#LIBERAS PHILIPPINES SERIES#

In the end, CoryвЂ™s own strong ties to landholding interests (her familyвЂ™s landholdings included the over 6,000 hectare sugar plantation Hacienda Luisita), coupled with internal strife within the Philippine left, led her government on a path of socially conservative, economically neoliberal policy making coupled with a public commitment to liberal democratic norms.

#LIBERAS PHILIPPINES SERIES#

Roughly, these coalitions can be divided up into the radical (primarily national democratic) left, who wanted to extend the promise of liberal democracy into genuine agrarian reform and economic justice the more centrist upper-middle classes, which consisted of Church officials, and business leaders who despite welcoming an end to Marcos-era repression, only paid lip service to the ideals of free elections and speech and right-wing military groups such as the Reform the Armed Forces Movement, whose aspirations for a strong repressive state in the mold of Marcos led them to launch a series of failed coups against the Aquinos. Instead, her presidency is best understood as a tug-of-war between a wide range of coalitions who sought to influence the new spokesperson of the Filipino people. Yet despite CoryвЂ™s widespread support, she was never able to unify the various political forces who challenged or who stood against the Marcos regime. She symbolized a newfound Filipino commitment to the ideals of liberal democracy, which were enshrined as principles in the 1987 Constitution. As the wife of assassinated senator and Marcos-opponent Benigno вЂњNinoyвЂќ Aquino, CoryвЂ™s rise was hailed worldwide as the triumph of democracy against MarcosвЂ™ dictatorial regime. In 1986, the People Power Revolution (also known as the EDSA revolution) led to the ousting of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos and the presidency of Corazon вЂњCoryвЂќ Aquino.

The Anti-Terrorism Bill, now codified into law, is the resurgence of right wing populism, sprouting from the carcass of the EDSA RevolutionвЂ™s co-optation by the liberal elite. However, liberal reforms only ended up entrenching the institutional power of political dynasties without meaningfully improving the lives of the most oppressed, providing the stage for DuterteвЂ™s rise to power on a populist, anti-elite platform. The proponents of Philippine liberal democracy, from President Corazon вЂњCoryвЂќ Aquino to her son Benigno вЂњNoynoyвЂќ Aquino, essentially promised the Filipino people that poverty and economic inequality could be quelled through anti-corruption measures and liberal political reform. Yet unlike the Marcos dictatorship, DuterteвЂ™s right wing populism stems from decades of liberal democracy that failed to address the economic needs of the Filipino people.

Understandably, many Filipinos are concerned that the lawвЂ™s passage will usher in a new era of repression, akin to martial law under the Marcos dictatorship. These powers include the ability of the executive branch to authorize what amount to warrantless arrests, the arbitrary detention of those suspected of aiding or inciting terrorism for up to 24 days, and the complete supersession of judicial checks on presidential authority. On July 3 2020, despite waves of popular resistance and incisive legal critique, President Rodrigo Duterte passed an Anti-Terrorism law that would give the executive government sweeping powers to imprison and repress political activists under the guise of combating terrorism.

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