The Curious Cases of Philippine Civil Society and Decentralization 151 Aside from lobbying for the passage (or to block the passage) of bills, CSOs have also intervened in the Lower House of Congress to secure the accountability of officials of constitutional offices and those that could only be removed by way of impeachment. As regards impeachment cases, the record of civil society groups has been less than sterling. In the impeachment cases filed by civil society leaders and groups through members of Congress during the previous Arroyo administration, against the former President herself, Election Chairperson Benjamin Abalos, and Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, CSO efforts have been frustrated by the sheer number of allies these impeachable officials have in Congress. Beyond lobbying efforts in Congress to pass or derail the passage of statutes, civil society groups have also intervened in other branches, the Executive and the Judiciary. As regards the first, civil society groups have tried to influence the executive in a variety of ways and these include the participation of CSO leaders in multisectoral meetings or summits5, formal and informal meetings with the Chief Executive, a cabinet secretary or a presidential adviser to lobby for specific provisions in a statute's Implementing Rules and Regulations or pressing for or opposing an Executive (EO) or Memorandum Order (MO). A number of civil society leaders have also “crossed over” to the Executive to hold cabinet level positions or portfolios and these include Ernesto Garilao, Horacio Morales, Edicio de la Torre, Karina Constantino-David, Corazon Soliman, Teresita Quintos-Deles, Joel Rocamora, and Ronald Llamas, to mention a few. The judiciary has not been spared from pressure coming from CSOs. Through CSOs that have taken on human rights, political and electoral reform, environmental issues,anti-corruption, and other concerns, numerous cases have been filed at every level of the judiciary, from municipal trial courts to the Supreme Court, and even in the graft and corruption investigative (Ombudsman) and judicial (Sandiganbayan) bodies. Like their interventions in Congress and the Executives, these initiatives have produced favorable decisions in a number of cases. In addition to filing their own cases, some CSOs have also constantly monitored court proceedings. These CSOs include organization such as Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption, KAISA's Court Watch and Legacy Court Watch (Romulo 2009). In sum, civil society has not fallen short in advocating changes. Unfortunately, their advocacies have been selectively heeded owing to the fact that many of the interests they pursue run counter to the interests of the elites who are entrenched in what should have been representative institutions. Moreover, equally powerful groups outside the state, particularly from the