5.5 The.-5.5 The Contemporary Government of The Philippines: Third, Fourth, and Fifth Republics-01

Unit 5: The Evolution of Philippine Politics
Lesson 5.5
The Contemporary Government of the Philippines:
Third, Fourth, and Fifth Republics
Contents
Introduction 1
Learning Objectives 2
Explore 2
Discover 4
The Third, Fourth, and Fifth Republics 4
The Third Philippine Republic 4
Government Structure under the 1935 Constitution 5
The Politics of the Early Philippine Independence 6
The Fourth Philippine Republic 9
Authoritarian Government Structure under the 1973 Constitution 9
The Politics of Marcos Dictatorship 11
The Fifth Philippine Republic 13
Government Structure under the 1987 Constitution 14
The Post-Marcos Electoral Politics 15
Wrap-Up 18
Try This! 19
Challenge Yourself 20
Reflect on This 23
Photo Credits 24
Bibliography 24
Lesson 5.5
The Contemporary Government of

the Philippines: Third, Fourth, and
Fifth Republics
Introduction
The politics and governance during a postcolonial state’s early independence period are
crucial. During this stage, the seeds of nation-building and state-building are planted. How
strong democratic institutions will be and how much societal forces will accept them are
not fully known yet. In the case of the Philippines, the triple change of republic is a sign of
our struggle to establish a strong democratic foundation.
5.5. The Contemporary Government of the Philippines: Third, Fourth, and Fifth Republics 1
In this lesson, we will study politics and governance during the Third, Fourth, and Fifth
Philippine Republics. We will look at their respective government structures, political
problems, and contributions to the evolution of politics and governance in the Philippines.
Learning Objectives DepEd Learning Competencies

At the end of this lesson, you should be able to do
In this lesson, you should be able to do the the following:
following: ● Relate the evolution of Philippine politics
and governance (HUMSS_PG12-If-g-19).
● Explain politics and governance
● Describe the different stages in the
during the Third, Fourth, and evolution of Philippine politics and
Fifth Philippine Republics. governance (HUMSS_PG12-If-g-20).

● Analyze the evolution of Philippine politics
● Analyze the contribution of the and governance (HUMSS_PG12-If-g-21).
Third, Fourth, and Fifth Republics
in the evolution of Philippine
politics and governance.
Explore
History Time! 15 minutes
Instructions
1. On the board, the teacher will write the names of the presidents under the Third,
Fourth, and Fifth Philippine Republics.
2. The students are required to write things that they think are related to the
presidents. Each student is required to write entries for at least three presidents.
3. Afterward, the class will synthesize the inputs and try to characterize each of the
presidents using the entries under each of them.
Guide Questions
1. Based on the answers, what are the most memorable things about the presidents of
the contemporary Philippine government?
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
2. Based on the answers, what seems to be the most common political issues during
the three republics?
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Based on the answers, how does the incumbent administration compare to its
predecessors?
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
Discover
The Third, Fourth, and Fifth Republics
The Third, Fourth, and Fifth Republics coincide with the
Words to Remember
Philippines’ formal independence as a sovereign state.
● postcolonial – after
The events that occurred during these periods were
being colonized
crucial junctures for Philippine nation-building and
● authoritarian –
state-building. As a relatively young sovereign state,
ruling by control;
our diverse experiences of elite rule, dictatorship, and
autocratic
electoral democracy during these three republics
● dictator – tyrant;
already reflect the persistent political, economic, and
despot
social problems that we need to fix for us to blossom
● interim – a
into a stable democracy.
temporary
arrangement
What political issues have persisted from the Third

Philippine Republic up to the current Fifth Philippine
Republic?
The Third Philippine Republic

The Third Philippine Republic was inaugurated on July 4, 1946 following the end of the
Commonwealth period after it was briefly interrupted by the Japanese invasion in
1942–1945. The Third Republic was recognized as a free sovereign state by the global
community of states—a foreseeable event given that the Philippines had already been
recognized as an allied nation by the United Nations (UN) as early as wartime 1942.
Government Structure under the 1935 Constitution

