Dissertation
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DISSERTATION Titel der Dissertation „The Politics of Population Policy-Making in the Philippines: Insights from the Population and Reproductive Health Legislative Proposals“ Verfasserin Violeda A. Umali, BA MA MA angestrebter akademischer Grad Doktorin der Philosophie (Dr. Phil.) Wien, 2010 Studienkennzahl lt. Studienblatt: A 092 300 Dissertationsgebiet lt. Studienblatt: Politikwissenschaft Betreuer 1: Mag. DDr. Werner ZIPS ao. Univ.-Prof. Betreuer 2: Ass.-Prof. Mag. Dr. Josef MELCHIOR This page intentionally left blank Abstract This study examines the interplay of actors and institutions involved in the deliberations/ debates on the legislative proposals on population and/or reproductive health filed in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Philippine Congresses. The legislative proposals constitute a key aspect of population policy-making, one of the most enduring and most high-profile policy advocacies in the Philippines. It is also one of the most contentious, being the site of intense competition between pro-choice and pro-life stakeholders. The broader goal of the study, therefore, is to tease out the enigma of population policy-making in the Philippines, thereby providing an explanation for the consistent dominance of the pro-life advocacy in the most important policy arena of all, the national legislature. The analysis is anchored on Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of practice in general and his critique of the political field in particular, and on the propositions of Frank Baumgartner and his colleagues about policy advocacy and policy change. Key informant interviews with national- and local-level policy stakeholders and content analysis of relevant government documents, advocacy materials of stakeholders, technical papers, and media reports were undertaken to gather data about the national and international context of the population/reproductive health debate; the different stakeholders’ stand on the legislative proposals; and the arguments, tactics, and resources that the pro-choice and pro-life groups have harnessed for their respective advocacies. Guided by propositions and concepts taken from Bourdieu and Baumgartner, the study explicates its findings regarding the comparative strengths and weaknesses of the pro- choice and pro-life groups vis-à-vis their advocacy arguments, tactics, and resources; the role of national and international institutions in the population policy advocacy; and the strengths and weaknesses of the Catholic Church as a stakeholder in said advocacy. A prognosis for the population policy advocacy in the Philippines, given the country’s current political context, is then presented. This page intentionally left blank Zusammenfassung Diese Studie untersucht die Interdependenz zwischen Akteuren und Institutionen, die an den Beratungen und Debatten über den Gesetzesentwurf zur Bevölkerungspolitik und/oder zur Politik reproduktiver Gesundheit, welche in den Akten des dreizehnten und vierzehnten philippinischen Kongresses zu finden sind, beteiligt sind. Diese Gesetzesvorlage stellt einen Schlüsselaspekt in der Bevölkerungspolitik des Landes dar und ist auf den Philippinen sehr umstritten sowie ein in der Öffentlichkeit vielfach diskutiertes Thema. Überdies bildet es den Schauplatz für den Konkurrenzkampf unter den Akteuren, die das Recht auf Abtreibung befürworten und jenen die dies ablehnen. Das Ziel der Studie im weiteren Sinne ist es deshalb, Licht auf das Mysterium um die Bevölkerungspolitik zu werfen. Dabei wird durch die Analyse der dafür wichtigsten Politikarena, der nationalen Gesetzgebung, eine Erklärung für die stetige Dominanz der Abtreibungsgegner geboten. Die Studie ist in Pierre Bourdieus Theorie der Praxis im Allgemeinen und in seiner Kritik zum politischen Feld im Speziellen sowie in den Theoremen Frank Baumgartners und seiner Kollegen zu Anwaltschaft und Politikwandel verankert. Interviews mit den zentralen Akteuren auf nationaler und lokaler Politikebene wie auch eine Inhaltsanalyse von relevanten Regierungsdokumenten, Anwaltschaftsunterlagen der Akteure, Fachbeiträge und Medienberichte wurden durchgeführt, um Daten über den nationalen und internationalen Kontext der Debatte um Bevölkerungspolitik und reproduktive Gesundheit zu sammeln. Die verschiedenen Standpunkte der Akteure zum Gesetzesvorschlag sowie die Argumente, Taktiken und Ressourcen, die die Abtreibungsgegner und –befürworter für ihre jeweilige Anwaltschaftsarbeit nutzen, wurden darüber hinaus in die Untersuchung miteinbezogen. Angeleitet von den Theoremen und Konzepten Bourdieus und Baumgartners erläutert die Studie ihre Ergebnisse entlang der Stärken und Schwächen der Abtreibungsgegner sowie – befürworter gegenüber ihren Anwaltschaftsargumenten, Taktiken und Ressourcen; darüber hinaus wird sowohl die Rolle von nationalen und internationalen Institutionen in der Bevölkerungspolitik als auch die katholischen Kirche als Akteurin in der genannten Anwaltschaft mit ihren Stärken und Schwächen eingeordnet. Abschließend wird eine Prognose für die Bevölkerungspolitik auf den Philippinen unter Berücksichtigung der momentanen politischen Lage des Landes präsentiert. Acknowledgments My sincerest thanks to the following, whose support and guidance made this dissertation possible: Univ.