Creación del metamodelo y el escenario inicial

in relation to the 'overstaying Chinese' problem.^ It has also contributed to the perception of a threat to

the Philippines from Communist China and its 'subversive appeal' to the Overseas Chinese.

(g) Cultural minorities

Approximately two million non-Christian Filipinos, known as National Cultural Minorities, make up 8 per cent of the total population. The largest single minority

group, the Muslims, are settled on the 'frontier areas' in Mindanao and in the Sulu archipelago. The Spanish and American regimes failed to weaken the Muslims' intense loyalty to their religion and customs, and they constitute a special problem for the central Philippine government.^ Until 1950, the Muslim areas were administered as 'special provinces'. In recent years, Muslim complaints of neglect by the central government have contributed to the growth

of a secessionist movement, and to plans to set up a Muslim state which would be closely associated with Malaysia and Indonesia. Conflict between Muslims and Christian immigrants in Cotabato and Lanao del Norte has also produced a serious law and order problem. As will be indicated, the ‘Muslim problem' has had important

implications for Philippine foreign policy in relation to the Philippine claim to Sabah.

1 _{The controversy involves about 3,000 Chinese nationals} who entered the Philippines between 1947 and 1949 and who refused to return to the mainland after the Communist victory. The Nationalist Chinese government refused to accept them. In 1958, the Philippine Foreign Secretary and the Nationalist Chinese ambassador reached an agreement

in principle'; the formula, however, proved impossible to implement. Vellut, op.cit., p.255.

2 See Peter G. Gowing, Mosque and Moro: A Study of Muslims in the Philippines (Philippine Federation of Christian Churches, Manila, 1964), passim.

(iii) The Political System (a) The formal structure

One of the most striking features of the

Philippine Constitution, which is modelled on that of the United States, is its extreme centralization. The President has more specific constitutional authority to govern than

does his American counterpart. He is elected for four years, but is not permitted to serve for more than eight years.

The President has control over all executive departments, bureaus, and offices as well as the powerful Office of the President; he also exercises general supervision of all local governments. He is Commander— in—Chief of the Armed Forces, and has the. right to suspend the writ of habeas corpus in national emergencies. He nominates, and with the consent of the Commission on Appointments, appoints the heads of executive departments and bureaus, officers of the army from the rank of colonel and officers of the navy and air force from the rank of captain or commander. The Constitution also empowers the President to veto

legislation; such a veto can be overriden only by a two- thirds vote of all members of each House of Congress.

He can also convene Congress in special session to consider important legislation. His role in the foreign policy

decision-making process is set down in Article VII Section 10 (7) :

The President shall have the power, with the concurrence of two-thirds of all the Members of the Senate, to make treaties, and with the consent of the Commission on Appointments, he shall appoint ambassadors, other public

ministers, and consuls. He shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers duly accredited to the Government of the

Philippines.

The Vice-President has no official function, but is usually a member of the cabinet. The President and the Vice-President are elected separately. Legislative .power

is vested in Congress, which consists of a Senate and the House of Representatives. The Senate is composed of

twenty— four Senators who are elected for six years; one- third are elected every two years.1 The House of

Representatives is composed of 120 members who are elected for four years. The Senate and House of Representatives each have an Electoral Tribunal which is the sole judge of electoral contests. There is also a Commission on

Appointments consisting of twelve Senators and twelve members of the House of Representatives, elected by each House on the basis of proportional representation of the political parties. The power to declare war is vested in Congress, provided that two— thirds of all members of each House concur.

The Supreme Court, which is appointed by the President, also has a role in the conduct of foreign policy. Article VIII Section 10 of the Constitution states:

All cases involving the constitutionality of a treaty or law shall be heard and decided by the Supreme Court in b a n c , and no treaty or law may be declared unconstitutional without the concurrence of two-thirds of

all the members of the Court. (b) The political parties

The main features of Philippine politics are the stability of the two-party system; the 1identicality1 of the two parties; the lack of ideological 'issues' between them; and the looseness of party affiliations.2 These characteristics derive mainly from elite domination of the

1 In contrast to American practice, the Senators are elected at large.

2 Carl H. Lande, Leaders, Factions, and Parties: The

jjt.£ucture o f Philippine Poli tics. Monograph Series No. 6. Southeast Asia Studies, Yale University, 1964, p.l.

political systsm. The first political party, the Federalista Party, was established in 1900. It was the only party

allowed to exist by the American authorities and was dominated by members of the principalia class, the upper class during the Spanish regime. The Nacionalista Party, which was established in 1907 and dominated the political

scene until 1946, was also composed mainly of the principalia class.

As Lande points out, the party system closely 2

resembles that of 18th century England. Politics at the local level revolve around a few prominent families, such as the Cojuangos and Aquinos in Tarlac, and the Lopezes in Iloilo. The extended family system, compadre ties,

utang na loob form the bases of political organization. Ihe factional123 nature of Philippine politics also accounts for the identicality of the two parties. Lande writes:

The membership of the typical faction, being found not by categorical ties but by a

network of dyadic relationships between patron and client, landowner and tenant, or

leader and follower, will usually be a cross section of the community withrepresentatives in every social class, occupation, religious affiliation, and point of view. These

circumstances all but preclude the formation of ideologically distinguishable groups.^

The unimportance of ideological issues has also contributed to the maintenance of the two-party system. Where the interest of most politicians is to hold public office and little else, politics becomes basically a contest between the ins' and the 'outs', with various

1 Simbulan, op.cit., p.265. 2 Lande, op.cit., p.2.

factions aligning with the party which happens to be in office. Third parties, such as the Democratic Alliance of the 1950s, or the Peoples' Progressive Party, have had very little success. The failure of third parties is partly attributable to the inducements which the party in power can offer to leaders of third parties. The

electoral system also discriminates against third parties.123 Lande further attributes the ephemeral nature of third parties to the strength of bifactionalism at the local level.3

Since the two parties are loosely-knit

constellations of factions, with no ideological divisions between them, it is not surprising that their history has been characterized by frequent bifurcation and refusion.

'Party switching' or 'turncoatism' is common, and 'the Philippines is probably the only country where the party system breeds defectors in abundance'.4 Magsaysay, for instance, resigned from the Liberal Party before the 1953 Presidential elections and won as a Nacionalista. Similarly, Ferdinand Marcos was President of the Liberal Party before he switched parties and won as a Nacionalista in 1965.

The nature of the party system has important

implications for foreign policy. Since there are virtually no ideological differences between the two parties, foreign policy issues do not usually feature in elections. The

Nacionalista Party has traditionally claimed a more

nationalist outlook in both domestic and foreign policy,

1 Ibi d ., p .32.