Philippine Democracy Online

Democracy is alive despite what they say. The simple post that “Risa Hontiveros achieved nothing” stirred thousands of reactions on social media. The reason is simple – the truth hurts. If you listen to what they are saying, they insist on a particular type of morality that puts them above a pedestal, judging others who want to form a separate opinion. They will accuse you of suffering from blind obedience, when in truth, they are the ones who lack common sense.  Indeed, these people are free to believe what they want to believe. They impose on many their view of the world. To allow them to insult you is to say that they are the only ones who have the right to walk upon the earth when in a democracy, we are equal in dignity. The real problem, actually, is that even the most educated lack good manners. It is a problem of attitude. Another thing is that people actually do not read. They rely on online posts, memes, and disinformation.  They accused those who differ from their vi...

By Menelito Mansueto (MSU-IIT)  These past few days, we have read on the pages of one or two philosophical associations in the country, including the wall of some academics, accusations against Dr. Christopher Ryan Maboloc. As teachers, we should be the first when it comes to telling the truth. A reading of the published work by Dr. Maboloc in Princeton Theological Seminary's IBMR Journal under Sage, reveals the real score on his position. I quote: "Duterte’s drug war is premised on the pursuit of the common good. The public understands that a hardline approach to criminality is a necessary part of Duterte’s strategy. But the notion of the common good cannot be an excuse for violating the ideals of individual liberty and human rights. The politics of nation-states may be a factor in terms of finding the logical explanation for President Duterte’s approach. But the killings of drug suspects cannot be justified because they violate the right to due process" (Maboloc 2022, p...

By Menelito Mansueto  (MSU-IIT)  The statement “Risa Hontiveros achieved nothing” became a viral post that ignited a social media storm very recently. It was a Facebook post by Philosophy Professor Dr Christopher Ryan Maboloc. The statement angered the liberal folks who accused the philosophy scholar of being an enabler. But that's not the case. The said post was simply his reaction to the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing last October 28, 2024.  The verbal attacks and insinuations against the professor date back as far as 2018 upon the publication of his article, “The Radical Politics of Nation-States: The Case of President Rodrigo Duterte” in the Journal of ASEAN Studies. In fact, Maboloc is also the author of the controversial book Radical Democracy in the Time of Duterte, published by ElzyStyle Publishing. The criticisms and tirades on social media against the scholar is nothing new to him and does not surprise him as he has dealt with these issues years back....

By Prof. Menelito Mansueto (MSU-IIT)  There's a circus in town but we need to know who the real clowns are. The desecration of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ is a manifestation of the way power politics operates in this country. The recent attacks on VP Sara Duterte is not very different from the old style of character assassinations. But it is KOJC Pastor Apollo Quiboloy who has become the proxy in the war between the House of Marcos and the House of Duterte. Now is the season of politics.  The storyline goes to show that once again Philippine democracy is the loser. Instead of spending on infrastructure such as the Mindanao railway or the Cebu - Bohol Bridge, billions of funds in the form of ayuda are used for politicking. We are wasting public resources on bad political habits and practices. The government is functioning like an organized crime syndicate where stealing public money has become rampant. But the story extends further.  What is appalling is that those who que...

By Dr. Noel S. Pariñas Yes, the title is an exclusive disjunction, but it can be reformulated as a conjunctive statement as well. Obviously, the first disjunct is different from the second disjunct. Since the disjunctive statement is not tautological, the alternatives cannot replace each other. When the disjuncts are used synonymously and interchangeably, a philosophical problem would necessarily arise. Such a philosophical problem will give birth to debates and conflicting views without a definite path towards the possibility of resolution except when the context is made clear. There are philosophies in the Philippines; there are Filipinos doing philosophy; there are Filipino philosophers; there are Filipino philosophical writings; and every Filipino embraces an existentially personal philosophy. All these things mentioned are not materially equivalent to Filipino philosophy. Neither the above-mentioned can be logical grounds to justify the existence of the so-called Filipino philosop...

  By Menelito Mansueto, MA MSU-IIT  One of the heated issues in academia today is the ranking of scholars based on citations. It's only in the Philippines that getting cited is a source of scorn for some. So, let's look at the facts. Being cited means that other scholars are reading your work. It doesn't mean though that your paper has no value if it's not cited. A paper has several academic purposes. In the area of scholarship, however, if one claims to be an expert on a topic or a philosopher, it's important to consider the impact of your work among your peers, here and abroad. Internationally, top scholars have thousands of citations, which makes them influential in the field. In the Philippines, especially for Philosophy, it's quite an achievement to be recognized by your peers. We can mention two names, Jeremiah Joaquin and FPA Demeterio, both from DLSU. JJ has 594 citations while Demeterio has 395 citations. JJ's work is on analytic philosophy while De...