Ressentiment

By Leo Lusañez 

The procedural aspects of Duterte's trial can be left to the lawyers and other people who possess more expertise on the subject. However, as citizens, it is permissible - indeed, even encouraged - to discuss the substantive aspects, as well as the implications. Those in the north ridicule those who stand with Duterte by accusing them of petty and unproductive tribalism.

However, lest we forget, this very tendency is innate in every nation - moreso one as diverse as ours, and this is not something that can be cured by the increasingly tired and wasted cries of common good or liberal democracy, for these are the very tools the north has used for centuries to assert their ascendancy over their brethren. The northerners have yet to understand that their lust for power is generational in nature, and goes beyond the Dutertes.

And because it is generational, any argument appealing to national unity does not just fall on deaf ears - it is gaslighting of the highest order. The ressentiment the southerners feel needs to be respected rather than buried or avoided, as only then will we ever have a hope of seeing national discourse progress towards consensus. If left unaddressed, this generational wound will only fester and grow - and those in the north will inevitably have to reckon with the truth in increasingly harsher ways.

Nietzsche is pivotal in understanding of all of this modern day unfolding. Ressentiment he writes are our deepest emotions borne out of powerlessness that can be awakened to give birth to a new type of morality. This political unfolding is about us. The Dutertes may all fade into obscurity, every last one of them, but until truly equal political representation is established, there will never be true and lasting peace. And we as a people will continue to succumb to the worst of our inner natures.

- Leo Lusañez is a graduate student in Philosophy at Ateneo de Davao University