Drone and Melody: Radical Democracy and its Critics

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By Menelito Mansueto (MSU-IIT) 

I think that Dr. Christopher Ryan Maboloc is entitled to his own political opinion as much as each one of us is entitled to our own individual position on matters of public reason. So I don't get what the unnecessary fuss out there is all about. Is it not the essence of democracy to be able to speak out one's mind? 

This reminds me of my newly found philosopher, social ontologist (metaphysician, if you like) Jose Monserrat Maceda, particularly his notion of "drone and melody." We may have different political leanings, or musically speaking, we may be playing different tones and sounds, or singing with different voices, but what matters is the overall effect of the music. 

This is what the concept of "drone and melody" is all about. Drone, in musical terms, refers to any sustained sound or note. The overall over-arching resultant sound is called melody. We are just the different sides of the same spectrum, or one instrument in the whole band. Or just one piece of an entire orchestra. 

Just one citizen who contributes to the whole essence of national sovereignty. I thank my colleague, band and choir conductor, and Civil Engr. Bajo Cabactulan Zaldua for introducing me to the musical concepts of Maceda. This, I believe, is the same essence of what is referred to as agonistic democracy, popularly proposed by the Belgian political theorist Chantal Mouffe. 

Dr. Maboloc refers to this concept in his writings as "radical democracy in the Philippines." You can disagree with the guy, just as UP Cebu people have done so with all their heart and soul, but hey, you see, the guy still stands proud researching, writing and producing even more, cited here and abroad. Things like some of us can only be envious of.

As a matter of fact, our universities are actually using the same matrices for our rank and promotion. Dr. Maboloc has 24 Scopus indexed papers published in Sage, Springer, Oxford, and Cambridge. In this sense, something is rather out of tune. It is called insecurity. A social cancer that has no cure, by the way. It is a shame that you call yourselves moral philosophers. 

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