The Philippines Case

If the Philippines were a Constitutional Monarchy, I believe the outcome would depend on when the actual reign started. If the monarchy started before the Spanish had arrived in the Philippines, I think that the colonization would not have been as intense as it had become. Back then, the Philippines did have a form of government, in the name of the sultans, rajahs and the datus, but their form of government was not for the purpose of the islands or the country as a whole. When the Spanish came, their governments were solely for the purpose of their region.

But if the monarchy was established before the Spanish had entered the Philippines, a monarchy which covered more than just a region or a baranggay--not necessarily the whole Philippines--aside from the fact that we would probably still have sultans, rajahs or datus; it can be said that the Spanish wouldn't have been as successful in the Great Cultural Divide of our country due to the unified people under a Royal Family. Therefore, the governments that we would have established would remain, and the colonization itself wouldn't have been necessarily an intense or a really lengthy one.

If the monarchy was established though during the time of colonization--for example, the government that was given to us was a Constitutional Monarchy--I believe that the appointed king then would have been Emilio Aguinaldo still. Instead of him becoming the first President, he would have been the King. With this, the Kings and Queen or the Royal Family in general of the present day monarchy of the Philippines, would be descendants of the Aguinaldo clan. Furthermore, I believe that if it were a Constitutional Monarchy to begin with--a limited monarchy, if you will--there would be less of the corruption issue that has consumed the Philippine government at present, due to the fact that the power would be divided, and would not rest solely on the President and the people he had appointed into the office. Instead, there will be a symbol of our country, the Royal Family, and the Prime Minister who would be elected by the people of the country. There would be a division of the power to both the parties present and not just in the hand of one leader.