Upon the departure of Japanese forces from the Philippines, the 1935 Constitution replaced
the 1943 Constitution used by the Second Republic under Jose P. Laurel. The 1935
Constitution laid the framework of the newly independent Philippine Republic’s government
and governance system. Under it, the Third Republic had a presidential government
consisting of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The executive branch was led
by the president with a term of four years and could be reelected for another term of four
years. Meanwhile, the legislative branch was composed of (1) a Senate consisting of 24
nationally-elected senators, each with a six-year term, and (2) a House of Representatives
consisting of 120 or more representatives elected per district, each with a four-year term.
Table 1 below summarizes the presidents under the Third Republic, their political parties,
and their terms of office.
Table 1. The presidents of the Third Republic
Political
President Term of Office
Party
May 28, 1946–April 15, 1948

Manuel Roxas Liberal Party
(cut short because of his death)
Elpidio Quirino Liberal Party April 17, 1948–December 30, 1953
Nacionalista
Ramon Magsaysay December 30, 1953–March 17, 1957
Party
Nacionalista
Carlos Garcia March 18, 1957–December 30, 1961
Party
Diosdado Macapagal Liberal Party December 30, 1961–December 30, 1965
Nacionalista December 30, 1965–September 21, 1972

Ferdinand Marcos
Party (reelected for a second term)
The Politics of the Early Philippine Independence

The newly-inaugurated Third Republic faced massive economic deprivation following the
destruction brought by the Second World War. The government lacked funds, commodities
were scarce, hyperinflation persisted, and the manufacturing sector was debilitated (“Third
Republic” n.d.). In response, several pro-American policies were enacted under its first
president, Manuel Roxas, with the hopes of reviving the economy. Teehankee (2016, 10)
described the Roxas government as neocolonial because, despite its supposed
independence, it implemented policies that render the country dependent on the United
States. Together with his partymate and successor Elpidio Quirino, Roxas replaced previous
conservative nationalist policies associated with President Manuel Quezon and his
Nacionalista Party.
Fig. 1. The Third Republic’s first president, Manuel Roxas, taking his oath of office during the
independence ceremony on July 4, 1946
Under Roxas, the parity amendment to the 1935 Constitution was successfully adopted. It
gave American citizens and companies the right to utilize the country’s resources in return
for rehabilitation aid. His other policies include the U.S.–Philippine Military Bases
Agreement of 1947 (which gave the United States the right to use several Philippine bases),
the establishment of the Central Bank, and the revision of taxation to increase government
revenues (“Third Republic” n.d.).
Right after Roxas’s death, Elpidio Quirino assumed the presidency and continued Roxas’s
rehabilitation project. He enacted several social amelioration programs and gave assistance
to farmers. However, his administration’s legitimacy gradually eroded upon several
legitimacy issues and corruption scandals, with his rival Jose Laurel even threatening to
revolt. In addition, despite his early fruitful efforts to quell communist insurgency led by the
Hukbo ng Bayan Laban sa Hapon (Hukbalahap) and the Pambansang Kaisahan ng mga
Magbubukid (PKM), mass resistance against his neocolonial policies and the corruption
among the country’s landowning elites grew.
Against this backdrop, the Nacionalista Party regained dominance with the landslide
electoral victory of President Ramon Magsaysay, who adopted a populist-nationalist
campaign platform. Capitalizing on his partial success in appeasing the Hukbalahap
rebellion as Quirino’s defense secretary and with the backing of the United States and
conservative elite groups, he successfully cultivated an “icon-for-the-masses” appeal
(Teehankee 2016, 17). He enacted several pro-masses and pro-farmers reforms like the
Land Reform Act of 1955 and the establishment of the Court of Agrarian Relations. He died
in a plane crash in 1957.
Fig. 2. The crash site of Magsaysay’s plane in Cebu
Magsaysay’s successor, Carlos Garcia, continued his nationalist reforms with the Filipino
First policy that established Filipinos’ control over their economy through currency controls,
trade restrictions, and the promotion of locally made products. He also made great strides
in promoting transparency and shortening the Unites States’ lease of Filipino bases (“Third
Republic” n.d.).
Diosdado Macapagal’s presidency marked the return of the Liberal Party. While he imitated
Magsaysay’s populist campaigning, advertising himself as the “Poor Boy from Lubao,” he
launched a combination of reformist and nationalist policies. He established the Philippine
National Railway (PNR) and several banks while disentangling Garcia’s economic nationalism
by removing foreign exchange controls. This resulted in the peso’s devaluation (Teehankee
2016, 20).
Macapagal’s former partner and would-be dictator Ferdinand Marcos won the succeeding
election with his campaign to make the Philippines “great again” (“Third Republic” n.d.). His
administration was marred by widespread government corruption, which he tried to
address by reorganizing the armed forces and several departments. In 1969, Marcos would
successfully be reelected for a second term. Before his second term ended in 1972, he
hijacked the Third Republic to extend his presidency. He proclaimed martial law and used
violence to railroad the 1973 Constitution that would establish the dictatorial Fourth
Republic.
Overall, the Third Republic was marked by deep-seated political problems. One of them was
caciquism or the concentration of power in the hands of a few rich local chiefs or bosses
(i.e., caciques) through corruption and violence. Anderson (1988, 15) calls it the heyday of
cacique democracy because of the rise of private armies, widespread violence and fraud
during elections, and plunder of state resources by elite dynasties and families. During this
period, utilities, the mass media, and other industries were controlled by a few landed
Filipino oligarchs (Anderson 1988, 16). The democratic institutions were merely instituted
but not upheld. Socioeconomic inequality was never minimized.
The period also marked the rise of populism, personality-based politics, and traditional
politicians. Party-switching, ideologically hollow election platforms, and mass media
marketing (e.g., Marcos’s propaganda film Iginuhit ng Tadhana) were election staples.
Check Your Progress

