GSTF Journal of Law and Social Sciences (JLSS) Vol.6 No.1, 2017 Cebu’s Subnational Politics: A Survey of Philippine Political Structure and Culture Prof. Phoebe Zoe Maria U. Sanchez, Ph. D. College of Social Sciences University of the Philippines Cebu Gorordo Ave., Lahug, Cebu City, Philippines [email protected] Abstract -- The paper is a survey of the Filipino Nation’s effort municipal organizations of patron-client relations, of machine towards nation building. It highlights the socio-historical politics, and of bossism. Prominent political leaders derive unfolding of the nationhood of the country -- Philippines. The popular support from leaders of major townships, cities, and paper answers the basic question on what paved the way to the barangays who can promise and deliver to the patron the bulk formation of the Filipino Nation and why it remains to be a neo- of voters to ensure victory. This means that leaders who colonial outpost to the US even in the 20th century. It also represent major political clans get support through a network of provides reasons on how and why Filipinos had shaped the kind small town bosses that govern urban and rural communities. of institutions that operate the present state as it is now. Using Comparative Historical Analysis (CHA), the paper Sidel’s work (1999) Capital, Coercion, and Crime elaborately accounts on what turning points served as the Bossism in the Philippines demonstrates the distinctive watersheds of nationhood to Philippine political history. organization of Cebuano political settlement through web-like Likewise it employs historical institutionalism as well as the connections of small town, district, and provincial political new institutional economics. It emphasizes on property rights, organizations. It shows the interplay of political clans and transaction costs, modes of governance, social norms, political dynasties at the district, town, and provincial ideological values, enforcement mechanisms, and others that levels. This arrangement also shows political compromise paved way to what Philippine politics and governance came to be among elites as mechanism for them to accumulate proprietary as it is historically traced to its present formation. wealth; where inter-familial, economic, and political The study engages scenarios on what it had been in the past and what it might be in the years to come given the path that it competition has taken on a more paternalistic and less violent has tread from colonial times to to its neo-colonial position at exchange and indicates how politicians rely on the skillful use present. of state offices and the construction of a political machine (Sidel 1999). Keywords- Philippine political structure and culture; Cebu as an island local government unit is a dominant Subnational Politics; Filipino Nationhood; Formation of the player in economic trade among island provinces and LGUs in Filipino Nation; Philippine Developmentalism the Visayan region. Cebu’s economic development can be I. Studies on Politics in Cebu traced to its history of class formation and land settlement that Extensive scholarly work has been done on Cebuano enabled its transformation from agricultural entrepot, an intermediary center of trade and trans-shipment, into a regional politics. These include the well-known edited volume An th Anarchy of Families: State and Family in the Philippines by center of export industries at the turn of the 20 century (Sidel Alfred McCoy. The volume presents key sources on the 1999:81,128; McCoy 1998:7; Cullinane 1982:273). dynamics of traditional political families, such as chapters by The dominant business and political clans, rich Michael Cullinane, “Patron as Client: Warlord Politics and the families or personalities of Cebu’s rural townships sustained Duranos of Danao” (in McCoy 1998:163-243), and by Resil themselves in power since the 1940s as they are mostly scions Mojares, “The Dream Goes On: Three Generations of the of pre-war local landlords and politicians. Sidel’s (1999) work Osmeñas” (1998:311-347). These works explored specific also accounts for institutions of multi-tiered networks of small cases that show the historical development of political town bosses in cohorts with district patrons who collaborate structure and culture operating in Cebuano local politics and with provincial patrons, who in turn also commit to national the role of political families. patrons. More discussions on Cebuano political dynamics can Furthermore, in Cebu City, the political and economic be found in the works of John Sidel in Capital, Coercion and dynamics sustained electoral competition and capital Crime Bossism in the Philippines (1999), of Michael Cullinane accumulation of a network of Chinese mestizos who settled in in “The