ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the nature of civil society organizations (CSOs) in the Philippines, and their role in the operation of NGOs and people’s organizations (POs). Tigno describes the historical roots of CSOs by situating their emergence in the historical context of faith-based mutual aid societies, and the contemporary context of the anti-Marcos dictatorship struggle of the 1970s and 1980s. He claims that while such organized elements of civil society have certainly been a force to reckon with, the strengthening of the country’s democratic institutions remains to be accomplished.
