Philippine Democracy Online

Today is the start of VP Sara Duterte's impeachment trial. What is at stake is not just the political future of the Vice President. This is about the type of governance that is centered upon one principle that her father had started - justice for Mindanao and the Filipino people against the interests of the elite. This is the case because the members of Congress who impeached Sara do not represent the Filipino people. They represent the corruption in our system of politics. The irony is obvious. Those who want Sara convicted are actually acting at the behest of the mastermind of the flood control scandal. They fear a Sara Duterte presidency because they know that they will be running knowing that they have no place to hide. There is nothing new in what the House prosecutors will present at the Senate impeachment court. The Filipino people already know what Ridon, Diokno, or Delima will say. Their witnesses are not credible. They are simply forcing a narrative that has no evidentiar...

  Dr. Christopher Ryan Maboloc is a prominent and well-cited contemporary philosopher in the Philippines. An Associate Professor at the Ateneo de Davao University and a fellow of the ASAP Yale Global Justice Program, Maboloc has carved out a unique space in Asian philosophy by shifting the academic gaze away from Eurocentric ideals and anchoring it firmly in the lived realities of the Global South—specifically the southern Philippine island of Mindanao.   Maboloc’s philosophical contributions span political philosophy, applied ethics, environmental thought, and radical democracy. ​Maboloc is perhaps best known for his philosophical analysis of contemporary Philippine politics, most notably during the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte. In books like Radical Democracy in the Time of Duterte and The Davao School of Radical Democracy, Maboloc challenges mainstream, Western-style liberal interpretations of populism.   He argues that post-1986 Philippine democracy (the po...

  Dr. Godiva Eviota-Rivera, a full professor at the Mindanao State University in Marawi City, who is an expert on language studies, has advised mainstream media in a social media post, to refrain from "using misnomer language." She noted that some news headlines "are heavily loaded," and wants "to condition our minds."  She says. "your bittersweet tongue, it can never poison us!" She mentioned one reporter who asked Senator Ronald dela Rosa inside the Senate hall: “Why are you here?” Dr. Rivera said that the question is preposterous. "Is she a part of GMA’s regressing walang kinikilingan tagline? GMA, I dare you post this headline that fits your ideology," she adds.

Dr. Christopher Ryan Maboloc’s book, "The Politics of Peace and the Mindanao Problem," is a philosophical and socio-political critique that challenges the traditional "Manila-centric" understanding of the conflict in Southern Philippines. Following the thought of Patricio Abinales, he argues that labeling Mindanao as a land of conflict is a form of bias. The book is published in 2025 by Dr. Mansoor Limba of Elzystyle Publishing.  Rather than viewing the "Mindanao Problem" as a simple religious or ethnic clash, Maboloc reframed it as a deep-seated issue of structural injustice. The author travelled to Zamboanga City, Cotabato City, Lake Sebu, and Marawi City to conduct his study, talking to Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) officials, Peace negotiators and advocates, local leaders, academics, and Indigenous Peoples (IP). The research was funded by Ateneo de Davao University. ​Maboloc utilizes the theories of political philosopher Iris ...

  By Christopher Ryan Maboloc  The moral politics of liberals have been tested since the time of PNOY but it achieved nothing in terms of changing the lives of millions of Filipinos. We are still under the same oligarchic system and nothing in the words of their potential candidates manifest any competence to address the lingering issue of structural injustice in the country. This is why all that they do, even if they present themselves as clean and the ultimate purveyors of accountability, won't work. EDSA has not delivered on its promise of change. Time and again, the moral framing of the adversaries of Vice President SaraDuterte, portraying her with a bad image, won't work because it is elitist and condescending.  Politics in the Philippines has a lot to do with sentiments, not with labels, especially so when it comes to electing the President. The highest leader of the land will not only represent the people who believes in a cause, but someone who people can identify...

  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 Democracy (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 democratic innovation. Critique of Imperial Manila: He argues that t...

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...

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...

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...

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. 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 liberal consensus. The role of ...

