134 Chasing the Wind: Assessing Philippine Democracy, Second Edition larger issues of political reform. In the prevailing atmosphere of renewed hope that a new political leadership offers, however, one civil society leader offers a reection: Except for spontaneous outbursts of energy such as the two EDSAs, civil society does not have the capacity to shape political events. One reason is that it is imprisoned in First World discourse. It has achieved rare success only when it, unconsciously, latches on to a winning faction of the elite.27 _________________ END NOTES 1 The ques on on civil society organiza on membership was asked as part of the survey of all household members. The first four ques ons elicited the names of the household members; their sex; age; and the rela onship of each household member to the respondent. As regards the choices in the showcard, these were (as arranged) the following: coopera ves; civic/voluntary associa ons (Red Cross, Jaycees); Church and religious organiza ons; sectoral organiza ons (such as women, youth, workers); professional organiza ons (such as teachers' associa ons; Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Philippine Medical Associa on, Philippine Nurses' Associa on); fisherfolk/farmers organiza ons; others. 2 The surveys were conducted for CODE-NGO, the lead organiza on for the Civil Society Index, by the Social Weather Sta ons. The na onal survey with a sample of 1,200 was conducted last October 1-4, 2009. The figure cited, 45.7% repor ng “ac ve” membership, is the projec on for the adult Filipino popula on. The SWS survey, the ques onnaire item was phrased as “I am going to read off a list of voluntary organisa ons. For each one, could you tell me whether you are an ACTIVE MEMBER, an INACTIVE MEMBER or NOT A MEMBER of that type of organiza on…” Wri en on shuffle cards shown to the respondents were 12 types of organiza ons, namely: Church or religious; sports or recrea onal; art, music or educa onal; labor union; poli cal party; environmental; professional; humanitarian or civic; NGOs; POs; coopera ves; and consumer associa ons. 3 This would include CSOs that have bonded together in various Bantay Dagat (protec on of coastal areas) or an -mining (AlyansangTigil Mina) campaigns, just to men on a couple of examples. 4 Among the post-EDSA 1986 presidents, Fidel V. Ramos is said to have the penchant for summits and one summit that he convened, the Na onal Summit on Poverty resulted in the formula on of the Social Reform Agenda and the subsequent establishment of the Na onal An -Poverty Council (NAPC). 5 The program was accessed through h p://www.changepoli csmovement.net/2009/10/. 6 Anne Marie Karaos, email of July 3, 2011 to the author. Karaos further observed that CPM members find it difficult to think “in terms of poli cal gains and costs” and the membership is “too altruis c and development-oriented.” 7 One of the noteworthy ini a ves of CSOs at the barangay level was working with these community organiza ons to provide local leaders with training in electoral campaign management and subsequently, for those who won in the 1997 barangay elec ons, in par cipatory barangay governance. The groups that spearheaded the ini a ve, NGOs affiliated with POPDEMS, subsequently formed the Barangay Bayan Governance Consor um in 1999 and launched many more trainings using the Barangay Administra on and Training Manual (BATMAN). Nathan Quimpo (Contested Democracy and the Le in the Philippines A er Marcos, Yale Monograph 58, 2007) recounts and assesses the experience of BCBG and