From Marcos to Aquino: Local Perspectives on Political Transition in the Philippines

This is like no other book on the "People Power," "EDSA Revolution" of February 1986. It emphasizes not Manila nor Aquino nor Marcos nor the military. Instead, it focuses on the unheralded people in twelve localities sprinkled from Mindanao to Ilocos. Each place is analyzed by a scholar who has invested considerable time, often stretching over several years, to know and understand political, economic, and social dynamics of the area. Hence, this book looks at the transition from Marcos to Aquino from the perspectives of people in specific parts of the country. This book tells twelve different stories of what people did and why during the tumultuous turn of events in 1985-1986 and in the years since Aquino has been president. It also draws out the different meanings of this change in government at the top for townspeople, villagers, local elites, and workers at the local level. The image emerging from this book is that of a diverse society composed of political actors for whom issues and even ideals often do matter; and in those areas where political monopolies prevail, command and coercion often keeps them together rather than bening alliances built on negotiation and reciprocity. Finally, like the Marcos government, Aquino's also rests on the tenuous ground of local experiences, predispostions, and values. Its rise to power owes more to the favorable convergence of populist sentiments than the clear force of a single, organized political will anchored to a clear program. And the changes it has brought are much more modest than is suggested by the claim of "a transition from authoritarianism to democracy."