ABSTRACT
While Philippine civil society was long known as a textbook example of a strong civil society, which brought down an authoritarian regime and pushed democratic reforms, Philippine civil society organizations (CSOs) have so far failed to counter democratic regression under populist President Rodrigo Duterte. This chapter seeks to explain this seeming paradox by analysing the political strategies which Philippine CSOs have applied to achieve their goals. It argues that both the historical role of Philippine civil society in promoting democratic change and its current inability to counter Duterte’s growing authoritarianism can be traced to the alignments that Philippine CSOs have forged with diverse political elites in the context of a weak state. Already prior to the election of Duterte, Philippine CSOs were caught in a vicious cycle of growing dependence on political elites and diminishing ties to their marginalized constituencies and Philippine society, which ultimately also increased their vulnerability to the Duterte government’s use of political repression.