What were the main threats to Philippine state-building during the
Third Republic?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
The Fourth Philippine Republic

On September 21, 1971, upon signing Proclamation No. 1081, the then incumbent
President Ferdinand Marcos declared nationwide martial law that effectively put the
country under the direct control of the military. His proclamation ended the Philippines’
attempt to follow the Western model of liberal democracy. The two-party electoral
competition of the Third Republic ended. The proclamation itself stipulated powers for
Marcos that the 1935 Constitution did not provide. A day after the issuance of the
proclamation, Marcos promulgated a general order declaring that he is “...to govern the
nation and direct the operations of the entire government” (Marcos 1972).
In 1973, using heavily controlled citizen assemblies, Marcos cemented his dictatorship and
established the Fourth Republic with the dubious ratification of the 1973 Constitution. The
constitution granted him sweeping personal powers void of accountability and
transparency. He called his tyrannical government a “constitutional authoritarianism”
because there was the 1973 Constitution to legally justify his dictatorship (Navera 2018,
428).
Authoritarian Government Structure under the 1973 Constitution

The 1973 Constitution established a hybrid or semi-presidential government with two
executives—a president and a prime minister—together with a National Assembly
(legislative branch) and a judicial branch. Initially under it, the president was to serve as the
nation’s symbolic head of state, while the prime minister was to serve as the head of the
government. Succeeding amendments, however, would modify this setup.
The key to Marcos’s supremacy was the transitory provisions and the 1976 and 1981
Amendments to the 1973 Constitution. Transitory provisions are guidelines that specify
the proper steps in the implementation of a new constitution. Some of the 1973
Constitution’s infamous transitory provisions included Marcos’s ability to do the following:
● Continue to exercise all his presidential powers under the 1935 Constitution and
those of the prime minister under the 1973 Constitution until he decided that the
Interim National Assembly elect an interim president and prime minister. This means
that the election date of a new president and prime minister entirely depended upon
his decision.
● Issue any proclamations, orders, decrees, acts, and other instructions that would be
part of the law of the land unless he modified or repealed them (Rebullida 2006,
163). Therefore, Marcos had vast decision-making power in the government without
any other body to provide checks and balances.
Fig. 3. A newspaper report on Marcos’s proclamation of Martial Law
Meanwhile, the 1976 Amendments reaffirmed Marcos’s issuance of decrees, orders, and
any other laws whenever he would see fit, effectively making him the legislative branch.
They also affirmed the legality of his use of citizen assemblies in ratifying his decrees and
amendments (Rebullida 2006, 164). Only in 1978 would Marcos facilitate the establishment
of the Interim National Assembly. In 1981, right before he allowed a sham election in which
he and his party were rigged to win, Marcos had pedaled the assembly (by that time already
known as the Batasang Pambansa) to enact the 1981 Amendments that implemented
notorious changes like:
● The president is the pure chief executive. He is to act as the head of state and
government, retaining the powers of the president under the 1935 Constitution and
the powers of both the president and prime minister under the 1973 Constitution.
● The president has the power to nominate a prime minister (now just a head of the
Cabinet) and appoint the members of the cabinet.
● The president has the power to dissolve the Batasang Pambansa and call for the
elections of its new members. The Batasan cannot, however, remove him from office
(Rebullida 2006, 164).
The Politics of Marcos Dictatorship

