Government Member (Mac) Opposition Member (Mac)

An authoritarian regime would be better-suited An authoritarian regime has not only been
for the Philippines given its current proven to bear disastrous results but will
socioeconomic and politico-cultural result in the same if implemented today.
circumstances.
a. Fragile Democracies: The Legacies of
No continuity - All administrations want to replace Authoritarian Rule by Gretchen Casper.
previous administration with their own versions of Authoritarian leaders transform or destroy the
a policy. (i.e. From Ramos till now, policy on the social institutions on which a successful
ARMM hostility has always changed to have their democracy depends. Under authoritarianism,
own version of a treaty). Under authoritarian rule, these institutions are pulled into an active
leaders becomes visionary and can accomplish political stance, either in support of the regime
more because they need not heed legislative, (in the case of the military), or in opposition to
judicial or media constraints in promoting their it (as with the church). This change in the
vision for our country. This proven by the different traditional role of the institutions creates
bills made by some competent politicians such as internal strains, since it creates subgroups
the Senate Bill No. 230 or the Anti-Political within the institution with competing and
Dynasty Act. Despite the provision in the incompatible goals. Some seek to return to the
constitution, no law has been enacted concerning traditional role as quickly as possible after the
the status of political dynasties in Philippine Law. demise of the authoritarian leader, but others
Bills has been submitted to the congress since hope to remain active in the political realm.
1987 and after many filings up to this time its still
These divisions are compounded by the
pending in the senate. Thats the problem with the condition of other traditional social actors,
democratic system, its prone to slow such as labor unions, political parties, and
implementation. interest groups, often targets of neutralization
or suppression by the authoritarian leader.
As the government is subject to change every This is apparent with the extensive
after every election, most authorities/politicians examination of the Marcos and Aquino
may just focus on short-term goals, as guided by Administration. In the short term, the regime
their platforms or advocacies rather than long-term changes the rules of the game to install itself
ones for the betterment of the country. Combined and maintain its control over the political
this with the fact that it is slow to implement laws arena. For example, a regime will either close
and make decisions. If its just one person, he/she down political institutions and groups that
can make the decision quickly. In democracy, the traditionally channel mass participation - such
implementation requires majority voting, has to go as legislatures, political parties and labor
to different stages, thus less prompt in taking unions - or will severely narrow their scope of
actions. Developing countries such as the activity.
Philippines need a strong hand instead of b. While a regime may introduce
unregulated mob rule in a competitive world like structural changes to institutionalize itself, the
this. We are not ruling out or removing democracy chances of success are actually low because
from the picture, rather we believe authoritarian of the enormity of the task; the regime must be
rule is necessary as a preparation for a proper able to monopolize avenues to power, amass
implementation of democracy. Especially the capital, gain societal support, and convince
Philippines having a consistent high GDP growth elites to cooperate. Many scholars agree that
rate nowadays, theres a need for a firm hand to authoritarianism is an unstable form of
provide a firm base. government, from erosion of regimes basis for
legitimacy because of poor economic
performance, defection of key members to an
As mentioned a while ago, negligence in voting
might end up in a disaster. If a wrong candidate
has been chosen due to the misinformed masses,
there will be higher rate of corruption. Under
authoritarian rule, some people might not feel
happy but they will be well-ruled as proven by the
points earlier. With democracy and following the
rule of the majority, it follows what satisfies them
short-term but they are not well informed about the
leader which could have less background or
knowledge about the position hes running
for.Thus, in the current situation of the country
where the people are easily influenced by fake
news and such and which can easily influenced
their views and action can prove to be fatal for the
development of the country due to voting
politicians based on what they believe is true and
not what is needed by the country. We can also
take into consideration the come-what-may
attitude of the Filipinos. They are exposed to
sources of information that are directly available to and implementation in the country.
them such as social media and television rather
than do research and weigh things based on other
disciplines.
(If needed: The kind of leader of the system
doesnt define that government, fair on both sides) an action made by an autocrat can cause
With the assumption that both system of
government has the same kind of leader since
were arguing here the system not the leader,
chances are it is still good for the country under
authoritarian rule. Autocrats are simply people
who run the country without consent of the
ignorant masses and that they are sure that their
decision will make the country healthy and fairly
happy and will promote development in the long
term. Again, we have some competent leaders
that files sound bills but again this are delayed for economist, visionaries can accomplish much
a time due to a lot of layers in the system.
