These provide profiles of four initiatives in response to election-related violence (ERV) in the 2010 elections. The initiatives profiled are: Abra Multisector Group (AMSG) in Abra; Masbate Advocates for Peace (MAP) in Masbate; Vote Peace (various areas); and Good Wednesday Group (GWG) in Maguindanao.
A chapter by La Viña and Aceron in the book, Agenda for Hope: Democratizing Governance. This chapter proposes a movement for nation-building among reformist leaders from the different local government units (LGUs), the bureaucracy, the citizens’ groups, and even among the circles of some modernizing elites, that would develop a system of synergy and interdependence to be able to connect their efforts, share a common vision for the country, and eventually execute a coordinated strategy of capturing power at the national level.
The key of the past not repeating itself is us. We know this in our hearts and it is great that there are a lot of us who have taken the challenge of being the difference to make a difference. If we factor in ourselves and be one of the variables that will change the tide, then perhaps, change has a chance. In doing so, we need to dare ourselves to be more. This is the clear lesson from history. We need to do our part and yes, there are good signs that we will.
The news that the FOI Bill failed was frustrating, but it should serve as a wake up call. Not only that we must make power accountable, we must reconstitute power; for as it is now, the power configuration in our society only allows limited reforms and hardly any radical changes. Important legislations that deepen democracy by giving more power to the people and making the exercise of power more accountable like the FOI Bill will hardly have a chance and our toil to make a difference will be more of the same without making any difference in the existing power structure. This is why it is most critical that while we continue our governance work now, we do not lose sight of the important task of developing our political party system, continuing the political engagement with the new administration and creating a reform-oriented context for the next elections through electoral reform and political education.
Citizen Reform Agenda 2010 or CReforms 2010 is a consultation process initiated by the Ateneo School of Government (ASoG) through its PODER program that aims to bring together the broadest possible representation of citizen organizations in the country to identify key reform agenda or issues that candidates and political parties must address for the 2010 elections.
This provides reflection paper on the Partisan Civil Society discussion series, arguing the case for political party building in the Philippines.
This chapter will search for an aspect of political parties that can explain the mal-development of party politics in the country, and can provide a feasible point of reference for party reform measures.
This provides report from the project, COMELEC Budget Watch.
This discussion series reflected, examined and investigated the lessons and prospects of the involvements of societal forces in the contestation of state power.