The Marcos dictatorship ticked a lot of boxes in the authoritarian checklist. The 1973
Constitution and its subsequent amendments created a government marked by Marcos’s
supremacy as Executive with no substantial checks and balances (i.e., mechanisms that
allow one government branch to check the others) or transparency measures (i.e.,
mechanisms that allow the people to monitor an official’s actions). The 1973 Constitution
itself was a product of his harassment of the 1971 Constitutional Convention members
(Rebullida 2006, 160) and citizen assemblies. The National Assembly (later on, The Batasang
Pambansa) was a rubber stamp congress, meaning it merely followed all his instructions
and legitimized his amendments. The courts also consistently cleared Marcos’s decrees
from anyone trying to legally challenge them. Substantially, Marcos was the executive,
legislative, and judicial branches.
Marcos’s Fourth Republic was also marked by repression and human rights violations. From
1972 to 1986, there were thousands of cases of murder, massacre, illegal arrest, detention,
forced disappearance, violent dispersal, and other forms of harassment of civilians and
government critics (ABS-CBN Investigative and Research Group 2018). The first day of
martial law alone saw the shutdown of seven public utility companies, 292 radio stations,
seven television stations, and 93 print media outlets and the arrest of four senators and
around 8,000 individuals (“Infographic: The day Marcos declared Martial Law” n.d.).
Corruption and cronyism (i.e., the practice of using

state resources and power to reward one's allies)
were also rampant. Marcos’s common way to
reward his cronies include forcefully seizing
enterprises and putting them under his cronies’
control, awarding them with loans from government
banking, and using presidential decrees to protect
their businesses (Salonga 2000). In addition, the
economy tanked as foreign debt and
underemployment rose, incomes and exports
plummeted, and manufacturing stagnated so much
that the country was dubbed the “Sick Man of Asia”
while its Asian neighbors were experiencing
economic miracles in the 1970s–1980s
(Punongbayan 2016).
Check Your Progress

How did the Marcos dictatorship affect the democratic institutions
of the country?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
The Fifth Philippine Republic

By the 1980s, opposition to Marcos would strengthen. Reformist upper-middle classes, the
Catholic Church and interest groups, the communist revolutionary forces, and Mindanao
secessionist groups were individually expressing their protest against the dictatorship. The
assassination of opposition senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. would result in a mass
protest that would eventually lead to Marcos launching snap elections, or elections earlier
than scheduled. Ninoy’s wife, Corazon Aquino, stepped up to challenge Marcos in the
elections. Government tally under the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) indicate
Marcos’s victory, but the National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL) showed
otherwise. Following the call of the Catholic Church, massive throngs of Filipinos flooded
Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) in Metro Manila to launch the peaceful EDSA People
Power Revolution. The revolution resulted in Marcos fleeing to Hawaii and the institution
of the Fifth Republic under the 1987 Constitution.
Table 2. The presidents of the Fifth Republic
President Political Party Term of Office
United Nationalist February 25, 1986–June 30, 1992

Corazon Aquino Democratic Organization (installed via the EDSA People
(UNIDO) Power Revolution)
Fidel Ramos Lakas-CMD June 30, 1992–June 30, 1998
Laban ng Makabayang June 30, 1998–January 20, 2001

Joseph Estrada
Masang Pilipino (LAMMP) (impeached)
Gloria Macapagal-
Lakas-CMD January 20, 2001–June 30, 2010
Arroyo
Benigno Aquino III Liberal Party June 30, 2010–June 30, 2016
Rodrigo Duterte PDP-Laban June 30, 2016–June 30, 2022
Government Structure under the 1987 Constitution

