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Democratic institutions were introduced to the Philippines by the United States at the beginning of the twentieth century. The apparent success of these imported practices gave the Philippines its reputation as "the showcase of democracy in Asia." Before 1972 the constitutional separation of powers was generally maintained. Political power was centralized in Manila, but it was shared by two equally influential institutions, the presidency and Congress. The checks and balances between them, coupled with the openness of bipartisan competition between the Nacionalista and Liberal parties, precluded the emergence of one-person or one-party rule. Power was transferred peacefully from one party to another through elections. The mass media, sensational at times, fiercely criticized public officials and checked government excess.

Marcos inflicted immeasurable damage on democratic values. He offered the Filipino people economic progress and national dignity, but the results were dictatorship, poverty, militarized politics and a politicized military, and greatly increased dependence on foreign governments and banks. His New Society was supposed to eliminate corruption, but when Marcos fled the country in 1986, his suitcases contained, according to a United States customs agent, jewels, luxury items, and twenty-four gold bricks. Estimates of Marcos's wealth ran from a low of US$3 billion to a high of US$30 billion, and even after his death in 1989, no one knew the true value of his estate, perhaps not even his widow.

If Marcos had been merely corrupt, his legacy would have been bad enough, but he broke the spell of democracy. The long evolution of democratic institutions, unsatisfactory though it may have been in some ways, was interrupted. The political culture of democracy was violated. Ordinary Filipinos knew fear in the night. An entire generation came of age never once witnessing a genuine election or reading a free newspaper. Classes that graduated from the Philippine Military Academy were contemptuous of civilians and anticipated opportunities for influence and perhaps even wealth. Marcos's worst nightmare came true when Corazon Aquino used the power of popular opinion to bring him down.

Aquino inherited a very distorted economy. The Philippines owed about US$28 billion to foreign creditors. Borrowed money had not promoted development, and most of it had been wasted on showcase projects along Manila Bay, or had disappeared into the pockets and offshore accounts of the Marcos and Romualdez families and their friends and partners. Many Filipinos believed that they would be morally justified in renouncing the foreign debt on grounds that the banks should have known what the Marcoses were doing with the money. Even Cardinal Jaime Sin declared it "morally wrong" to pay foreign creditors when Filipino children were hungry. Aquino, however, resolutely pledged to pay the debt. Otherwise, the nation would be cut off from the credit it needed. Although the Philippines could pay the interest on the debt every year, it could not pay the principal. This never-ending debt naturally inflamed Filipino nationalism. A Freedom From Debt Coalition advocated using the money to help the unemployed instead of sending the hard currency abroad.

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political spam thread...hehehe xd

