Understanding the socialization and education of elites in the Philippines

A paper in Political Science 160 Q by Ricky Quiroz Erpelo

Introduction
Elites have been the clichd subject of scholars, particularly of social scientists, in the long
run of academic discourse. This is primarily because of their obvious role in the society as one of the
agents of social change. These elites are usually found at the higher position of social, economic, and
political makeup of Philippine society. History has sanctified the presence of elites even in the
Spanish period where they control, influence and exert power on the micro-level to the macro-level
of societal context. Studies have noticeably disclosed the functions of the privileged class in the
delineation of the political history of the Philippines. Literature has also divulged their exercise of
power which has produced immense corollaries in the society, and largely in the state. In the
contemporary period, elites still play a significant role in politics which is best conveyed if one
considers the inevitability of ruling class/elites in any social order. This paper seeks to rediscover the
socialization and education of elites in the Philippines through a larger timeframe by locating their
socio-political and economic background.
Elites in the Philippines
The term elite is frequently associated to wealth, leadership, education, status, prestige, to
name a few. Most identifiable elites, however, seem to have one thing in common: the pursuit of
power.1 Studies are trying to magnify the sources of their wealth and power as they constitute the
majority of seats in the political arena. They had different competing interest and by majority, are
highly competitive state actors. Since time during the recorded history, Filipinos had already
recognized the existence of elite class in the form of principales and ilustrados. They occupied major
space in most of literature predominantly because they engaged in different aspects as shown on
history textbooks. The presence of elite class, therefore, can be linked into the political arrangement
and configuration of politics in the Philippines. They are not monolithic, and yet, for decades, they
have conveniently been lumped together as a cohort whose membership may change over time, but
whose presence can be seen and felt and whose actions have real consequences.2 They hold most of

2 Caroline S. Hau, The Manila Review Sins of the Fathers: The Elite in Philippine Literature, 2013. Accessed
in http://themanilareview.com/sins-of-the-fathers-the-elite-in-philippine-literature/.

the power and make most of the decisions which eventually bear consequences that affects the
society. Since they are the prime holder of power in the community and society, it is considerably
understandable, that in a capitalist society of the country, they also control most of the state agencies,
large corporations, institutions and business enterprise for the pursuit of greater wealth as a major
parameter on the acquisition of power. However, it is worth-noting that a number of economic and
political elite have come across their wealth through illegal means through cronyism, particularly
during the Marcos dictatorial regime, or through smuggling, illegal gambling and even illegal drug
trade.3 They comprise most of the control in economy as much as the politics. Elites can used both
hands in holding business ventures or in occupying a political seat in the government. In fact, power
elite, as coined by C. Wright Mills, had control over political, economic, and military circle which
share, through overlapping cliques, control over decisions having at least national consequences.4
Same as the context of ones history on the continuity of elites, the few individual, though minority,
have dominated the Philippine society for a very long period of time. One example of which is
Manuel Manny Villar, who is a businessman by profession and elected to occupy a seat in the
Senate before. He perfectly managed to bestride the ever demanding world of business and the
complexity of politics in the Philippines. Manuel Villar, a former presidential candidate and current
senator, has stakes in Starmalls (operates what name suggests: huge malls) and Vista Land &
Lifescapes (a McMansion builder).5 The aristocratic family of Ayalas and Lopezes can also be
concrete examples of elites who hold power through their influence vis--vis their business
enterprises. The family clan and its group of businesses have influenced a great number of people on
their decision-making such that consideration is traced upon the growth of economy via agencies,
corporation and large businesses which are to be affected by elected officers accordingly to the state
policies and regulations to be implemented. In other words, elite families had also influence on the
3 Ramon Casiple, Yahoo News Philippines Where are the Philippine rich in politics?, Nov. 17, 2014.
Accessed in https://ph.news.yahoo.com/blogs/parallaxis/where-are-the-philippine-rich-in-politics035955961.html
4 S. Sidney Ulmer, Introductory Readings in Political Behavior (Chicago: Rand McNally & Company, 1961),
425
Power elite, as used in this academic paper which is patterned to the original concept, are group of families
that are privileged and influential who has power over the masses. They had control on three major aspect
of state, as greatly emphasized by the radical elite theorists C. Wright Mills in his book The Power Elite
(1956): political, economic and military aspect.
5 Forbes: The Worlds Billionaires #1190 Manuel Villar, March 9, 2015. Accessed in
http://www.forbes.com/profile/manuel-villar/

decision-making process of individuals. In a general spectrum, therefore, it is depicted that elite/few

