Mapping the Movement: NAMFREL in Six Philippine Cities

Abstract

This paper examines the organization, activities, and degree of success of the National Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL) in the Philippine presidential elections of 1986 in six provincial cities — Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, and Zamboanga. Important in mobilizing support for local NAMFREL chapters were the Catholic Church, institutions of tertiary education, and, of particular concern in this paper, local business and professional and civic associations. Indeed, the paper argues that, in any locality, business and professional backing typically made a decisive difference to the effectiveness of the NAMFREL chapter, by providing leadership and other crucial mobilization resources. Thus in Zamboanga, for example, where the local economy and politics remained heavily militarized, support from local business was minimal and largely covert. By contrast, the Cebu City NAMFREL chapter tapped into local business corporations and professional associations to very considerable effect. In other words, the mobilization of support for NAMFREL in these six provincial Philippine cities was in decisive ways shaped by the nature of local political economies and existing networks.