Dr.

Neric Acosta
Faculty, Department of Political Science

Addressing Crisis and Conflict:

Challenges for Institutional Reform and Governance

Department of Political Science, School of Social Sciences

Institutions

Inclusion

Investments

“THE THREE I’s”

Department of Political Science, School of Social Sciences

LAND OF PROMISE
-Natural resources
-Cultural diversity
- Locus/ driver of economic
growth

MINDANAO
 Department of Political Science, School of Social Sciences

BROKEN PROMISES
-Historical Injustices
-Armed Conflict
Early 1970s-1990s (MNLF)
Late 1970s-Present (MILF)
-Poverty and Social Exclusion
High Poverty Incidence/
Inequities
-Terrorism
1990s-Present (Abu Sayyaf)

MINDANAO

Department of Political Science, School of Social Sciences

MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT-
ANCESTRAL DOMAIN
Towards perpetual peace – or strife?

MINDANAO

Department of Political Science, School of Social Sciences

PRIMACY OF INSTITUTIONS
- good governance
- accountable government
- democracy/rule of law
(predictability and continuity)

INSTITUTIONS
 Department of Political Science, School of Social Sciences

INSTITUTIONS MATTER

“Institutions that enabled markets

underpinned economic success
stories; institutions that stifled
markets were accompanied by
stagnation.”

-Douglass North

INSTITUTIONS

Department of Political Science, School of Social Sciences

INSTITUTIONS MATTER
Two Kinds of Institutions:
1.Those that affect the cost of
doing business, reduce the cost
of market exchange;
2.Those that protect property
rights (constitutions, separation
of powers, electoral
accountability).

INSTITUTIONS

Department of Political Science, School of Social Sciences

INSTITUTIONAL ANOMALIES
- Jose Pidal
- Diosdado Macapagal Highway
- Jueteng Payola
- Garci Scandal
- Fertilizer Scam
- P.P. 1017
- E.0. 464
- Oplan Bantay Laya/ ‘EJK’/HR
- ZTE-NBN Deal- SC Decision on
Executive Privilege

INSTITUTIONS
 Department of Political Science, School of Social Sciences

INSTITUTIONAL PERFORMANCE

“PARTLY-FREE” (2008)

Accountability and Public Voice 4.16

Civil Liberties 3.85
Rule of Law 3.29
Anticorruption and Transparency 3.38
(Scores are based on a scale of 0 to 7, with 0 representing weakest and
7 representing strongest performance)

INSTITUTIONS

Department of Political Science, School of Social Sciences

INSTITUTIONAL PERFORMANCE

RAMON MAGSAYSAY AWARDS 2008

“No amount of infrastructure and economic

investments can be sustained without
accountable, transparent government.”

INSTITUTIONS

Department of Political Science, School of Social Sciences

INSTITUTIONAL PERFORMANCE

“On the whole, Philippine democracy has combined popular

exuberance with the major flaws of elite dominance and
institutional weakness. The political structures implanted
and nurtured under U.S. colonial rule in the early 20th
century were characterized by the exclusion of the masses,
patronage-infested political parties, a spoils system that
undermined bureaucratic coherence, and opportunities for
overbearing executive authority...”
-Paul Hutchcroft, University of Wisconsin- Madison

INSTITUTIONS
 Department of Political Science, School of Social Sciences

INSTITUTIONAL PERFORMANCE

“While suffrage expanded after independence in 1946, the

country’s “cacique democracy” fell far short of the
democratic ideal. In essence, there was rotation of power
within the elite without effective participation by those at
the bottom of highly inequitable socioeconomic
structures.”
-Paul Hutchcroft, University of Wisconsin- Madison

INSTITUTIONS

Department of Political Science, School of Social Sciences

INSTITUTIONAL PERFORMANCE
“WEAK” (2008)
(Overall Score: 67/100)
Legal Framework 86/100
Actual Implementation 50/100
Implementation Gap Very Large 36

INSTITUTIONS

Department of Political Science, School of Social Sciences

INSTITUTIONAL PERFORMANCE
”Political financing is effectively unregulated. Journalists
and judges are frequently threatened and killed (25
journalists have been killed since 2004). Public access to
information is guaranteed in the constitution, and the legal
information framework is well regarded. However, in
practice, politically charged documents have been
withheld. Oversight of state-owned enterprises is
inconsistent and poses little risk of investigation.”

INSTITUTIONS
 Department of Political Science, School of Social Sciences

INSTITUTIONAL PERFORMANCE
”Ranked 131 out of 179” (2008)
Scored 2.5

(Where ’10’ is highly clean and ‘0’ as highly corrupt)

INSTITUTIONS

Department of Political Science, School of Social Sciences

INSTITUTIONAL PERFORMANCE
"Nothing has changed or improved from a year
ago. The results of our previous report are still
very much applicable."
TI Regional Director Pascal Fabie (May 2008)

INSTITUTIONS

Department of Political Science, School of Social Sciences

UNFULFILLED PROMISE
The practice of Official Development Assistance (ODA) has
not been beneficial… what is needed are:
“concrete actions to improve the transparency of
both donors and developing country governments,
to end the policy conditions donors attached to
aid and to end the practice of using aid to promote
donor economic and foreign-policy interests.”

