ABSTRACT
In the aftermath of the overthrow of the Ferdinand Marcos regime, many community organizers and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) personnel anticipated a period of increased political activism in informal settlements. Thus the political behavior of informal settlers in the post-Marcos era has been decidedly mixed. Debates regarding the political orientations of the urban poor in developing countries have historically been polarized between views that see them as inherently radical and those that see them as conservative. Researchers have gradually moved beyond debates regarding whether informal settlers are inherently radical or not, and have paid increasing attention to the factors that lead to differences in political orientations. The nature of local politics has been the subject of considerable debate in the Philippines. Vote buying is another prominent feature of local politics in Metro Manila, particularly in very poor areas. In all of the other communities, the local community-based organization (CBO) is credited with responsibility for a large majority of improvements.