According to Velasco (1997, 91), the Fifth Republic and its 1987 Constitution are founded on
the twin goals of “demarcosification” and democratization. Demarcosification involves
instituting reforms that remove remnants of Marcos’s executive supremacy and would
prevent another dictator from hijacking the constitution. Democratization involves
entrenching democracy in the land by ensuring accountability and protecting freedom.
Fig. 5. Corazon Aquino in 1986
The 1987 Constitution reinstated the three-branch presidential government structure of the
Third Republic. It facilitates the country’s readoption of American-style democratic
institutions, this time with more innovations to prevent another dictator from rising. One of
them is a more intricate system of separation of powers that protects each branch from
one another’s intrusion. In addition, each branch is given more ways to apply checks and
balances in one another. For example, declaring a state of martial law is more difficult at
present because of the ability of Congress to revoke it and the power of the judiciary to
review it upon the request of any citizen.
Electoral changes have also been made. A multi-party system, where more than two major
parties can compete in elections, is now encouraged. In addition, 20 percent of the
members of the House of Representatives are now required to come from party-lists that
are supposed to represent marginalized groups (e.g., women, farmers, fisherfolks). The
Congress is also obligated to reduce inequality in the country and protect human rights
(Article 13, 1987 Constitution).
The Post-Marcos Electoral Politics

Corazon Aquino, who had no prior political experience, bore the huge task of undoing
dictatorial governance and stabilizing the Philippine society. Her term was marred by
multiple coup d'etat plots or attempts by groups, especially the military, to take over her
government. While she managed to survive them, and in the process facilitated a peaceful
transfer of power to Ramos, observers noted how her government failed to address social
inequality and relegated this issue to the elite-dominated Congress (Velasco 1997, 91). Such
would result in legitimacy issues for the next presidencies and the rise of populists. Her
successor, Fidel Ramos, tried to address this through neoliberal reforms like the
privatization of many industries and the introduction of more economic competition.
Joseph Estrada, a celebrity known for his action movie roles, capitalized on the failure of
previous presidents to address social inequality and poverty and ran on a populist platform
with the slogan “Erap para sa Mahirap” (“Erap for the poor”). His massive popularity sank by
2001 following plunder cases that would lead to his removal from office via impeachment
and imprisonment. His vice president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, would continue his term
and eventually win the subsequent presidential elections.
During her term, Macapagal-Arroyo faced several legitimacy issues. She was entangled in
the “Hello Garci” scandal surrounding her phone conversations with a COMELEC
commissioner to allegedly rig the 2004 elections to her favor. She was also involved in
several corruption scandals like the NBN-ZTE deal and the fertilizer fund scam that resulted
in her public approval ratings dropping to historic lows.
Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III won the elections in 2010 with his campaign for a clean
government. He vowed to rid the corrupt elements in the government that Arroyo had left.
While he initiated several reforms to establish a stronger economy and alliance with the
United States, his administration failed to even out inequality in the country, with political
and economic elites staying business-as-usual (Teehankee 2016, 22).
In 2016, former Davao mayor Rodrigo Duterte won the presidency. His campaign mainly
rested on his war against drugs. He flaunted his promise of murdering millions of Filipinos
linked to drug peddling and likening himself to the fascist Adolf Hitler (Holmes 2016). Since
2016, his administration is said to have ushered a record-breaking amount of around 6,000
extrajudicial killings or EJKs (i.e., the killing of people suspected of crime even before they
get properly tried in court) (Rappler 2020); persecution of activists, opponents, and human
rights defenders; and foreign debt. Officials under his administration have also been
notorious for dangerously red-tagging critics, including progressive legislators.
Fig. 6. Civilian protest against Duterte’s human rights violations
Overall, while the Fifth Republic has restored liberal democratic institutions, deep-seated
and pervasive political problems persist. Cacique democracy continues, and traditional
politicians (trapo) continue to proliferate during elections. Pre-Marcos and Marcos-era
political dynasties and clans have returned to power and got elected as officials in many
provinces. Finally, no significant progress has been made in addressing social inequality.
This allows populist and authoritarian leaders like Duterte to amass popular support and
erode the country’s democratic foundations (e.g., checks and balances and human rights).
In Philippine Context
How did a candidate who professed to massacre millions of Filipinos manage to be the
Philippine head of state and government? Read this abstract by researcher Dahlia
Simangan about her reflections on the reasons for Rodrigo Duterte’s victory.
Is the Philippine “War on Drugs” an Act of Genocide?

