This article provides a study of the middle classes in the Philippines. First, the process of their emergence was examined in relation to that of Philippine industrialization, which started in the 1930s but from the 1960s progressed slowly and was accompanied by the expansion of the tertiary industries and informal sector. Then, the composition and characteristics of the middle classes, including their relatively small population size, distinctness from the lower classes, and internal diversity were analyzed. Finally, based on the data of the middle-class-centered organizations formed during the anti-Marcos struggle, their political aspects were discussed, with emphasis placed on the new pattern of political participation which appeared after the Aquino assassination.

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This article makes an assessment of the nationwide automation of the 2010 and 2013 synchronized elections in the Philippines from a viewpoint of election administration. It first reviews the traditional manual system of pre-automation, identifies its problems regarding fraud and inefficiency, and traces the historical process of introducing Information and Communication Technology (ICT) into election administration in the country. On the basis of both quantitative and qualitative data obtained from election and other statistics, various published and unpublished materials, interviews and field visits, the article then examines the 2010 and 2013 election automation in its four phases, namely, (1) voter registration, (2) voting, (3) tallying, and (4) data consolidation, and makes an assessment in terms of three frames of reference, namely, (1) voting right protection, (2) fraud prevention, and (3) administrative rationality which includes accuracy, efficiency, and economy. Finally, the article argues that, although it had many problems, the automation as implemented in the two sets of elections should be considered a success in the sense that it managed elections much better than the previous manual system.

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