161 The Curious Cases of Philippine Civil Society and Decentralization rather than political organizations (as the initial draft from the Philippine Civil Society Index reflects). In a series of surveys that asked the public as to what action they will take relative to widely known (i.e., the 'Hello Garci' scandal of 2005 and the alleged ZTE Broadband pay-offs) or anticipated controversies (i.e., if the 2010 elections are not clean and credible), the electorate, while still supportive of protests, are less inclined to join such protests. The public opinion data in Table 410, somehow supports the assertion that Filipinos are now suffering from 'people power fatigue' with the proportion of people expressing willingness to join protests declining from 2005 to 2010. It should be noted, however, that despite the decline, the proportion of people who would engage in protest, at 9%, still totals to close to five million based on the estimated number of Filipinos above 18 years old. Table 4. On public support for collective action. Pulse Asia Inc. Various Surveys. Figures in % Action to be taken October 2005 Feb-March 2008 April 2010 Will support and join protests 22 15 9 Will support but not join protests 36 49 57 Will not support nor join protests 41 36 34 DECENTRALIZATION If civil society is seen as a necessary condition to facilitate the completion of the democratic transition, decentralization was seen as a magic ingredient11 for democratization as it is expected to result in the following: Ÿ greater efficiency in the delivery of basic services to the public Ÿ competition among local governments, allowing citizens to “vote with their feet” Ÿ fiscal autonomy, freeing local governments from the whimsical disbursement of funds from central government and also empowering them to generate their own resources Ÿ increased citizens participation due to the reduced scale of government Ÿ central-local checks and balances, and Ÿ the resolution of ethnic conflicts (Triesman 2007) These outcomes were the ones expected to be produced by Republic Act 7160 or the new Local Government Code (LGC) passed in 1991 by Congress. To empirically examine the links between the processes and outcomes expected under decentralization, Capuno (2005) provides an illustration that shows the