ABSTRACT
By the late 1990s, it appeared that the Philippines had finally put behind it the political turmoil of the Marcos years and the bumpy transition to democracy associated with Corazon Aquino's People Power revolution. Two consecutive peaceful presidential elections in 1992 and 1998 seemed to augur well for future stability. The economy was rebounding from the severe 1997 Asian financial crisis. At the same time, long-running internal security threats showed signs of manageability. The country then began looking outward and at coping with the potential external security threats it was facing, most notably, stemming from territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
