The Curious Cases of Philippine Civil Society and Decentralization 155 groups (PLGs) to vie for congressional seats from the first party-list elections in 1998. From the 1998 elections to the present, a number of progressive PLGs have won seats in the Lower House through the party-list elections. These included groups such as AKBAYAN and ABANSE Pinay! Even those who held an “instrumentalist” view of the political-electoral struggle, the reaffirmist groups, participated in the elections for the Lower House through party-list groups such as Bayan Muna, Gabriela, Workers Party, and Anakpawis. The most recent 2010 elections also showed a renewed recognition among the larger segment of CSOs that the political-electoral struggle presented an opportunity to push forward their agenda for reform as some CSO leaders organized new formations, such as the Change Politics Movement (CPM). Organized in May 2009 by leaders of various CSOs that chiefly came from the CODE-NGO network, the CPM presents an interesting case. It showcases the capacity of a number of civil society leaders to seize a political opportunity, an electoral exercise that the voting public had increasingly anticipated as it would signal the end of what is arguably the most loathed post-EDSA 1 administration. The CPM declared that its aim was to extend the influence of civil society by way of organizing “a reform constituency which is determined to assert power to choose national and local leaders in order to have a significant impact in Philippine elections.” The CPM stressed that the vision of the movement is to ensure that “transformative politics will be the norm and the dominant culture by the year 2022 at the latest.” In pursuit of its goals, the CPM agreed on a process that would bring about nominees from among its members as to who the CPM will support for the presidential race. The process of voting was set in two stages, the first to be held in late August 2010, and the second in early September 2010. In addition to this, the CPM also crafted an agenda, referred to as “Development and Reform Agenda for 2010-2013.” The agenda offered specific policy and program proposals to address what CPM called as a “triple crisis of governance, economic, climate/environmental change.” (Change Politics Movement website 2009)6 As the initial voting for the presidential nominee of the CPM proceeded, one of the nominees, then Senator Manuel “Mar” Roxas announced his “withdrawal” from the nomination of his party as the standard-bearer for the 2010 Presidential election. A few days later, then Senator Benigno S. Aquino III, declared that he would run for president in the coming elections. In the end, CPM threw its support for the candidacy of Aquino and Roxas. As regards