Malays, accounting for 95%, they form the bulk of the population and number around 80 million. Many live poverty stricken lives, though some can now be found among the middle class. Most are citydwellers, although a great number still live traditional lifestyles in the mountains and rural areas. The most numerous of these are the Tagalog, the Visayan and the Ilokano. Most speak tribal languages and/or Filipino (based on Tagalog), and the other major languages, again Visayan and Ilokano.
Chinese, they form the most significant non-native element in the country. Most are successful and prosperous business people. They form part of both the upper and middle classes. Their primary languages are English, Chinese and Filipino. They number around 1.5 million, close to 2% of the population. Chinese-mestizos included they would number close to 3 million. [See also Chinese-mestizo]
Mestizos, they form a tiny but economically and politically important minority. The combined number of all types of mestizos constitute no more than 2% of the entire Filipino population. Mestizos in the Philippines may be of any race combination or ratio. Mestizos are categorized as follows:
* Spanish-Mestizo, a combination of ethnic Malay with either Spanish (Castillian, Galician, etc.), Basque, or Mexican. They are light skinned, usually taller than the majority Malay-stock. Spanish-mestizos speak Filipino, though English is their primary language. Some have preserved Spanish as the spoken language of the home. They constitute the great majority of the upper class and are extremely endogamous, rarely intermingling with those outside their ethnic group. A great majority is either in politics or high-ranking executives of commerce and industry. Many can be found in the entertainment industry. There an estimated 1 million and are around Manila, and a few other metropolitan areas of Bacolod, Iloilo and Zamboanga. They are known as Tisoy in Tagalog. Spaniards in colonial Philippines and sometimes even up to the present are referred to as Kastila from Castilla, the name of the Spanish language. Most of the Spanish mestizo or pure Spaniards living in the Philippine emigrated to either the United States or to Spain shortly after World War II and during the Marcos regime. Most Filipinos, up to the present, still claim Spanish ancestry.
::''N.B.There also still exist approximately 17,000 Spaniards (7,000 Basque and 10,000 Castillian) living in the Philippines. Although these Spaniards have been taken into account below (in the last entry detailing all other smaller communities), it should be noted that they are completely integrated into the Spanish-mestizo upper levels of Filipino society. Most Filipino family dynasties and the elite clans are mestizo; such examples are the Ayalas, Zobels, Aranetas, and Ortigas. The most famous Spanish-mestisa outside of the Philippines is Isabel Preysler (ex-wife of Julio Iglesias, and mother of Enrique Iglesias).''
* Chinese-Mestizo, a combination of ethnic Malay and Chinese. They are usually light skinned and quite mainland-Mongoloid in appearance, with highly epicanthic eyes. Much like the Chinese, most are successful and prosperous business people. They form part of both the upper and middle classes. Some are also in the entertainment industry. Their primary languages are English, Chinese and Filipino. They number just over 1 million and are most concentrated in Manila (Binondo) and Pampanga. They are commonly known as Chinoys or Chinitos.
* Japanese-Mestizo, a combination of ethnic Malay with Japanese or Okinawan. Many are members of the lower class who are the descendants of the Japanese Catholics that fled Japan 300 years ago. Many exiled Japanese Christians, led by the Christian Samurai Takayama Ukon, settled in Dilao, Paco in 1614. Because of discrimination encountered, some fled to the mountains after World War II while many others changed their names in the attempts to assimilate. Many were also killed (approximately 10,000 Japanese Mestizos and Japanese) and other deported following World War II as an act of revenge. Some have completely lost their Japanese identity and others yet have "''returned''" to the homeland of their forebears, Japan. There are also a number of contemporary Japanese-mestizos not associated with the history of the earlier established ones. These latter are the resultant of unions between Filipinos and recent immigrant Japanese. Most Japanese-mestizos speak tribal languages and Filipino. There are believed to be between 100,000 and 200,000 Japanese-mestizos in the country, but no accurate figure is currently available. Significant numbers reside in Davao, Pampanga and Baguio. They may also be known as Japinos, which is considered a derogatory word by many. Examples of Japanese-mestizos include Ferdinand Marcos (Imee Marcos's father), and Tamlyn Tomita.
*American-Mestizo, a combination of ethnic Malay and American (regardless of race). They are also known as Amerasians. They can be found in the upper class, but also amongst the middle and lower classes as a result of the abandonment of their American fathers upon completion of military service and subsequent withdrawal of US forces. Much like Spanish-mestizos, for those whose American ancestry was Caucasian or Latino/Hispanic-American. The number of American-mestizos is thought to be between 20,000 and 30,000. Most speak Filipino and English.
* Other Mestizos, such as Italian-Filipinos, German-Filipinos, French-Filipinos, and British Filipinos are also present.
East Indians, they are mostly merchants and belong primarily to the middle class. There are approximately 30,000 East Indians and half of them are Sindhis who left India after the British partitioned India and the other half is the Sikhs whom many of whom have traditionally been rural money-lenders. The Sindhi businessmen are often part of Manila&8217;s rich elite. Most speak Filipino, Punjabi or Sindhi, and English. They (particularly the Sikhs) are collectively known as Bombay (büm'bäi) and 5-6, all of which are derogatory terms.
Arabs, they are the descendants of the missionaries that spread Islam in the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia. Most are in Mindanao. There are approximately 31,000 Arabs in the Philippines and they all speak Arabic and Tagalog. They are all Islamic and are classified together as Moros in the Philippines. Many have intermarried and simply just became Moros.
Negritos, Negritos are the pre-Malay inhabitants of the Philippines, closely related to the Papuans. They are also known as the Aborigines of the Philippines. They are the poorest and most disadvantaged segment of the Filipino population. Their numbers have been decreasing rapidly. They are thought to number between 20,000 and 30,000. Most speak their tribal languages and have little or no understanding of Filipino. The government has sponsored educational programmes as well as encouraging school attendance, though many of them still enounter difficulties. They are also known by their other names, such as Aeta, in Zambales, Ita in Pampanga, Ati in Panay, Baluga in Abra and Pampanga, Dumagat in Aurora, and Remontados in Rizal and Quezon.
Other smaller communities of expatriates from various countries also exist and they include; close to 50,000 Caucasians from Europe, America, Canada, and Australia who sought economic and investment opportunities; some 35,000 Indonesians, most of whom are either illegal immigrants, refugees, but also many students; around 30,000 Japanese and Koreans who are mostly recently arrived immigrants also seeking economic and investment opportunities. There are also thousands of Vietnamese who found refuge in the Philippines following the Vietnam War, most of them live in Palawan. Some of these Vietnamese may be of mixed European (French colonist or American G.I.) and Vietnamese parentage.

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