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Moral Righteousness and the Banality of Evil

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By Francis Jeus Ibañez  Dr. Christopher Ryan Maboloc’s warning about the danger of believing in oneself to be inherently good echoes Hannah Arendt’s concern with the banality of evil: when individuals fail to question their own biases, they become complicit in systems of manipulation. This vulnerability is not confined to the oligarchs themselves but extends to ordinary Filipinos who aspire to join their ranks without critically examining the moral cost of such ambition. To regulate oligarchic attitudes, both among the powerful and those who idolize them, we must cultivate critical self‑awareness and collective responsibility. Paulo Freire, in Pedagogy of the Oppressed, reminds us that liberation requires dialogue and reflection, not blind imitation of elites. Political strategies should emphasize transparency and accountability, as John Rawls argued in A Theory of Justice, ensuring that influence is not wielded as a weapon against the very citizens it claims to serve. Moral strate...
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The Davao School of Radical Politics (Part 2)

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.   In 2017, Ateneo de Davao University funded Maboloc’s research entitled 'Radical Democracy in the Time of Duterte." Ten papers were published from the said research which became the core of his book of the same title that came out in 2022.  The Davao School of Radical Politics (otherwise known as the Davao School of Radical Democracy or DSRD) is a "school of thought" that emerged to provide an intellectual and philosophical defense of the political style and policies of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. Maboloc’s work won the attention of followers and critics alike. The prominent figures of this contemporary philosophical movement from the Philiippine South include Menelito Mansueto, Gerry Arambala. Benjiemen Labastin, Joezenon Purog, and Rogelio Bayod. Core Philosophy As mentioned in a previous article, the Davao School seeks to provide an "alternative narrative" to Western liberal democratic critiques. Its foundation rests on several key pi...
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The Davao School of Radical Politics (Part 1)

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The Davao School of Radical Politics (or Davao School of Radical DSRP) is a movement thatwas developed by Christopher Ryan Maboloc, a professor at Ateneo de Davao University. He is the principal architect of the movement. His work bridges the gap between high-level European political philosophy (like that of Heidegger, Habermas, and Mouffe) and the gritty, localized realities of Mindanao. Theoretical Contributions  Maboloc’s influence can be broken down into three specific theoretical contributions: 1. The "Politics of the Periphery" Maboloc’s most significant contribution is the reframing of the Philippine South not as a "problem area" to be fixed by Manila, but as a vibrant site of democratic innovation. Critique of Imperial Manila: He argues that the centralized government in Manila suffers from a "cognitive dissonance" regarding the needs of Mindanao. Radical Localism: He suggests that for democracy to be "radical," it must be rooted in the s...
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Why does Iran want nuclear bombs?

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If the reason for the US and Israel for attacking Iran is to prevent it from building atom bombs, why can't Iran simply abandon its nuclear ambition? It is not as simple as that. ​The fundamental reason why Iran wants its own nuclear capability is to deter its enemies, primarily Israel. Regimes with nuclear weapons like North Korea are rarely invaded or overthrown, while those that gave up their nuclear armaments like Ukraine or their programs like Libya, or lacked them (like Iraq under Saddam) were eventually overthrown with support from Western-led forces (e.g. Iraq). Since Iran has not yet achieved its full nuclear capability, Israel and the US think it is strategic to prevent the same from happening. Iran views a nuclear deterrent as the ultimate form of defense against any military attack by the U.S. or Israel, which is happening right now. Because of the current war, Iran is more encouraged to fulfill its nuclear goals for its own survival. The US calls it an evil regime. Tru...
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ON THE IMPORTANCE OF JURGEN HABERMAS

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The way democracy works today or at least after the 2nd world war, we owe it largely to Habermas. His most important idea is communicative action, which looks into what he calls an ideal speech situation that seeks understanding and consensus by means of the truth instead of overpowering someone by force or intimidation. True to the tradition of critical theory, Habermas puts into question the influence of the state apparatus, the economy, and other technocratic instruments which for Habermas colonizes the lifeworld. What is the lifeworld? It refers basically to man's everyday life - family, community, including his beliefs. In the world of indigenous peoples, their lifeworld is colonized by hegemonic Western values that undermine their voice, hence, excluding them from greater society. In modern life, capitalism and consumer culture dictate the way people live their lives. Modern technology is controlled by capitalism (Big Tech) thereby rendering human existence into the calculati...
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Decolonial Turn in the Philippine South

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The "Decolonial Turn in the Philippine South" primarily refers to a recent philosophical and scholarly development, most concretely represented by the 2024 book titled Decolonial Turn in the Philippine South by Menelito Mansueto, a scholar affiliated with Mindanao State University - Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT) in southern Philippines. This work embodies a broader emerging intellectual movement or "turn" in the southern Philippines (especially Mindanao and surrounding areas), where thinkers apply decolonial frameworks to critique persistent colonial legacies, power structures, epistemic violence, and social injustices in the region. What is the "Decolonial Turn"? In global academia, the decolonial turn (building from thinkers like Enrique Dussel, Aníbal Quijano, Walter Mignolo, Nelson Maldonado-Torres, and others in Latin American and Global South traditions) seeks to go beyond postcolonial critique. It emphasizes: Exposing coloniality...
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Radical Democracy in the Time of Duterte

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Radical Democracy in the Time of Duterte is a 2022 book by Christopher Ryan Maboloc (published by ElziStyle Bookshop, Cotabato City, with a foreword by Wataru Kusaka).  It is a collection of essays (comprising ten chapters) that the author developed over five years, chronicling and analyzing the six-year presidency of Philippine President Rodrigo Roa Duterte (2016–2022).  The book draws heavily on postmodern and post-Marxist political theory—particularly the concept of radical democracy as articulated by Belgian philosopher Chantal Mouffe—to frame Duterte's leadership style and policies. Core Thesis and Framework Maboloc argues that Duterte's approach represents a form of radical democracy in the Philippine context. Drawing from Mouffe's ideas, he portrays radical democracy as embracing: The permanence of conflict and antagonism in politics (rejecting illusions of perfect consensus or a harmonious collective will). The rejection of a homogeneous society or elite-driven libe...
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