individual/ruling class in the Philippine society obtained superiority over the masses and acquired
larger amount of power compared to the common people primarily because they are wealthy,
educated, privileged, advantaged, and business-owners. Society itself has long-before recognized
their existence and as generations passed by, the existence of elites became natural as much as their
presence in economic activities and in politics. It might be contested by some scholars, but history
has legitimately verified that there really is a concentration of power to this few individuals who
happened to rule the society and dominate the world of business, in many instances.
The Socialization and Education of Filipino elites
The transmission of political culture to the next generation is best explained through political
socialization. It is a process by which an individual or people acquire knowledge on politics and
become accustomed to political values and behavior. Family is the first and major agent on
developing their children a sense of political standards. Early socialization experiences significantly
affect an individuals basic personality predispositions and may therefore affect his political
behavior, but numerous other factors intervene between these earliest experience and later political
behavior that great inhibit the impact of the former on the latter.6 Schools, mass media, church, and
peer group also play a role in the political socialization.
The Filipino elites are of no difference to the process of political socialization. They tend to
transmit, whether intentional or not, the political culture they acquire from their family such as the
practices, the attitudinal and behavioral aspect, and the cognition of political knowledge. Family has
an obvious role in honing ones mindset towards politics. The latent political socialization that is
involved in, say, experiences with family authority patterns may create predispositions toward
political attitudes within the individual; his receptivity to particular types of political relationships
may be increased.7 Another agent of political socialization is education. The education of elites is
characterized by its exclusivity because most of these elites are indoctrinated on different semipublic and private learning institutions such as Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University,
University of Santo Tomas, Far Eastern University, to name a few. Other elites also attend to state
universities such as University of the Philippines and Polytechnic University of the Philippines. They
are introduced and educated on political activities such as election and voting and taught to be a

6 Gabriel A. Almond and Sidney Verba. Civic Culture. (Boston & Toronto: Little, Brown and Company, 1965),
267
7 Ibid. p. 270271

good citizen by actively participating on issues like school codes reform, to cite an example. Elites
are, therefore, trained to be leaders on student organizations as early as primary education. Along
with this is peer pressure where elite will influence other elites beliefs and views about the society
as a political space. For instance, the Philippine President Benigno Noynoy Aquino III came from a
wealthy and self-perpetuating family who owns an ample of lands. Aquino studied in Ateneo de
Manila University for his elementary, high school, and college education, graduating in 1981 with a
Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics.8 This is a clear manifestation of well-to-do, privileged elite
who had undergone political socialization through his education as the chief driving force and also
his family records. Language also becomes a parameter on the distinction between elite and masses
as developed during the school days. On private schools, competence in English language has been
practiced as a functional literacy while vernaculars and Filipino were usually taught in public schools
as based on their curriculum.
Other way for political socialization to occur is mass media. We are effectively persuaded on
the news from television, radio and social networking sites and informed on reports that we cannot
even verify the truthfulness of it. Mass media is responsible for transmitting message bits to the
audience and making them aware of their environment. This, in effect, has great impact on the point
of views of people and their decision-making process. Much is true in the case of Filipino elites
when they envisaged that society and state is naturally an area for their dominance and leadership as
they build up social awareness through media which showcases politics as an elite-oriented aspect of
society.
Conclusion
Throughout the history of the Philippines, elites in the society have inevitably existed. Prior
to their presence in any society is the social and political function which became a natural
responsibility vested to them as it is sanctified by the past. They usually monopolize the power in
politics and in economy. For many instances cited above, power elites hold political offices and
others control big business enterprises which both can greatly influence the peoples value and
attitude and especially on their decision-making process. The socialization and education of Filipino
elites as the principal focus of this paper can best understood as interlocking phases. They usually
attend to exclusive private schools and form a circle of acquaintances consisting of elites themselves.
An individual will be educated on different political values and standards and exposed on so many
political activities such as forming of organization, election and voting. They are socialized in a
8 Noynoy Aquino Noynoy Aquino Biography, 2011. Accessed in http://www.noynoyaquino.com/about.htm

manner that they interact with their circle of friends, which is most probably affecting and
influencing others cognition on politics. Socialization of Filipino elites could be in other ways:
family, peer pressure, mass media, and church.

Reference List

Almond, Gabriel A. & Verba, Sidney. Civic Culture. Boston and Toronto: Little Brown and
Company, 1965.
Caroline S. Hau, The Manila Review Sins of the Fathers: The Elite in Philippine
Literature,
2013. Accessed in http://themanilareview.com/sins-of-the-fathers-theelite-in-philippineliterature/.
Forbes: The Worlds Billionaires #1190 Manuel Villar, March 9, 2015. Accessed in
http://www.forbes.com/profile/manuel-villar/
Noynoy Aquino Noynoy
aquino.com/about.htm

Aquino

Biography,

2011.

Accessed

in

http://www.noynoy-

Ramon Casiple, Yahoo News Philippines Where are the Philippine rich in politics?, Nov.
17,
2014. Accessed in https://ph.news.yahoo.com/blogs/parallaxis/where-are-thephilippine-rich-inpolitics-035955961.html
Ulmer, S. Sidney. Introductory Readings in Political Behavior. Chicago: Rand McNally &
Company, 1961.