By Tony Lopez
At the celebration of Constitution Day, Feb. 10 at the Manila Polo Club, retired Chief Justice Reynato Puno declared: “Democracy all over the world is on the decline, including democracy in the Philippines.”
Citing the 2025 V-Dem (Varieties of Democracy) Report, our 22nd chief justice (2007-2019) noted with alarm:
“The world now has 88 democracies (liberal and electoral) and 91 autocracies (electoral and closed), a full reversal from last year. Liberal democracies have become the least common regime type in the world, with 0.9 billion, the lowest in 50 years. Nearly three out of four people in the world, 72% now live in autocracies. This is the highest since 1978. The wave of autocratization has been going on for at least 25 years and shows no sign of cresting.”
The venerable Rey Puno, 86, is one of our best jurists in education, knowledge of law, profound thinking, love of country, concern for the people and their rights, and integrity. He is our chairman at the Philippine Constitution Association (Philconsa), where I am a long-time governor and heckler in residence.
Puno’s legacy
Puno is behind three major writs: Writ of amparo of 2007, which offers protection against violations of your human rights; the writ of habeas data of 2008, against unlawful acts or omissions by public officials or private entities gathering, collecting or storing data about the person, family, home or correspondence; and the writ of kalikasan of 2010, the remedy for acts against the environment.
“The Philippines is not a full democracy”, Puno asserted during the open forum, which I moderated.
In his 32-minute speech, the former chief justice recited factors that have caused the decline and demise of democracy that may trigger the fragmentation of our own fragile democracy.
Factors behind failure
First, corruption is non-stop and pervasive.
Second, the proliferation of lawless elements like drug cartels and smuggling syndicates. These criminal syndicates trample laws, mock prosecution and destroy governments. This happened in Colombia in the 80s and 90s. The Medellin drug cartel, led by Pablo Escobar, corrupted law enforcement officials, promoted political instability and caused the downfall of the Colombian government.
Third, the capture of government by an elite that neglects to help the poor in a meaningful way. An unbridgeable gap between the rich and the rest will precipitate extreme inequality, violent social upheaval and instability of governments. This happened in Sudan, whose government was dominated by elites entirely indifferent to the welfare of the poor. The multiplication in the number of the poor led to civil unrest, armed conflict and the ousting of its long-time president Omar al-Bashir in 2019.
Flawed leaders
Fourth, the rise of democratically elected leaders who advance their personal goals in disregard of the guardrails of powers imposed by their own constitutions.
The latest among this kind of leaders is President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea. He declared martial law to prevent the opposition-controlled Parliament from investigating his wife and his Cabinet for corruption. The people rose against Yoon Suk Yeol. The Constitutional Court nullified his martial law declaration and ordered him imprisoned for abuse of his emergency powers.
Fifth, an electoral system controlled by a few families and that excludes all others.
“The few can be powerful interest groups. The few can be autocrats averse to the holding of free and fair elections. The few can come from an alliance of individuals or groups whose binding tie is self-interest alone.
“Where the electoral system is in the hands of a selfish few, the few will always exert all efforts to perpetuate themselves in power ad infinitum. The familiar guns, goons and gold will be deployed to suppress the will of the majority, to crush dissenters, to butcher human rights and destroy the rule of the majority, which is the bedrock of democracy.
These factors, Puno said, “darken the lay of our land. Shocked by the trillions of pesos lost in corruption, jolted by the branches of government entangled in the evils of corruption, millions of our people have taken to the streets to show their anger. Their rage is still soaring. How it will affect our declining democracy defies certainty.”
Why these factors?
Puno blames mainly the dynasties – “the relentless reign of political dynasties in our national and local governments. Democracy is a hoax where political power is monopolized by a few families. More than any factor, dynasties spread with lightning speed the virus of inequality. Inequality is prohibited in a democracy, for inequality multiplies the poor and foments the most violent kind of revolution… the revolution by people with empty stomachs and with hearts burning with anger.”
“It is not only our electoral system prostituted by political dynasties that fails to attract those who can represent our people,” Puno pointed out. “Similarly, our system of appointing people who will run our government suffers from the same fatal flaw.”
He noted: “Selecting the best qualified to be appointed in government positions is equally, if not more important, than electing the best qualified to be the representatives of our people.”
“Included in these appointed positions are the Justices of the Supreme Court, the Sandiganbayan, the members of COA, the Commission on Elections and the Commission on Human Rights.”
“By constitutional fiat, these are the independent institutions tasked to check the misuse and abuse of powers by officials of our government. Beyond doubt, if our electoral and appointment systems do not bring about the best and most qualified of our people, we will be ruled by an unrepresentative and incompetent government, a government run by officials oblivious to our laws on accountability, a government that will fall because it bears the seeds of its own destruction.”