have a
democratic government that the people rule. It also means that people have the power. Thus the
explanation of the said "People Power." In the perspective of the contested democracy approach,
the Philippines may not be colonized but is being ruled solely by the country's elites. The
struggle for independence from Marcos Regime elites and Estrada Regime elites triggered the
two revolutionary movements from the elites and the people from "below" to arise.

The Filipinos struggled to fight for hierarchical structures that were a product of the elitist
government because of the abuse of power. The contested democracy that the Philippines had
showed the Philippines' political culture and how we fought against the acts of elitism to achieve
democracy. The EDSA People Power I and II was a movement by both the elites and the lower
class to oust the hierarchical structures made by the governing elites.