Politics and Social Organization

Group 9
Reporters:

Reporter 1 Reporter 2 Reporter 3

Malocloc, Rachelle Regidor, Sophia Vergara, Tony
James
What we'll discuss
• State and Class
• The Modern Principalia
in Philippine History
• Branches and
Functions of State
Power
State and Class
State and Class
• Class as a social relation generally refers to the
dominant/ruling class and the dominated/ruled. There
are various signifiers of class, namely, status, lifestyle,
and distinction, but in the last instance, what
determines class is its economic basis. In modern as
well as in feudal societies, social class is based on
the relationship between property ownership and
disposession. Those who own property of the means
or production that is productive of value are in the
position to rule the ones who surrender their labor by
tilling the land or selling their labor power as a worker
in a factory in exchange for wages.
• Classes in society are a result of the accumulation
of wealth by ruling class and the rendering of labor
by the ruled.
• The State is the sum total of advantages, priveleges, dominating
positions that are concretized by surplus economic power that
operates in society, and is monopolized by a few dominant groups
and institutions.
• The Russian philosopher and revolutionary Vladimir Lenin succintly
articulates the relationship between State and Class: The State is the
instrument of class rule. This means that in every society, the
economically dominant social class takes over the State and rules.
State power, therefore, is the rule of one class over the rest of society.
Under global capitalism, the State is an instrument for the
advantages, interests and priveleges of the capitalist class.
 In socialist states such as Soviet Union and China,
before their systems reverted back to capitalism, the
state power was seized through a proletarian (working
class) revolution so that the state became the
instrument of proletarian rule. Today, Cuba and
Venezuela are holding fast to the proletarian
orientation of state power or class rule. Cuba won the
revolution against its local ruling elites and its
colonizer, the Unites States, in 1959.

Venezuela's socialist construction began with

Hugo Chavez emerging as a leader through
popular vote in 1998.
In South America, different states have recently
converged to form what is known as ALBA.

ALBA-TCP is the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples

of our America-People's Trade Treaty (1).
Established on December 14, 2004 "for the
development of cooperation and the economical,
commercial and productive integration with special
emphasis on the social dimension, "ALBA-TCP was
first launched in a Summit held in Havaja, Cuba
"through the subscription of the Joint Declaration for
the establishment of the ALBA and the Agreement
for the implementation of the Alliance, by the
President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,
Hugo Chavez, and the President of the Council of
State of Cuba, Fidel Castro".
Currently, the ALBA-TCP members are:
•Venezuela (December 14, 2004)
•Cuba (December 14, 2004)
•Bolivia (April 29, 2006)
•Nicaragua (January, 2007)
•Dominica (January 26, 2008)
•Ecuador (June 24, 2009)
•Antigua & Barbuda (June 24, 2009)
•Saint Vincent & The Grenadines (June 24, 2009)
•Saint Lucia (July 30, 2013)
 In 2006, merely two years after ALABA'S founding, and with
Bolivia joining in, it scaled new heights through the proposal of
the People's Tade treaties.

On account of the long history of colonialism and imperialist

plunder—external forces that have historically brought together
the peoples of this region to struggle for national sovereignity
and dignity—the world has witnessed counter-hegemonic
nuptures from tyranny and exploitation in the great revolutions
led by Bolivar, Marti, Sucre, O'Higgins, and the more
contemporary victories and struggles led by Fidel Castro in
Cuba and Hugo Chavez in Venezuela.
 In its 2004-2014 Management Report, is is made known that:
"The nine Member States of ALBA-PTA are inhabited by some more
than 74 million people, 47.7% of which forms part of the labor force.
It spreads over three million square kilometers in the aggregate,
including the exclusive economic zones, 49.5% of which comprises
forests and 6.73% covers plowlands. The latter number surpasses
the average of 1% in the whole Latin American and Caribbean
region"

