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basically, which is why we are in trouble. The morality that says “You should not be
corrupt, you should obey the law.”, and other morality says “You have to take care
of your family.” So either way you are a hero. You are a hero to the society or
you’re a hero to your family. That is part of the tragedy that keeps on playing in the
Philippines.
Political institutions are organizations which create, enforce, and apply laws.
They mediate conflict, make government policy, and economic society. We have
political parties, civil society organizations, the courts, of course, the executive,
the bureaucracy, the mass media, social media, and so and so. These are all
organizations. They are political institutions.
The first insight I have is that, of course, the misuse of the military can lead to
the corruption of democracy. That is usually the main entry point to constitutional
authoritarianism that use the military to take over the civilians. Here is a statement
from President Duterte. He is fond of making a lot of pronouncements. This
pronouncement he says “The military blew the chance for true change in the
Philippines.” He’s saying that when the people power revolt happened in 1986 after
Marcos, that the military should have continued to rule the Philippines. Now that is..
can you imagine that coming from the President of the country that has the
democratic constitution. Lately he’s been offering to the military. As I have said
before, if you want to hold the junta, you just tell me. He’s been trying to invite the
military. He’s been courting the military from day one, moving from camp to camp
across the Philippines. But for some reason, the military has not taken the top even in
his attempt to involve the military in the campaign against drugs, in which thousands
of people have been killed because of the drug war. The military has refused. They
have politely said “Mr. President, if you want us to join, please give us a written
order.” And Mr. Duterte has not given them a written order, so they have not
participated with the police in going after,nd in many ways, killing drug addicts.
What can go wrong? Despite the fact that the military is steadfast, so far, what
can go wrong is exposing the military who seizes the opportunity for corruption. And
I think that’s one of the dangers. Mr. Duterte has appointed military, men, retired
chief of staff, generals to positions, including positions for which they, to me and
many people, they are not qualified for. For instance, our Department of Social
Welfare and Development is now headed by a retired general. The recent order of
President Duterte for the military to take over the Bureau of Customs, to us, is a
blatant attempt to bribe the military to, perhaps, tempt them with some incentives for
changing their minds.
In the Philippines, the armed forces is the most crucial political institution for
sustaining democratic governance. Now, what can political institutions do? Well, the
political constitution limits on the occasions and inclinations of the military to intervene
in politics, enhance the professionalism of the armed forces through doctrine
development, through transparency, accountability and civilians supreme over the ª£¸²£ª±¡¡²¥¸h¡¢h¢µÈ
