EDITORIAL - Building a strong republic

It’s been 127 years since the founders of the Philippine Republic declared independence from Spanish colonial rule. Since then, making the republic strong has been tortuous, and to this day remains an uphill struggle.

Independence was meant to improve the lives of Filipinos in their own land and to make the nation strong. Spain, however, was replaced by the United States as an occupying power, and full Philippine independence became a reality only in 1946, a year after the end of World War II, when Americans fought alongside Filipinos for freedom.

In the struggle for independence, a segment of the population led by Jose Rizal had pushed instead for autonomy under Spain while advocating for quality education for Filipinos. Today, as the nation celebrates Independence Day, the Philippines faces a crisis in public education, which is holding back national competitiveness and progress. Filipino 15-year-old students have landed at the bottom when the country participated in two Program for International Student Assessments. The country is still awaiting the results of its third PISA participation.

From being second only to Japan in terms of economic progress and most human development indicators after World War II, the Philippines now lags behind the original founding members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Over the past decades, millions of Filipinos have found it necessary to work overseas for lack of opportunities in their own land. The quality of governance in the Philippines has also deteriorated. It is no coincidence that the most progressive economies in ASEAN and East Asia also rank high in international studies on good governance.

Today, as the nation celebrates Independence Day, democratic institutions of the country are being tested in the latest effort to exact accountability from those in high office. So far the developments have generated concerns that those institutions are being further weakened by the precedents that are being set.

Instead of issuing motherhood statements to mark Independence Day, officials can consider what they can do to improve governance, make democratic institutions work and build a strong republic. This is what the Filipinos who declared independence 127 years ago wanted for their motherland.