Dahlia Simangan, “Is the Philippine ‘War on Drugs’ an Act of
Genocide?,” Taylor & Francis Online (Journal of Genocide
Research, October 17, 2017),
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14623528.2017.1
379939, last accessed on December 18, 2020.
Several factors underpinned Rodrigo Duterte’s victory in the 2016 presidential

elections. First, Duterte ran on a platform many Filipinos consider previous
administrations failed to ensure—order. In his hometown Davao City, Mayor Duterte
was no less than an icon of order and crime-busting. He was rumored to have initiated
and sponsored the “Davao Death Squad,” a group of vigilantes trained by the police to
eliminate crime extrajudicially by murdering crime suspects. Davao City and its said
achievement in eliminating criminality was Duterte’s testament of what the whole
country stands to achieve if it chooses him. While it is understandable for voters, who
have so long been disappointed in the failure of our criminal justice system to embrace
his promise, his tolerance (and fixation) with extrajudicial killings (EJKs) and disregard
of due process severely damage the country’s already weak rule of law and democratic
foundations. Second, Duterte was also a personification of public resentment toward
the failure of the EDSA People Power Revolution to put a permanent end to elite rule.
His slogan “Change is coming” perfectly summarizes the sentiment of Filipinos who felt
betrayed as post-Marcos Philippine politics remained a game among political oligarchs
and elites. Third and in connection to this, Duterte’s “outsider status” being a
Mindanaoan and his populist masa image solidified his reputation as the one to end
elite rule in the country. Lastly, his victory might be a signal that Filipinos are tired of
the liberal order and doing things in a democratic way. Worrisomely, people may not
want to experiment with liberal democracy anymore and want genuine socioeconomic
development, law, and order, even at the cost of human rights and freedom.
Wrap-Up
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
● The Third, Fourth, and Fifth Republics coincide with the Philippines’ formal
independence as a sovereign state. As such, the events during these republics are
crucial in Philippine nation- and state-building.
● The Third Republic was established in 1946 and operated under the provisions of
the 1935 Constitution. It had a presidential government consisting of three
branches of the government. Persistent problems during the Third Republic
included the rise of local chiefs or caciques, widespread plunder, electoral fraud
and violence, social inequality, and the rise of populist traditional politicians.
● The Fourth Republic was established following Marcos’s declaration of martial
law and dubious ratification of the 1973 Constitution that established a hybrid
or semi-presidential government featuring Marcos’s supremacy. The Fourth
Republic was marked by repression, human rights violations, corruption, and
cronyism.
● The 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution toppled Marcos dictatorship and
established the Fifth Republic under the 1987 Constitution. The republic has
then operated under a presidential government with extra constitutional
innovations for the purposes of “demarcosification” and democratization.
Currently, it still suffers from persistent political problems including caciquism,
political dynasties and clans, social inequality, and the rise of populist,
authoritarian leaders.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Try This!
A. Identification. Write the correct answer on the provided space before each number.
________________ 1. The 1973 Constitution established this government structure.
________________ 2. This is one of the 1987 Constitution’s goals, and it involves

instituting reforms that remove remnants of Marcos
dictatorship.
________________ 3. This term refers to policies implemented during the Third

Republic that increased the country’s dependence on the
United States, its former colonizer.
________________ 4. This includes mechanisms that allow one branch of the

government to examine others.
________________ 5. The 1987 Constitution requires 20 percent of the House of

Representatives’ members to come from these groups who are
supposed to represent marginalized Filipinos.
B. True or False. Write true if the statement is correct. Otherwise, write false.
________________ 1. The Third Republic was established upon the entry of Japanese
invading forces in the Philippines.
________________ 2. During the Third Republic, only two major parties competed
and exchanged control of the presidency.
________________ 3. No president during the Third Republic was reelected for

another term.
________________ 4. Marcos’s 1973 Constitution initially established a government

with two executives: the president and the prime minister.
________________ 5. The Fourth Republic’s National Assembly or Batasang

