War of oligarchs
By Teresita Cruz-del Rosario
As children of former presidents, they both lived in the Malacanang Palace in the Philippines. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino, son of former President Corazon Aquino, is now president and full-time occupant of the palace. Gloria Arroyo, daughter of former president Diosdado Macapagal, was Aquino’s immediate predecessor. Their parents, both wealthy and from the landed class, represent the continued oligarchic domination in Philippine politics.
Today, Aquino and Arroyo are locked in a ferocious battle that goes beyond traditional feuds between the country’s elite families. Their struggle goes to the core of badly needed reforms. It is certain to shape the course of Philippine society.
Aquino has mobilized government institutions to press a string of anti-corruption charges against Arroyo, including election fraud in 2006 and the misuse of public funds.
A court has issued a warrant of arrest for the former president. She was fingerprinted at a local police precinct and put under hospital arrest on humanitarian grounds, reportedly suffering from a rare bone disease affecting her spine.
Aquino has repeatedly asserted that the charges against Arroyo were about accountability and not personal vengeance. He has vowed to fulfill his campaign promise to weed out corruption and reverse the country’s image as one of the most corrupt in Asia. The Philippines ranks 129 on Transparency International list of 183 countries.
Arroyo successfully appealed to the Supreme Court to suspend the arrest warrant. She benefitted from the fact that eight of the court’s 12 judges, including Chief Justice Renato Corona, her former chief of staff, are her appointees.
With the suspension in hand, Arroyo rushed to the airport to catch a flight to Singapore but was stopped on the orders of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima. Her opponents charged that she had wanted to escape the clutches of Philippine law. De Lima argued that her order to hold Aquino was legal and did not violate the Supreme Court ruling which applied only to the arrest warrant.
In what has become a tit-for-tat public spat, Aquino’s Supreme Court supporters ruled in favor of the forced distribution of more than 4,000 hectares to 6,296 farmers of Arroyo-owned land that is part of the family estate, Hacienda Luisita. The estate is the Aquino family’s source of wealth, power and political status that constitutes the basis for the social clout that allows them to pursue and retain power.
In the latest twist in this political drama, Aquino, reportedly infuriated by the Supreme Court’s restraining order on Arroyo’s arrest, persuaded his allies in parliament to impeach Corona on charges that his relationship to Arroyo has rendered the country’s highest judicial institution a tool of vested, partisan interests.
Some 2,000 farm workers meanwhile marched from the northern province of Tarlac to Manila to thank the court for putting an end to decades of feudal serfdom and opening the door to redistribution of other agricultural estates controlled by oligarchs.
Never have the Philippine wheels of justice turned more swiftly.
The battle between the presidential siblings cuts to the core of key issues plaguing Philippine society: corruption and elite domination. Both have stymied the growth of the Philippine economy. Corruption has turned off investors, raised transaction costs, and impoverished millions of Filipinos, depriving them of vital public services. Elite control has concentrated wealth in the hands of a few families. Redistribution is crucial for the emergence of a strong middle class as the driver of a robust market democracy.
The battle between Aquino and Arroyo potentially signals the launch of a campaign for good governance. Redistribution of the Arroyo family’s land holdings holds out the hope for an end to gaping inequality that has sparked an insurgency, fuelled poverty, and forced millions to seek work abroad.
Unwittingly, the rival presidential offspring may achieve what decades of social justice campaigns failed to accomplish: a turning point in Philippine history that could fast-track development and economic growth. It would be a credit to Aquino and Arroyo even if it is achieved in spite of them.
Teresita Cruz-del Rosario is a visiting associate professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore. She was formerly assistant secretary to the Department of Agrarian Reform during Corazon Aquino’s term. She holds a Ph.D. in sociology from Boston College and a master in public administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.