The 2010 Philippine Election

The 2010 Election is the Philippines is the most vibrant election of Asian Democratic history… The Philippines will choose leaders to lead the Philippines to progress.

The Republic of the Philippines is a constitutional democracy, with the President as head of state. The president and vice president are elected by the people for six-year terms. The national government has three coequal branches that exercise a system of checks and balances: executive, legislative, and judicial.

The executive branch consists of the President and his Cabinet. The Senate and the House of Representatives make up the bicameral legislature. The Supreme Court heads the systems of courts under the judicial branch.

Congress consists of a 24-member Senate and a 250-member House of Representatives. The voters of the entire nation elect senators to six-year terms. Voters from different districts elect 200 of the representatives to three-year terms. The remaining 50 representatives are selected from lists drawn up by the political parties to ensure representation of women, ethnic minorities, and certain economic and occupational groups. The number selected from each party’s list is about one-fourth of the number of the party’s elected representatives. All Philippine citizens who are at least 18 years old may vote.

The Philippine Constitution is the fundamental basis of the laws of the land. The country has had several Constitutions, but the current one was adopted through a nationwide plebiscite in 1987. It is supported by other laws, such as the Civil Code, the Labor Code, the Omnibus Investments Code, and the National Internal Revenue Code, as well as by rules and regulations passed by government bodies. The latter include rulings, letters of instruction, circulars, memoranda, administrative orders, judicial orders, and pronouncements, as well as laws adopted by local government within the scope of the Constitution.

History:

The Philippines is an archipelago of 7,107 islands located in Southeast Asia. It is a democratic unitary presidential republic with diplomatic relations with most other countries in the world and is a participant in the international scene. The Philippines is classed as a developing country although it was once the second largest economy in Asia. Filipinos are mostly of Malay descent with a little Chinese, Spanish and American. The population is predominantly Roman Catholic although there is a large Muslim population in the south.

The Philippines was discovered in 1521 by Ferdinand Magellan who was later killed in a battle with local chieftain, Lapu-Lapu. Several decades later, Spain returned and established the Philippines as a colony in 1565. The archipelago remained under Spanish control until 1898 despite brief British occupation of Manila 1762 – 1764. Towards the end of Spanish rule, Filipinos developed a sense of liberalism and nationalism. Individuals such as Dr. Jose Rizal and Andres Bonifacio sought independence, the former through peaceful negotiation and reform and the latter through outright revolution. Revolution finally came and Filipinos began their struggle for independence which was proclaimed by General Emilio Aguinaldo in 1898. Independence was short lived and 1898 marked the beginning of American colonial rule which lasted until 1946, with three years of occupation from Japan 1943 – 1945. President Ferdinand Marcos proclaimed martial law in 1972 and exercised legislative powers. Martial law was ended in 1981 and the assassination of Ninoy Aquino in 1983 let to the ouster of Marcos in 1986. A number of unsuccessful military coups have been launched against some post-Marcos governments but the largest threats to national security are the communist and Muslim insurgencies.

When Corazon Aquino came to power in 1986 through the People Power movement, Democracy came back at last to the Philippines.

On February 22, 1986, the People Power Revolution was triggered after two key Marcos allies, Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and Armed Forces Vice-Chief of Staff Fidel Ramos called on Marcos to resign and holed up in two military camps in Quezon City. Aquino, who was in Cebu City when the revolt broke out, returned to Manila and insisted on joining the swelling crowd that had gathered outside the camps as a human barricade to protect the defectors.On the morning of 25 February 1986, at the Club Filipino in San Juan, Aquino took the presidential oath of office administered by Supreme Court Associate Justice Claudio Teehankee. Marcos himself was sworn into office at Malacañang Palace on that same day, but fled into exile later that night.

The relatively peaceful manner by which Aquino assumed the presidency through the EDSA Revolution won her widespread international acclaim as an icon of democracy. She was selected as Time magazine’s Woman of the Year in 1986. She was also nominated to receive the Nobel Peace Prize but lost to Elie Wiesel also in 1986. In September 1986, Aquino delivered a speech before a joint session of the United States Congress which was interrupted by applause several times, and which then U.S. House Speaker Tip O’Neill hailed as “the finest speech I’ve ever heard in my 34 years in Congress.” Above the din of cheering officials, Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole said to Mrs. Aquino, “Cory, you hit a home run.” Without missing a beat, Aquino smiled and shot back: “I hope the bases were loaded.”

After Cory’s Glorious Presidency which brought back Democracy in the Philippines, Fidel V. Ramos followed in 1992, Joseph Estrada in 1998 and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2000.

The current Presidency under Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is one of the most unpopular in Philippine History.

The big question — Who will succeed her as the 15th President of the Republic of the Philippines?

Who will emerge triumphant in the 2010 Philippine Election?

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