-Prof. DDr. Werner Zips and Ass.-Prof. Dr. Josef Melchior, my first and second supervisors, respectively, for their invaluable inputs, comments, and suggestions that helped set the focus and direction of this dissertation; The Vienna School of Governance (ViGo) and the University of Vienna, for providing the research fellowship and the stimulating environment within which this dissertation was produced; The University of the Philippines, especially the Department of Communication Research of the College of Mass Communication, for nurturing my academic and research pursuits, and for the dissertation grant that helped fund my field research; Elma Laguna, for pointing me to ViGo and for proofreading my dissertation; Manuel Sapitula, for sharing his expertise on the sociology of religion in the Philippines; Beatriz Tiongco, Riza Torrado, and Virginia Rigo, for the data gathering assistance; Christina Plank, for the countless assistance and favors; Julius Lambi and Jenny Wang, for the priceless ‘therapy’ of small talk; my other ViGo colleagues and friends near and far who helped me weather the stresses and frustrations of dissertation writing; and My family, my haven. Maraming salamat/vielen Dank! To KT, my only brother – You have long deserved a tribute This page intentionally left blank Table of Contents Page Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION 1 1.1. The Philippine population situation 1 1.2. The Philippine population policy through the years: Overview 4 1.3. Institutional influences on population policy-making in the 7 Philippines: Overview 1.3.1. International agreements on population 7 1.3.2. The Catholic Church 9 1.3.3. Other influences 11 1.4. Going beyond ‘Church-centric’ arguments: The research 12 problem 1.4.1. The study’s premise 12 1.4.2. The research focus 15 1.4.3. The research questions 16 Chapter 2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 19 2.1. Bourdieu’s theory of practice 19 2.1.1. The political field 22 2.2. The persistence of the status quo: Baumgartner et al.’s analysis 24 of lobbying and policy change 2.3. Conceptual framework and hypotheses 28 2.3.1. Delineating the actors’ stand on the legislative proposals 29 2.3.2. Identifying strategy options: Arguments and tactics 29 2.3.2.1. Arguments 29 2.3.2.2. Tactics 31 2.3.3. Assessing resources: Economic, cultural and social capital 32 2.3.4. Ascertaining the factors behind the seeming dominance of the Catholic Church and the morality discourse in the 33 Philippines Chapter 3. METHODOLOGY 37 3.1. Research design and methods 37 3.2. Concepts and indicators 37 3.2.1. Analytic task 1: Explicating the international and national 38 population/reproductive health debate context 3.2.2. Analytic task 2: Delineating the actors’ stand on the legis- 38 lative proposals 3.2.3. Analytic tasks 3 and 4: Identifying the actors’ strategy 39 options 3.2.4. Analytic task 5: Ascertaining the actors’ resources 40 3.2.5. Analytic task 6: Ascertaining the factors behind the seeming dominance of the Catholic Church and the 41 morality discourse 3.3. Data sources 42 3.4. Data gathering instruments and tools 44 Table of Contents (cont’n.) Page Chapter 4. THE POPULATION DEBATE CONTEXT: 47 NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL DYNAMICS 4.1. Philippine government and politics: Overview 47 4.2. The legislative system 50 4.2.1. Organization of the Senate and the House of 51 Representatives 4.2.2. The legislative process 54 4.3. The organizational setup for population and reproductive health 57 services 4.3.1. From population control to reproductive health, and the 58 emasculation of POPCOM 4.3.2. The Department of Health: An uneasy relationship 62 4.3.3. The local government units: Marching to the beat of their 67 own drums? 4.4. The population and reproductive health legislative proposals: An 71 overview 4.4.1. The population and reproductive health bills in the 13th and 74 14th Congresses: A timeline 4.4.1.1. House Bill 3773 74 4.4.1.2. House Bill 5043 76 4.4.1.3. Senate Bill 3122 79 4.5. The international context of the population debate: A brief sketch 81 Chapter 5. POLICY ADVOCACY FOR POPULATION AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH: ARGUMENTS AS LINGUISTIC 87 PRACTICES 5.1. The stakeholders and their arguments: Overview 90 5.1.1. The stakeholders 91 5.1.2. The arguments 92 5.2. Arguments as advocacy strategy 98 5.2.1. The power to speak: Asserting the mandate of representation