Philippine Democracy Online

  By Christopher Ryan Maboloc, PhD  Since the Vietnam War, the narrative of the United States has not changed. It still suffers from that Superhero syndrome. It portrays all wars as the struggle between good and evil. The main goal is always to destroy the enemy. That enemy is seen as a threat to humanity and America is the mighty police force that is out there to protect and save humankind from its enemies.  This was the logic of Henry Kissinger. He theorized that if communism succeeds in Vietnam, then the whole Asia would become communist. His solution was to carpet bomb Vietnam and Cambodia. And as what my student reminded me, America lost that war. It is the same story in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bombing Iran does not make the world a safer place. It makes it more dangerous. After all is said and done, Iran will simply rebuild and desire more to develop an atom bomb. America is safe. You cannot say the same to proxy states that it uses to fight for its brand of freedom....

Gerry Arambala’s "Radical Politics in Ozamiz: The Rise and Fall of a Mindanao Boss" is a compelling sociological and political study that tracks the dramatic arc of the Parojinog family. It explores how a local group evolved from a state-sponsored vigilante unit into a formidable political dynasty, only to be dismantled by the very state that once empowered them. Arambala’s work is influenced by Japanese scholar Wataru Kusaka who visited Ozamiz City and engaged with the author. The book is one of the pioneering studies in radical politics in the Philippines which is rooted in the Davao School of Radical Democracy, a new school of thought based on Christopher Ryan Maboloc's book Radical Democracy in the Time of Duterte. A summary of the key themes and findings from the work: 1. The Origins: From Kuratong Baleleng to Local Heroes The narrative begins with the birth of the Kuratong Baleleng. Originally formed by the Philippine military in the 1980s as an anti-communist vigil...

  Menelito Mansueto's "Decolonial Turn in the Philippine South" (specifically focusing on Mindanao) is a critical response to the Western-centric and Manila-centric academic traditions that have historically dominated Filipino philosophy.  Mansueto argues that philosophy in the Philippines has often been a "copy-paste" of Western thought (Eurocentrism) or filtered through the lens of scholars in Manila. He suggests that this creates a "coloniality of knowledge" where the unique lived experiences of those in the "periphery"—the Philippine South—are ignored or treated as secondary. For Mansueto, the "South" is not just a geographic location (Mindanao); it is a philosophical standpoint.Locality: He emphasizes that philosophy should begin with the local conditions: the history of conflict, the diversity of cultures (Moro, Lumad, and Settler), and the socio-economic struggles of the region. The decolonial turn is about giving "epist...

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...

.   In 2017, the National University of Singapore asked Dr. Christopher Ryan Maboloc to write an op-ed for Wataru Kusaka's book Moral Politics in the Philippines which was subsequently published by the Philippine Daily Inquirer.  This inspired Maboloc to write about Philippine democracy.  Maboloc wrote a proposal on the topic. 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. Kusaka wrote the Foreword of the book. 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, among others. Core Philosophy As mentioned in a previous article, the Davao School seeks to provide an "alternative narrative...

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 through the lens of Chantal Mouffe's theory of radical democracy. Dr. Christopher Ryan Maboloc, a professor at Ateneo de Davao University, 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 historical and political 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 democrat...