Historical context

In 1899 Aguinaldo was proclaimed the first President of the First Philippine Republic. However, this was short-lived since in the same year he led a new revolt against the United States which marked the start of the Philippine-American War.^[1144] The resistance ended with Aguinaldo's capture in 1901 and the signing of the Peace Proclamation on 4 July 1902.

During the 48 years of the US Occupation of the Philippines, the Ameri­cans' efforts centred on the creation of a strong public education system, public infrastructure and a sound legal system.^[1145] In 1935 the Philippines became a self-governing commonwealth, with Manuel Quezon elected as President. In 1942 Japan attacked the Philippines and US forces surrendered to the Japanese. The United States reclaimed the Philippines when General Douglas McArthur landed in Leyte on 20 October 1944. The Japanese surrendered in September 1945.

The Philippines was granted independence from America only on 4 July 1946.^[1146] From that time until 1972, when Ferdinand Marcos, the sixth Philip­pine President, declared martial law, the Philippines was governed under the 1935 Constitution. Marcos was deposed in 1986 by a peaceful uprising led by a civil society that was thus dubbed the �People Power Revolution'. It installed Corazon C Aquino as President and for a brief time she exercised both executive and legislative powers under the Freedom Constitution.^[1147] One of the executive orders she issued was the Family Code^[1148] which ushered in a set of reforms that heightened gender equality. In 1987 a new Constitution^[1149] was adopted, which �detailed guarantees against a Marcos-style power-grab, and restored the checks-and-balances among three separate branches of government.'^[1150] It insti­tuted three constitutional bodies, including an independent Human Rights Com­mission, Civil Service Commission and Commission on Audit.^[1151] Despite these, much of the old power structure was unchanged, with old elites remaining firmly entrenched.

Fidel Ramos succeeded Aquino in 1992 and his reforms helped revitalise the Philippines' economy, which emerged from years of stagnation and kept the country afloat even during the Asian Financial Crisis in 1998.²⁵ Ramos' term ended in June 1998.

Joseph Estrada, a popular movie actor who was elected the 13th President of the Philippines, was ousted from power in a military revolt in 2001, referred to as People Power II (or EDSA II).²⁶ He was later convicted of plunder, hav­ing received millions of pesos from illegal gambling.²⁷ History will note that though teetering in his Presidency, Estrada did not rely on any of the emergency measures provided in the 1987 Constitution. On the other hand, his succes­sor, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, has â€?thrice been threatened with civilian protests and has... deliberately avoided using the exact language of the constitution in order not to trigger off the built-in safeguards, [though] she has not been fundamentally repudiated either by the Supreme Court, the Congress or the people.'²⁸

Except for the period of military rule under Marcos, the Philippines has for the past century been governed through the familiar institutions of liberal democ­racy, but applying laws inherited from colonial rule and transplanted into foreign and unfamiliar soil, as will be discussed below.

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