Special Issue

A publication of the University of San Francisco Center for the Pacific Rim Copyright 2006 Volume VI · Number 1 15 May · 2006 Special Issue: PHILIPPINE STUDIES AND THE CENTENNIAL OF THE DIASPORA Editors Joaquin Gonzalez John Nelson Philippine Studies and the Centennial of the Diaspora: An Introduction Graduate Student >>......Joaquin L. Gonzalez III and Evelyn I. Rodriguez 1 Editor Patricia Moras Primerang Bituin: Philippines-Mexico Relations at the Dawn of the Pacific Rim Century >>........................................................Evelyn I. Rodriguez 4 Editorial Consultants Barbara K. Bundy Hartmut Fischer Mail-Order Brides: A Closer Look at U.S. & Philippine Relations Patrick L. Hatcher >>..................................................Marie Lorraine Mallare 13 Richard J. Kozicki Stephen Uhalley, Jr. Apathy to Activism through Filipino American Churches Xiaoxin Wu >>....Claudine del Rosario and Joaquin L. Gonzalez III 21 Editorial Board Yoko Arisaka The Quest for Power: The Military in Philippine Politics, 1965-2002 Bih-hsya Hsieh >>........................................................Erwin S. Fernandez 38 Uldis Kruze Man-lui Lau Mark Mir Corporate-Community Engagement in Upland Cebu City, Philippines Noriko Nagata >>........................................................Francisco A. Magno 48 Stephen Roddy Kyoko Suda Worlds in Collision Bruce Wydick >>...................................Carlos Villa and Andrew Venell 56 Poems from Diaspora >>..................................................................Rofel G. Brion 57 Reflections on Philip Vera Cruz and the Filipino Diaspora >>..................................................Joaquin L. Gonzalez III 59 An Interview with Philip Vera Cruz, Spring 1971 >>.....................................................................Sid Valledor 61 Yuchengco Media Fellowship Announcement, Spring 2007 >>........................................................................................... 64 Asia-Pacific Social Science Review Call for Papers >>........................................................................................... 65 USF Centennial Conference Announcement >>........................................................................................... 66 Asia Pacific: Perspectives is a peer-reviewed journal published at least once a year, usually in April/May. It Asia Pacific: Perspectives welcomes submissions from all fields of the social sciences and the humanities with relevance to the Asia Pacific Center for the Pacific Rim region.* In keeping with the Jesuit traditions of the University of San Francisco, Asia Pacific: Perspectives com- 2130 Fulton St, LM202 San Francisco, CA mits itself to the highest standards of learning and scholarship. 94117-1080 Our task is to inform public opinion by a broad hospitality to divergent views and ideas that promote cross-cul- Tel: (415) 422-6357 tural understanding, tolerance, and the dissemination of knowledge unreservedly. Papers adopting a compara- Fax: (415) 422-5933 tive, interdisciplinary approach will be especially welcome. Graduate students are strongly encouraged to submit [email protected] their work for consideration. * ‘Asia Pacific region’ as used here includes East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Oceania, and the Russian Far East. Downloaded from http://www.pacificrim.usfca.edu/research/perspectives USF Center for the Pacific Rim Asia Pacific: Perspectives · May 2006 ment. It was also during this period that AFP was notorious in being a protector for few big people, hence a big private army notable for the oppression it caused to ordinary The Quest for Power: The people.1 This article looks into the transformation of the role the Military in Philippine military, individually speaking or the institution itself, from Politics, 1965-2002 the time of President Ferdinand E. Marcos until the presidency of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, but a year before the by Erwin S. Fernandez, M.A. Oakwood mutiny in late July 2003. President Marcos trans- formed the AFP into a state-sponsored private army to per- petuate himself to power. Marcos was crucial in the politi- Abstract cization of the Philippine military years before his proclama- This article traces the involvement of the military or the Armed Forces of tion of Martial Law and it reached its peak after, as Marcos the Philippines (AFP) in Philippine politics beginning 1965 during the needed the military to suppress opposition to his rule. Thus, presidency of Marcos until 2002, a year before the Oakwood Mutiny hap- this article discusses the role of Marcos in the politicization of pened when a group of soldiers tried to overthrow the present Arroyo the Philippine military as well as an elaboration on how a administration. It provides a brief