The Curious Cases of Philippine Civil Society and Decentralization
149
2. The Civil Society Map (Figure 3.b.), again an output of brainstorming,
already captures the divergence in Philippine civil society and how
some groups are linked with each other. Like the social forces map,
however, it would help to redraw the map based on the general
orientation of each group, whether they are predominantly
social/intermediary organizations versus those that are oriented
towards political reforms. It would also be a worthwhile endeavor to
plot out the interaction among these groups, as well as other social
forces, on a specific reform or “democratization” issue (e.g.,
constitutional change, the ban on political dynasties).
Issues and interventions
The vibrancy of civil society is also shown by the issues and interventions
they focused on and implemented across the last 25 years. Going through the
volumes of reports and assessment (Diokno 1997) (Clarke 1998) (Wui and
Lopez 1997) (Coronel 1997) (Yu-Jose 2011) of the issues and interventions that
civil society groups have attended to, one cannot help but be overwhelmed by
the expanse of the issues and the many attempts at getting a redistributive
reform policy formulated or seriously implemented; in stopping what is
believed to be development aggression;4 or in countering what are arguably
indicators of a slide towards overt repression or the abuse of power.
The loci of intervention have also been expansive beginning with the:
o communities/sectors, where much organizing and development
efforts have been directed;
o the streets, through mass mobilizations or protests;
o in government institutions, through formal and informal
representations with the Executive or Legislature, and the Courts;
o through media, to convey their views on raging public issues and
expand the knowledge of the citizenry about key political and
economic issues and generate an opinion and subsequent action that
are supportive of civil society positions;
o through “cyberspace,” in various social networking sites, websites,
blogs; that serve as alternative medium for information dissemination
as well as mobilization, and finally,
o in the foreign arena, networking with inter-governmental
organizations (IGOs), mutilateral institutions, international nongovernmental organizations, and foreign donor agencies, to solicit
material and non-material support for their programs and advocacies.
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