Pambansa was a rubber stamp congress that merely
legitimized Marcos’s decrees.
________________ 6. Marcos’s use of state powers and resources to reward his allies
is an example of cronyism.
________________ 7. The 1987 Constitution established a parliamentary government

structure featuring a prime minister, parliament, and judiciary.
________________ 8. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo served as president for more than six

years because she got elected as president twice.
________________ 9. The 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution resulted in Marcos’s

escape to Hawaii and the instatement of Corazon Aquino’s
presidency.
________________ 10. Rodrigo Duterte ran on a campaign focused on clean

government and protection of Filipinos’ human rights.
Challenge Yourself
Answer the following questions.
1. How did the previous experience of colonization shape the contemporary Philippine
government?
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
2. Has the 1987 Constitution fully reached its “demarcosification” and democratization
goals? Why or why not?
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
3. What is the most pressing political problem that has so far been unattended to by
the contemporary Philippine government? In what ways can it be addressed?
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
Suggested Rubric for Grading

The rubric below is a suggested one. Your teacher may modify the rubric based on your
needs. Consult your teacher for the final rubric.
Performance Levels
Suggested
Criteria 1 2 3 Score
Beginning Proficient Advanced Weight
Proficiency Proficiency
Content The answers are The answers are clear The answers are
unclear and but barely sufficient. clear and sufficient.
insufficient. There is a There is a minor flaw The argumentation ×3
major flaw in the in the argumentation. is excellent.
argumentation.
Organization The answers do not The answers flow The answers flow
flow logically, and the logically, but the parts logically, and the
×2
parts are not clearly are not clearly parts are clearly
structured. structured. structured.
Mechanics/ There are many major There are minor There are virtually
errors in sentence errors in sentence no errors in
Language Use
construction, construction, sentence
×1
grammar, and/or grammar, and/or construction,
spelling. spelling. grammar, and
spelling.
Total Possible Score 18
Reflect on This
Answer the following questions briefly.
1. Assess the current administration. How is it performing so far in addressing the

problems left by its predecessors?
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
2. How can the Philippines address its persistent political problems (e.g., dominance of
caciques and political dynasties, social inequality) that prevent it from full
democratization?
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
Photo Credits
edsa shrine by shutterstar11 is licensed under CC BY 2.0 via flickr.
Corazon Aquino at IRRI 1986 by IRRI Images is licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia
Commons.
Bibliography
ABS-CBN Investigative and Research Group. “BY THE NUMBERS: Human rights violations
during Marcos' rule.” ABS-CBN News, 2018. https://news.abs-cbn.com/focus/09/
21/18/by-the-numbers-human-rights-violations-during-marcos-rule.
Anderson, Benedict. “CACIQUE DEMOCRACY AND THE PHILIPPINES: ORIGINS AND DREAMS.”
New Left Review 0, no. 169 (1988): 3–31.
https://newleftreview.org/issues/i169/articles/
benedict-anderson-cacique-democracy-and-the-philippines-origins-and-dreams.
“Article 13.” The 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines.
Holmes, Oliver. “Rodrigo Duterte vows to kill 3 million drug addicts and likens himself to
Hitler.” The Guardian, 2016. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/30/
rodrigo-duterte-vows-to-kill-3-million-drug-addicts-and-likens-himself-to-hitler
“Infographic: The day Marcos declared Martial Law.” n.d. Official Gazette of the Republic of the
Philippines. https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/featured/infographic-day-marcos
-declared-martial-law-september-23-1972/.
Marcos, Ferdinand. “General Order No. 1.” Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines,
1972. https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/downloads/1972/09sep/19720922-GO-
0001-FM.pdf.
Navera, Gene Segarra. “Metaphorizing Martial Law: Constitutional Authoritarianism in