- Dr. Giovanni Tapang (AID Watch Philippines)

INVESTMENTS/INFRASTRUCTURES
 Department of Political Science, School of Social Sciences

UNFULFILLED PROMISE
Life Expectancy (2003)
BOTTOM 10 YEARS
Antique 62.6
Kalinga 62.5
Apayao 62.4
Eastern Samar 61.7
Western Samar 61.4
Basilan 60.6
Lanao del Sur 57.9
Sulu 52.8
Maguindanao 52.0
Tawi-Tawi 51.2
Source: UNDP 2005 Phil Report

INVESTMENTS/INFRASTRUCTURES

Department of Political Science, School of Social Sciences

UNFULFILLED PROMISE
High School Graduate (2000 vs. 2003)
Top Losers YEARS
Sarangani -24.8
Maguindanao -19.9
Davao Oriental -12.6
Zamboanga del Norte -10.2
Quezon -5.2
Lanao del Norte -4.1
North Cotabato -3.8
Southern Leyte -3.6
Mt. Province -3.5
Camarines Norte -3.4
Source: UNDP 2005 Phil Report

INVESTMENTS/INFRASTRUCTURES

Department of Political Science, School of Social Sciences

UNFULFILLED PROMISE
Real per capita Income (1997 NCR Pesos)
Bottom 10 Real per capita income
Guimaras 17,049
Romblon 16,712
Marinduque 15,938
Saranggani 15,014
Masbate 14,454
Zamboanga del Norte 14,218
Maguindanao 14,198
Basilan 13,265
Tawi-Tawi 10,780
Sulu 8,430
Source: UNDP 2005 Phil Report

INVESTMENTS/INFRASTRUCTURES
 Department of Political Science, School of Social Sciences

UNFULFILLED PROMISE
Human Development Index (2003)
Bottom 10 Index
Lanao del Sur 0.480
Eastern Samar 0.474
Western Samar 0.469
Saranggani 0.448
Zamboanga del Norte 0.446
Masbate 0.442
Basilan 0.409
Tawi-Tawi 0.364
Maguindanao 0.360
Sulu 0.301
Source: UNDP 2005 Phil Report

INVESTMENTS/INFRASTRUCTURES

Department of Political Science, School of Social Sciences

UNFULFILLED PROMISE
Mindanao Poverty Incidence (2003-2006)
Province Region Rank Poverty Incidence (%)
Tawi-Tawi ARMM 1 78.9
Zamboanga del Norte Zamboanga Peninsula 2 63.0
Maguindanao ARMM 3 62.0
Apayao CAR 4 57.5
Surigao del Norte Caraga 5 53.2
Lanao del Sur ARMM 6 52.5
Northern Samar Eastern Visayas 7 52.5
Masbate Bicol Region 8 51.0
Abra CAR 9 50.1
Misamis Occidental Northern Mindanao 10 48.1
Source: National Statistical Coordination Board

INVESTMENTS/INFRASTRUCTURES

Department of Political Science, School of Social Sciences

UNFULFILLED PROMISE
ARMM Poverty Incidence (2006)
“55.3 %”
(National average of poverty incidence is 26.9%)
Source: National Statistical Coordination Board

INVESTMENTS/INFRASTRUCTURES
 Department of Political Science, School of Social Sciences

Social Cohesion
”Social exclusion and widespread poverty
threaten peace-building.”
(No peace without equity and economic
growth; no growth in the context of
conflict and strife.)
-UNDP 2005 HDR Report

INCLUSION

Department of Political Science, School of Social Sciences

Social Cohesion

Social Capital as SOCIAL TRUST

“Social Capital is an instantiated informal

norm that promotes cooperation between
two or more individuals”

-Francis Fukuyama

INCLUSION

Department of Political Science, School of Social Sciences

Social Cohesion

Social Capital as SOCIAL TRUST

“A nation’s well-being, as well as its ability

to compete, is conditioned by a single,
pervasive cultural characteristic: the level
of trust inherent in society.”

-Francis Fukuyama

INCLUSION
 Department of Political Science, School of Social Sciences

Social Cohesion

Development as FREEDOM

“Development requires the removal of

major sources of unfreedom: poverty,
tyranny, poor economic opportunities,
system deprivation, neglect of public
facilities, intolerance, and repression.”
-Amartya Sen

INCLUSION

Department of Political Science, School of Social Sciences

Social Cohesion
Lumads
Christian migrants
Muslim communities

INCLUSION

Department of Political Science, School of Social Sciences

MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT

A fiasco due to
weak governance

MINDANAO
 Department of Political Science, School of Social Sciences

MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT

Weak governance impairs

the opportunities and
potential of the poor

MINDANAO

Department of Political Science, School of Social Sciences

MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT

BAD FAITH
- Lack of transparency
-Absence of TRUST
-Ulterior agendas

WEAK/BAD
GOVERNANCE KILLS-
EXACERBATES
CONFLICT, ‘Pandora’s
Box’

MINDANAO

Department of Political Science, School of Social Sciences

Towards 2010

-”Chacha”
-Federalism

Where are we headed?

 Department of Political Science, School of Social Sciences

Towards 2010

- Emergency Rule
- Martial Law

Where are we headed?

Department of Political Science, School of Social Sciences

Reframing Mindanao Question

Institutions Investments

Inclusion

Mindanao as the linchpin in building

the “three I’s”

Where are we headed?

Department of Political Science, School of Social Sciences

Reframing the Mindanao Question

Mindanao agenda in the 2010 elections?

Where are we headed?

 Department of Political Science, School of Social Sciences

Reframing the Mindanao Question

Interrogating the Mindanao issue is integral to the

larger Philippine development/ democratic agenda.

Where are we headed?

Department of Political Science, School of Social Sciences

Reframing the Mindanao Question

“WE ARE ALL MINDANAOANS.”

MINDANAOANS.”