Changing Nature of the Cebu Urban Elite (1982),” of the heart of the City such as the Parian District (Briones 1983). Alfred McCoy and Ed de Jesus in Philippine Social The political compromise agreement appear as a mutual History: Local Trade and Global Transformations (1982), and development sponsored by a community of mixed Chinese and of Concepcion Briones in Life in Old Parian (1983). Spanish mestizos who dominated the island’s political Literature shows that Cebu province’s local political dynamics and mode of political reproduction remained history consists of structural layers of supra-local or supra- unchanged (Briones 1983). Tracing the history of people in control of political positions when Cebu City was still a Spanish ayuntamiento, Cullinane (1981) describes leadership at the local junta de DOI: 10.5176/2251-2853_6.1.202 ©The Author(s) 2017. This article is published with open access by the GSTF 1 GSTF Journal of Law and Social Sciences (JLSS) Vol.6 No.1, 2017 ayuntamiento as consisting of mixed ethnic composition: Political Settlement in Cebuano Politics Spanish peninsulares, Spanish mestizos, chinese mestizos, In the case of Cebu, literature suggests that political immigrant Filipinos, and local Filipino families. All these settlement is practiced among politicians especially in groups were considered prominent residents. economic interests that are present in a combination of Most of these city councilors descended from families engagements in: (a) small town bosses; (b) district bosses; (c) of landed aristocrats and held various occupations; some were provincial bosses; (d) political warlords; (e) political machines; lawyers, some held offices in the Spanish bureaucracy. (f) networks of patrons; and (g) electoral coercion. Cullinane reported: Clans with large proprietary holdings in the province “Between 1890 and 1898 some residents of also dominate politics in their respective towns. Town Cebu served in the ayuntamiento. Twenty- executives from rich and powerful clans who own assets five of them were peninsular Spaniards (nine ranging from 300 to 500 hectares of coconuts and corn fields had lasting commitment to Cebu, of whom at with a number of client tenants and farm workers hold power least five were married to Filipinas), 17 were over Cebu’s municipalities. Chinese mestizos (from 13 families), eight Agricultural landlords as well as leading personalities were local Spanish mestizos (four from the of organizations such as the Philippine Coconut Producers gremio de naturales), four were immigrant Federation (COCOFED) and others wielded political power Filipinos, four were residents of San Nicolas, over the masses. They commandeered business opportunities, and only one was Cebuano from the gremio such as owning or operating transport corporations, which de naturales. The councilors represented the monopolized ownership of buses plying provincial routes wealthiest and most prominent families of indispensable to commuters and inter-island trade (see Sidel Cebu City. About half of them were 1999). merchants, but many of these had multiple Small Town Bosses occupations, usually combining commercial The pattern of rent-seeking activities shows the activities with some form of landholding. symptomatic practices of town mayors as small town bosses Twenty-five percent (25%) of the councilors representing the interests of local elite families (Sidel 1999:86). were land owners, seven (11%) were As local chief executives, they possess regulatory powers. They lawyers, and nine or fifteen percent (15%) control dispensation of government funds, influence the held (or had held) offices in the Spanish location of construction of projects such as roads, public bureaucracy. (Cullinane in McCoy and De markets, and schools (Sidel 1999:84). Jesus 1981:278) Town mayors also facilitated the employment of Cebu City, is the oldest settlement established by workers, award contracts, gain profits from overpriced projects Spain in the Philippines. In the first half of the 20th century, the or ghost projects, and payroll padding (Sidel 1999:84). Aside cities’ electoral contests were fought with intensity between from this, their community control system includes the elite factions or families and within families. Mojares (1986) in monopoly of franchise and permits for amusement centers, such The Man Who Would be President, noted further that: as cockpits, which are granted as rewards to political allies who “[A]t the very beginning of the century, win in the local elections. elections were already marked by poll These practices do not only demarcate the line irregularities and political vendetta. In the between the allies and the opposition, they also serve the 1903 municipal elections the returns from 6 purpose of gaining