| Since the 1986 People Power Revolution, the Philippine civil society groups, particularly the NGOs, had been considered as one of the most active in the world in terms of promoting democratization. Although it has only been recognized recently, the Philippine civil society has been in existence as early as the 16th century. Moreover, it is not only comprised of the middle class-based NGOs, but also the people's organizations whose roles in the democratization process were crucial, yet underplayed.;Of late, however, the NGOs are more recognized as representatives of the Philippine civil society because of the critical roles they play as development intermediaries. As such, they broker influence and resources between the organized grassroots and the formal social institutions such as the state, the Catholic Church and the ideological parties. Because of this, they allowed some fractions of the Filipino middle class to get mainstreamed in the field of development administration and enabled them to strategically position themselves to countervail the influence of the elites on the state.;This paper examines how the Philippine social development NGOs emerged and over time, evolved into development intermediaries. It identifies the development within the Catholic Church, the changes in the ideological parties, the socio-economic situations at particular historical junctures and the responses of the state towards organized efforts of the citizenry as major factors that shaped the Philippine civil society's transformation. It likewise described how such macro-processes compelled a particular NGO, the Institute of Social Order, to undertake professionalization and transform itself into a development intermediary organization over time. |
