Philippine Democracy Online

By Christopher Ryan Maboloc, PhD In his most important work "Domination and Resistance," Dr. Jeffry Ocay explains the root cause of the problem when it comes to Philippine politics. The experience of powerlessness of the Filipino is not a self-inflicted wound. It was a result of the coercive apparatus of colonial rule. Division in society is ideal when foreign invaders desire to exploit the people. To implement such a scheme, the easiest way to do so is to give favors to local leaders who would willingly agree to become accomplices to the oppression.

Gerry Flores Arambala Chairperson Philosophy Department La Salle University - Ozamiz         Christopher Ryan Maboloc, the main proponent of the theory of radical democracy in the Philippines, explains that the Spanish colonial regime did not only exploit the Filipino people through unfair taxes and hard labor, but also by elevating the chosen elites called principales to rule the masses (Maboloc 2019). “The elite among Filipinos who benefited from foreign rule are the ones who have hastened the subjugation of the islands” (Maboloc 2019).   Maboloc writes that such “patronage system is not a modern-day phenomenon. It can be traced back to the administration of Spanish authorities, which can be summed up as the politics of exclusion” (Maboloc 2019). Such type of politics, echoing Hotchcroft and Rocamora (2003), characterizes the logic of Philippine democracy. What that means is that, politics is monopolized by the few elites and the oligarchs of the country, w...

In his “Inaugural Address” at Freiburg, Martin Heidegger writes that “metaphysical inquiry must be posed as a whole and from the essential position of the existence of a man that questions.” This form of questioning goes beyond logic and the objective certainty of the empirical sciences. It is a method of thinking that seeks to overhaul two millennia of philosophical toil and discourse. Yet, Heidegger’s eloquence, while making manifest the grandeur of esoteric thought, actually finds no resonance in the social and political conflict that engulfs the world. Heidegger was politically naïve when it comes to his philosophical theories. In the same way as history is written by the victors of war, the experience and meaning of human life is also being defined by those who think they are in a position to say things as they please. In fact, the idea is simple. Since we are inclined to believe someone on the basis of his background, we think that this individual has the right to descri...

By Gerry F. Arambala Chairperson, Philosophy Department La Salle University, Ozamiz City Discussions on President Rodrigo Duterte's radical politics are heating up among young scholars in the South. The works of Patricio Abinales, Heidi K. Gloria, and Reynaldo Ileto provide the historical context. Dr. Christopher Ryan Maboloc, who is recognized by Dr. Julio Teehankee as the first to use Chantal Mouffe's agonistic politics in interpreting the rise to power of President Duterte, is cited by the likes of Wataru Kusaka, Karl Gaspar, and Fr. Jose Mario Francisco, SJ. Dr. Maboloc, who teaches philosophy at Ateneo de Davao University, argues that the contested nature of politics in the country can be traced to the unjust structures of post-colonial Philippine society.  In a recent talk, Prof. Menelito Mansueto of Letran suggested that non-dominant narratives have been silenced after EDSA. In an online article, UP Cebu Prof. Regletto Imbong wrote a critical but fair comment on Maboloc...