overview on its history before 1965 from its colonial beginnings during the American regime until the politicized segment of the military wreaked havoc during Macapagal administration. During the time of Marcos, the involvement President Corazon C. Aquino’s administration when she of the military was a crucial factor in the making of a dictatorship. After faced more than six coup d’etats to topple her government. the overthrow of Marcos in 1986, a politicized section of the military During the time of President Fidel V. Ramos, an ex-military staged eight coups to topple Aquino’s government. Ramos, a military man, Aquino’s former Defense Secretary and Marcos’ former man and Aquino’s own choice won the election and successfully negoti- ated for peace with the rebels. In the short-lived Estrada administration, Philippine Constabulary chief, the government issued the military was the critical element of its downfall in 2001 that led to the amnesty proclamation for those who were involved in the assumption into power of Vice-President Arroyo. Rumors of coup plots, failed coups d’etat. There was an assumption that the mili- however, were in the air only three days after Arroyo’s assumption into tary was again back in the barracks, thus depoliticized and office. This article concludes that the specter of military interventionism seemingly rendered apolitical. However, during the rule of would always haunt Philippine body politic as long as there are no efforts to exorcise the ghosts of the past. President Joseph E. Estrada, the critical factor that led to his overthrow was the military and hence, the military was also the critical factor in the assumption into power of Arroyo. From the start of her presidency, her government faced From 1965 to 2002, the Philippine military or the Armed rumors of takeover or power grabs months before a group of Forces of the Philippines underwent major and minor trans- junior officers mutinied. formations that shaped its present image and character. From a mere adjunct of the US Army called the Philippine Scouts, a The Role of the Military in Government Filipino auxiliary army was created to fight the Philippine Modern political systems enhance their legitimacy when Revolutionary forces, up to the establishment of the they have the capacity to instill discipline and enforce the Philippine Army during the Commonwealth regime, the law. The military as an institution of power and coercion Philippine military today showed a remarkable resiliency serves the purpose of ensuring the protection of the nation- and steady growth after its formal creation in 1946 although state against lawlessness and violence. In every government constrained by little financial allocation for its modernization. that is mandated to guard its people from harm, the police Such condition resulting from budgetary constraints placed and armed forces play a prominent role. The Philippine mili- AFP’s responsibility in the domestic sphere while defense tary, like any other military in the world, responds to its con- against external threats could be relied on US bases in Clark stitutional obligation as guardian and protector of the and Subic before the Philippine Senate refused to allow its Filipino people.2 continued stay in the Philippines in 1990. However, this In the same article and section of the constitution, it reliance on US bases was not an assurance for the US to sup- states “civilian authority is, at all times, supreme over the port the country in case of war. AFP was preoccupied in the military.” The inclusion of this provision anticipates the ten- late 1940s and early 50s in fighting the Huks and containing dency of the military to engage in military adventurism. At the rebellion in Central Luzon. During the time of President all costs, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) shall Quirino, AFP deployed the Philippine Expeditionary Force to abide by this provision, to carry out its responsibility of pro- Korea (PEFTOK) in the midst of the Korean War. During the tecting the state. Still, its interventionist stance would mani- Vietnam War, President Marcos sent the Philippine Civic fest in conditions that allow it to happen. There are four envi- Action Group to Vietnam (PHILCAGV). The role of AFP in ronmental factors that shape the political role of the armed civic action for the purpose of nation-building during the forces. Welsh Jr. & Smith state these as follows: “the nature time of Pres. Magsaysay that was carried through intensely and extent of political participation within the society, the rel- in the twenty-year rule of President Marcos was beginning to ative isolation of the armed forces from social and political create an image of the AFP as partner in national develop- currents, the extent to

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