Political Effectiveness

Martial Law under the Marcos administration was a very uproarious period in Philippine history, and countless lives have been irrevocably changed because of it. With the working thesis of, “The execution of the orders from the higher ups during the Marcos era stems from the psychological capability of certain soldiers to communicate, understand, and properly implement the law in a peaceful manner,” the researcher delves into the concept of agency and how it is affected or compromised by both internal and external factors. It is important to first understand the structure of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in Marcos’ time, as they played a vital, and often controversial, role during this era. According to Jongseok Woo’s ‘Security Challenges and Military Politics in East Asia: From State building to Post-democratization,’ “Under the martial law regime, the AFP experienced unprecedented expansion of the organization and its roles beyond the responsibility of national defense.” (Woo, 46) Due to beneficial and generous decisions Marcos made that are partial to the AFP, it could be said that Martial Law happened because of the support of the AFP officers rallying behind Marcos.

Reviewing of several literatures reveals the great promises revolution in military affairs holds for conventional, combined-arms warfare, but the same cannot be said of its potential value in conflict short of war. When, it comes to terrorism, insurgency, or violence associated with drug trafficking, it is not so clear-cut. The outcome can be a failure

Many of those drawn to police work had spent time in the military during WWII, Korea and Viet Nam, so it was a natural progression to take into account the background of law enforcement applicants and for police agencies to apply military style training to their officers. Law enforcement agencies knew that they could review a veteran’s military background and know what type of person they would be hiring, instead of hiring someone with no measurable background. The new police officers came from a background of rank structure and following orders without question (McCafferty, 2003, p.79). While this training approach made it easier for the law enforcement leaders, it was not the perfect approach for law enforcement and public interaction. Since police officers expected the public to respond as they were trained to respond – without questioning authority - pressure was put on law enforcement agencies to take on a less militaristic approach when dealing with the public. When the public refused to respond to law enforcement without question, conflict arose. Conflict erupted with riots in the south and in areas such as Watts, California. There were two diametrically opposed groups; law enforcement who expected compliance without question and the public who expected accountability and explanations on the part of law enforcement. Change

One hundred and twenty thousand dead and 1 Million refugees were the result of a 36-year guerrilla war. The war ended in the early 1990’s, but that still came with great costs such as disease and famine. Republica has seen minor improvements such as life expectancy, but even with these minor improvements that are being made, this country has a long way to go.

Governments controlled by Military regimes portray themselves as non-partisan that will attempt to make is seem that all civilian politicians are corrupt and ineffective. One characteristic of a military government is martial law the country always seems to be in perpetual state of

Nowadays, Philippines is a mess in every aspect. The country is facing enormous amount of problems including poverty, public transportation, importation and exportation, the government system, weak leaders, traffic, corruption, tax rate, unfinished projects, and so on. The form of government in a certain country is achieved when the leader considers factors that could help him/her improve the country for the better. According to the one of the professors in the university, Philippines tried almost all forms of government but failed. That means that the problem is on the people itself because every Filipinos always want change.

A military regime, alongside monarchical, personalist and single party regimes, is a classification of an authoritarian regime. The regime is organised by a group of officers who decider a ruling mechanism and exercise some influence on governmental policy (Geddes, 1999, p.125). Authoritarian regimes arise through the eradication of an elected government and the majority party, through a coup or a military intervention. Survival of authoritarian regimes has become increasingly more difficult because of a developing democratic world which has now reached the ‘third wave of democratization’ (Huntington, 1991). All types of regime are vulnerable to collapse but the military regime is especially vulnerable as the institutional costs often counterbalance the benefits (Nordlinger, 1977). Thus, the longevity of a military regime is far shorter than that of either personalist or one-party regimes. The reasons as to why military regimes struggle to survive for lengthy periods of time can be explained through; the corporate interest of the regime, the benefits obtained from the regime during power or implementation, the vulnerability of the regime during power and the consequences that would emerge if the regime dissolved.

In the Brazil Police Force there is a large problem with police corruption. The corrupt police take on a life of crime because of poor education, lack of money, and lack of positive hopes for the future. This is due to a large amount of the police force coming from the poorer areas of the country where they have little access to education. The officers are poorly paid, poorly trained, and poorly equipped to deal with the high-risk situations they face on an everyday basis. To counter the problems they face many officers resort to corruption in order to make money.

“Radical simply means ‘grasping things at the root’”- Angela Davis (Radical Quotes). Throughout history, radical change meats two things: a chaotic new era where people suffered, or it meant a prosperous time for the people. During the Russian Revolution, Vladimir Lenin led an uprising with the people to form a communist government. This radical change brought forth a demise to the new Russian society and its people as the new system led them to time of economic depression and poverty. On the other hand, the American Revolution was a radical uprising that would be the start of the United States of America. As a result, the U.S. today has created a government that is considered unrivaled in its efficiency. Rodrigo Duterte, a man known for his unorthodox methods and aggressive nature, is considered a radical candidate in this year’s election. Duterte’s actions are heavily criticized as well as his possibility of presidency. However, despite the many criticisms about Duterte, he is the presidential candidate the Philippines needs to change the many

[I]n pursuit of its long-range goal of recovering the substance of democracy, restoring individual rights and promoting the welfare of the Filipino people, the government has successfully waged a Democratic Revolution founded upon a series of reforms[.] (1)

It is convincing that the current Philippine government system is linking between democratic and authoritarian. It will be more likely to achieve more improvement if we change our system gradually. The democracy we have in our country is not the democracy it should be. People are becoming reckless and undisciplined. Our country is not capable of providing us with some of our basic needs, especially when it comes to our benefits — which are minimal. We deserve the right kind of

The most crucial component of national security – the military-defense and law enforcement establishment – is potentially also one of its most troublesome. For years these two have buttressed the State in its times of tumult; from the first EDSA Revolution during the fall of the Marcos dictatorship, to contending military and police forces facing each other in several coups in the 1980’s under Cory Aquino, military intervention presaging the downfall of Joseph Estrada, and even the attempts at military and national reform in 2003 instigated by junior officers calling themselves Magdalo along with tensions in the 2006 Marine standoff and the 2007 Peninsula Manila siege; all of these have seen the dual nature of the military and police’s influence on Philippine society.

In it’s over 50 years of independence from colonial rule, the military held the reins of power in the country for more than twenty-five years. Currently the country has had an uninterrupted democracy for the thirteenth year with four consecutive general elections. Unfortunately, tribalistic, ethnical and religious clashes have further weakened the fragile

Thus, with regards to the above matter, I have a few recommendations to overcome these challenges, because the Philippines is facing internal armed challenges affecting the good governance of the security sector, the government has to address the structural causes of internal armed conflicts, insurgency, terrorism and political unrests. Therefore, comprehensive structural reforms are imperative for SSR. Structural reforms

The Philippines, officially recognized as the Republic of the Philippines is a country in Southeast Asia composed of more than 7,000 islands. The archipelago is a country that has struggled to develop into a thriving nation ever since the colonization of the Spanish. The citizens who reside here are a kind, loving, giving, generous people that face a series of challenges with its poor infrastructure, and basic utilities. None of this can stop these proud people from moving forward and making their mark in the world. With one of the fastest growing economies in Asia and an equally growing population, this creates rifts throughout the country that leaves it in a weaken state today.