  By Dr. Romulo Bautista Philosophy teachers from various schools in Mindanao have organized themselves into a Social Ethics Society, in order to help solve and/or bring the moral aspect of socio-political-economic problems for solution to political leaders of Mindanao. The Social Ethics Society laments the fact that the elite leadership of democracy in Mindanao has not done enough to improve the socio-economic fortune of the poor in the rural and in the urban areas. In terms of real income, the poor are even poorer today than they were in previous years. Empty of moral component, the political leadership of the elite few is passed from one elite group to another elite group. Contrary to the republican vision of our Constitution, the elite leaders used their delegated authority from the voters who are mostly poor, to further their vested interests at the expense of the best interests of the poor. It is time for Social Ethics Society to teach, educate, and enlighten voters at the gr...

  By Francis Jeus Ibañez I am exploring a theory of democracy that is based on the Philippine context through its own madness. It is not the radical democracy as explained by Dr. Christopher Ryan Maboloc. Instead of Chantal Mouffe, I will use Jacques Derrida in what I consider as a radical approach to democratic theory. Derrida in his post modern approach rejects any foundation. This decentering means we move the fulcrum away from a central figure. In Philippine society and in Maboloc's case, former President Duterte. His critics are also wrong for insisting on strictly appropriating Mouffe. The Philippines has a different context.  Maboloc's approach is being questioned for misappropriating radical democracy. But one has to admit that given the context, his approach can be considered as a radical theory of democracy. Dr. Ian Clark Parcon enjoins Jurgen Habermas to explain Mouffe's agonism and find a middle ground between dialogue and struggle.  But I beg to differ from b...

By Christopher Ryan Maboloc  The Story of Christmas tells us that there was no available room at the inn that night. Jesus was born in a manger. What is the message of this? It means that for some, if not many, the heart remains closed. Love has no place in the way they treat others. The reasons can be many, but the reality is that we only listen to our own voice, or are too caught up in the ways of the world wanting to achieve success or our own happiness, so that we fail to see the pains of those who are hungry.  In short, people cannot love because they can be selfish. Sometimes, we only think of ourselves. We don't or perhaps refuse to see the suffering of other human beings. We are too eager in our own quest for fame, money, and power. In this way, we forget that when we turn away the poor, the needy, and helpless, we are also turning away Christ. Christ, to paraphrase Emmanuel Levinas, is the face of the other. He is the orphan, the widow, the homeless, the victim of cor...

By Francis Jeus Ibañez  During the 1st Bohol Island State University Research Colloquium, I successfully defended my paper on the madness of Philippine democracy. I drew my thoughts from Nietzsche, Foucault, Derrida, and Freud. In the context of Philippine democracy, I reflected on the highly contested radical democratic theory of Dr. Christopher Ryan Maboloc, which critics largely misinterpret. I reckon that what we need right now, given the many calamities our country suffers, is a type of radical action. Politics is not meant to serve the higher 20% of the population but the lower 80%, which means that those who label Duterte's policies and politics as popolism actually miss the point. Duterte represents the struggle of the Bisaya, especially those from Mindanao. Asked by Dr. Ferdie Mangibin about the relevance of the work of Maboloc, I said that it is not about him but what he wrote. It is about how Philippine democracy has been turned upside down so that liberals can no longer...

By Dr. Romulo Bautista  The lack of stricter environmental standards compounded by lack of stricter enforcement was evident in the Philippines during Typhoon Ondoy that caused massive damage to properties and massive loss of human lives. After many disastrous and catastrophic typhoons, climate change is now a growing national concern in the Philippines, especially after the devastation caused by Typhoon Yolanda. [People are now beginning to realize its effects on their lives and the future of this country. - Eds]  Climate change is a two-fold phenomenon. For lack of adequate descriptions, one phenomenon might be described as “natural and constructive”, which is intrinsic in the nature of existing realities and is regulated by the laws of nature. The other phenomenon might be described as “man-caused and destructive”, which is extrinsic to the nature of realities and is regulated by ethical laws legislated by man. The Kyoto Protocol  In 1997, industrialized countries agree...