As opposed to the FTA that promotes privatization of the basic

services of water, education, health, transport, communications and
energy, the PTT promotes and strengthens the role of the State in
these essential services that allow for the full compliance with
human rights.
The Modern Principalia in
Philippine History
 Principalia
- is a product of Spanish colonialism that morphed into the modern principalia all throughout
American colonialism and neo-colonialism, up to the institution of the modern Philippine State

The Modern Principalia is about the Philippine ruling elite—who they are and how they
evolved in history. (Congress, Senate, and the Malacañang Palace. It delves into their
economic interests as well as their lifestyles, how they acquired their wealth and built a
world of their own. It describes their family links and their interlocking interests with other
elites and foreign partners.
 Caciquism
- is a system of rule introduced by the Spanish
colonizers who ruled the Philippines from
1571 to 1898.
- While leaders of barangays and datus
already existed in the social organization of
the various regions in Luzon, Visayas, and
Mindanao before Spanish colonial rule. The
Spanish colonizers introduced this through
local leaders like the datos and cabezas de
barangay.
- Local chiefs were recruited to the Spanish
colonial government as local collaborators.
 Local elite groups
- Served as tax collectors who extorted money from the locals,
partly for their use and part is to be surrendered to their Spanish
superiors.

The Local The Caciques

Collaborators - it was started to
preserve and reinforce
- Were compensated power through getting
through encomienda more land which
system, or land grants allowed them t make
to local caciques. their constituents, the
people, dependent on
them.
The 1986 Revolution
Principalia played a counter-intuitive role
during the Bonifacio-led 1986 Katipunan
Revolution

It Was inspired by the reform

movement initiated by the
Ilustrados
Sophisticated system of organization
It was used by the Spanish colonizers
against the colonized.
 Illustrados
- Are the intellectual segment of the
principalia who were alienated from the
practices and interests of this elite
group.

- They are the young intellectuals who studied in Europe

amidst the Philippine’s colonization of the Spain.

-These alienated young intellectuals would come home to the country to

become propagandists of the reform movement against Spanish
colonialism.
And from this movement, the revolutionary Katipunanan was born and
eventually won.
Principalia during the colonization in the Philippines

- The principalia during this period was comprised of pro-

American upper class Filipinos

- In December 12, 1900, all 125 Filipino of them

came together to organize the Federalista Party.

Pacification Campaign
- Local Filipino elites were also appointed by Americans in
different positions in the bureaucracy culminating in the
Commonwealth period
 Commonwealth period
- This period marked the institutions in the so-called post-
colonial period.
- This segment has its roots from the land-owning
principalia that collaborated with Spanish
colonizers.

Bureaucrat Capitalism
- The phenomenon of making profits out of one’s seat in
government.
- A logical trajectory of governance that was instituted during
colonial rule.
- It is the use of high public office to enrich oneself.
Branches and Functions of
State Power
 The Philippines is a republic with a presidential form
of government wherein power is equally divided
among its three branches: Executive, Legislative, and
Judicial.
One basic corollary in a presidential system of
government is the principle of separation of powers
wherein legislation belongs to Congress, execution to
the Executive, and settlement of legal controversies
to the Judiciary.
 The Legislative branch is
authorized to make laws, alter,
and repeal them through the
power vested in the Philippine
Congress. This institution is
divided into the Senate and
the House of Representatives.
 The Executive branch is
composed of the President and
the Vice President who are
elected by direct popular vote
and serve a term of six years.
The Constitution grants the
President authority to appoint
his Cabinet. These
departments form a large
portion of the country's
bureaucracy.
 The Judicial branch holds the power to settle
controversies involving rights that are legally
demandable and enforceable. This branch
determines whether or not there has been a grave
abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of
jurisdiction on the part and instrumentality of the
government. It is made up of a Supreme Court and
lower courts.
The Constitution expressly grants the Supreme
Court the power of Judicial Review as the power to
declare a treaty, international or executive
agreement, law, presidentialdecree, proclamation,
order, instruction, ordinance or regulation
unconstitutional.
Thank You
for
listening!