Also mentioned a while ago that democracy
encouraged and prioritizes the growth of the elite
aka the rich becomes richer and the poor
becomes poorer, theres a growing gap between
social classes. Similar to my argument a while ago due process, but also in addition by the
for a need of swift implementation, a leader of an
authoritarian government can easily provide for
the needs of his people. These regimes usually
face some acute combination of internal and
external threats that stimulates the political will to leader. What is clear that democracies
emergence of a credible alternative leader
(Marcos-Aquino anyone?). Thus the short-
term effect of authoritarianism is regime
collapse.
c. Mentioned a while ago the importance
of institutions for a country. We believe that
different institutions such as the military,
schools, churches and the people themselves
must be free to act in order to promote
continuous knowledge. There must not be
pressures on their sides in order to function
well. We must not forget that problem in our
country are not one-sided rather requires
multi-disciplinary solutions. When people are
free to interact with each other, solutions will
also come up. Even the bills being passed and
considered such as the Anti-Discrimination Bill
and Senate Bill 1305 or the Expanded
Marternity Leave Law of 2017 has been
studied as well by other scholars for viability
d. Authoritarian can damage the
economic growth of the Philippines. Since bills
needs to be reviewed thoroughly for the
benefit of all, it needs to be reviewed by all
levels in a democratic system. Not to mention
major damage for example the Great Leap
Forward of Mao Zedong.which cause the great
Chinese famine due to the failure of
agricultural policies the government wishes to
imposed. Yes the authoritarian rule may help
long term goals for the country but when
mismanaged may put the country on the direct
other end of the spectrum. This is where
democracy work well to help control the range
of outcomes. According to Gary Becker, an
sometimes as in authoritarian and even more.
Well yes accomplishments of good leaders are
usually constrained by due process that
includes legislative, judicial and interest
groups constraints, bad leaders in
democracies are also constrained, not only by
reporting of a free competitive press and
television, and nowadays by a competitive
internet. Thus we cant rule out that both forms
of government can be ruled by a good or bad
 grow the economy, earn revenue, and provide produce less variable results: not as many
benefits for the mass of the population. They can great successes, but also fewer prolonged
plan for the long term. This means they can disasters. As example given by Becker, Indias
approach development problems in an growth may be slower that China but more
experimental and adaptive way. It also means stable, and stability might worth more in the
they can develop the necessary bureaucratic Philippines especially with the growth of GDP.
capacity to transform policies into reality - which e. The Filipinos are people of action.
often involves forming policy coalitions with non- Quoting Jose Rizal, Man works for an object.
state actors. Remove that object you reduce him into
inaction. When Filipinos are limited on what
Lastly, under authoritarian rule this will help they can do, they can become stagnant,
discipline the nation. Since the leader who is passive growth and development. Theres no
familiar with the needs of the people and imposes development since theres no freedom as
laws and acts for their benefit, it will limit negative mentioned by economist and philosopher
actions such as vote buying, block voting and Amartya Sen. They rely on a leader for their
ensure personal development of them. This will needs and increases the pressure on specific
prepare them for a proper implementation of institutions being targeted by an autocrat. And
democracy afterwards. democracy is good for ethnically diverse
country like us and promotes growth because
Singapore - Benevolent Assimilation autocratic leaders with a narrow support base
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/23/l are otherwise tempted to siphon off national
ee-kuan-yews-legacy-of-authoritarian-pragmatism- incomes to further his or her visions for the
will-serve-singapore-well country.
i.Lee Kuan Yew may be considered as a dictator f. Regarding the people voting for who
but he was also a socialist. they regardless aka bobotantes. According to
http://www.philnews.xyz/2016/03/mayor-duterte- the study of ADMU Institute of Philippine
lee-kuan-yew-compared.html Culture, contrary to popular belief that poor
voters readily accept the money given to them
Politico-cultural circumstance and democracy - in exchange for their votes, vote selling is a
vote buying, block voting; well thought-out process for the impoverished.
b. Ex. barangay/INC Though it is bad, the mass think about it in
c. Vote buying different ways, there might even be a sense of
d. Can we use haciendas and stuff - personal justice in the way they sell their votes.
gain Communities interviewed in QC, Camarines
Sur, Tacloban and Zamboanga. They felt it is
Patronage Politics a gift or their rightful money.
e. Constrict the power of local
authorities to develop and expand
their areas, since funding is
directed towards personnel and
appeal to their potential voters
[source - Poverty in the Ph.,
Causes, constraints, Opportunities]
f. (Argue why authoritarianism will solve the
problem above)
6.