Marcos’s Rhetoric (1972–1985).” Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic
Viewpoints 66, no. 4: 417-452. https://doi.org/10.1353/phs.2018.0033.
Rappler. “IN NUMBERS: The Philippines' 'war on drugs',” 2016. https://www.rappler.com/

newsbreak/iq/numbers-statistics-philippines-war-drugs
Rebullida, Ma. Lourdes. “The Executive: Martial Law, Constitutional Authoritarianism, and
the Marcos Administration.” Philippine Politics and Governance: An Introduction, 1st
Edition, edited by Noel Morada and Teresa Encarnacion-Tadem, 153–178. Quezon
City, University of the Philippines Department of Political Science, 2006.
Salonga, Jovito. Presidential plunder: the quest for the Marcos ill-gotten wealth. Quezon City:
U.P. Center for Leadership, Citizenship and Democracy, 2000.
Teehankee, Julio. “Weak State, Strong Presidents: Situating the Duterte Presidency in
Philippine Political Time.” Journal of Developing Societies 32, no. 3 (2016): 293–321.
https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0169796X16654594.
“Third Republic.” n.d. Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. https://www.
officialgazette.gov.ph/featured/third-republic/#:~:text=In%201964%2C%20Congress
%20passed%20Republic,Ceremony%20of%20July%204%2C%201946.
Velasco, Renato. “Philippine Democracy: Promise and Performance.” Democratization in East

and Southeast Asia, edited by Anek Laothamatas, 77–112. Singapore: Institute of
Southeast Asian Studies, 1997.

5.5 The.-5.5 The Contemporary Government of The Philippines: Third, Fourth, and Fifth Republics-01

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

5.5 The.-5.5 The Contemporary Government of The Philippines: Third, Fourth, and Fifth Republics-01

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Unit 5: The Evolution of Philippine Politics

The Contemporary Government of

Learning Objectives DepEd Learning Competencies

Fifth Philippine Republics. governance (HUMSS_PG12-If-g-20).

What political issues have persisted from the Third

The Third Philippine Republic

Government Structure under the 1935 Constitution

Table 1. The presidents of the Third Republic

May 28, 1946–April 15, 1948

Elpidio Quirino Liberal Party April 17, 1948–December 30, 1953

Diosdado Macapagal Liberal Party December 30, 1961–December 30, 1965

Nacionalista December 30, 1965–September 21, 1972

The Politics of the Early Philippine Independence

Fig. 2. The crash site of Magsaysay’s plane in Cebu

Check Your Progress

The Fourth Philippine Republic

Authoritarian Government Structure under the 1973 Constitution

Fig. 3. A newspaper report on Marcos’s proclamation of Martial Law

The Politics of Marcos Dictatorship

Corruption and cronyism (i.e., the practice of using

Check Your Progress

The Fifth Philippine Republic

Table 2. The presidents of the Fifth Republic

President Political Party Term of Oﬃce

United Nationalist February 25, 1986–June 30, 1992

Fidel Ramos Lakas-CMD June 30, 1992–June 30, 1998

Laban ng Makabayang June 30, 1998–January 20, 2001

Rodrigo Duterte PDP-Laban June 30, 2016–June 30, 2022

Government Structure under the 1987 Constitution

Fig. 5. Corazon Aquino in 1986

The Post-Marcos Electoral Politics

Fig. 6. Civilian protest against Duterte’s human rights violations

Is the Philippine “War on Drugs” an Act of Genocide?

Several factors underpinned Rodrigo Duterte’s victory in the 2016 presidential

________________ 1. The 1973 Constitution established this government structure.

________________ 2. This is one of the 1987 Constitution’s goals, and it involves

________________ 3. This term refers to policies implemented during the Third

________________ 4. This includes mechanisms that allow one branch of the

________________ 5. The 1987 Constitution requires 20 percent of the House of

________________ 3. No president during the Third Republic was reelected for

________________ 4. Marcos’s 1973 Constitution initially established a government

________________ 5. The Fourth Republic’s National Assembly or Batasang

________________ 7. The 1987 Constitution established a parliamentary government

________________ 8. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo served as president for more than six

________________ 9. The 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution resulted in Marcos’s

________________ 10. Rodrigo Duterte ran on a campaign focused on clean

Suggested Rubric for Grading

Total Possible Score 18

1. Assess the current administration. How is it performing so far in addressing the

“Article 13.” The 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines.

Navera, Gene Segarra. “Metaphorizing Martial Law: Constitutional Authoritarianism in

Rappler. “IN NUMBERS: The Philippines' 'war on drugs',” 2016. https://www.rappler.com/

Velasco, Renato. “Philippine Democracy: Promise and Performance.” Democratization in East

You might also like