Research by the Paris-based Institut de Recherch�� sur I' Asie du Sud-Est Contemporaine underpins this multi-faceted study of today's Philippines. The deeply-rooted powerful elites, the nature of clanism, the underground economies, political financing, the management of natural resources and economic blockages are among the areas explored and related to accepted indices of human development. Pointers to the strengthening of civil society are discussed with urgency. With timeline, glossary, bibliography and index. In French.