The state of Philippine politics: feudal, paternalistic and transactional

For the longest time, Philippine politics is neither based on ideology nor principles, but on dominant personalities and groups of temporary allies who wield power, dispense favors and control public funds and the apportionment of prerogatives, privileges and money.

Thus it remains feudal, paternalistic, transactional and opportunistic. Filipinos go into politics for personal gains, power, prestige and for financial aggrandizement. Therefore, this country is doomed to mediocrity and the people are condemned to suffer in perpetual poverty, social injustice and social unrest. Aguinaldo was a feudal landlord, Quezon was an Ilustrado and Osmeña belonged to the elite in Cebu. The Laurels were among the elite in Batangas and Roxas was a scion of the De Leon landed gentry in Bulacan and the landlords in Capiz. Quirino belonged to the elite in Vigan. Only Magsaysay really came from the "masa” and perhaps Macapagal. But Magsaysay married the transport heiress from Bataan and Macapagal married the rich and landed Eva Macaraeg of Pangasinan. The Marcoses, Aquinos, Ramoses, Estrada, GMA, and even Duterte were all elites. No one was a scion of a farmer or a squatter from Tondo or Pasil.

Feudalism in Philippine politics is shown by the manner by which landed families dominate politics, like the hacienderos in Negros, controlling political powers to protect their financial and business interests. Feudalism comes from the French word 'feodalisme' taken from the Latin term feodom, which means feudal monarchs, feudal lords, who dominate both the economy and the politics of a given territory. Feudalism centers on vassalage, homage and fiefdom. Power does not reside in the people but they who control the source of money control necessarily the source of power. Benedict Anderson, an Irish-American political scientist, called the Philippine political system as a cacique democracy. It has never changed from the time of Aguinaldo to BBM.

Paternalism emphasizes on the so-called moral obligation of the controlling elite to dispense favors to the poor masses or the working class. This is the concept of "noblesse oblige" or the ethical responsibility of the "maharlika" landlords and economic elite to distribute "ayudas" to the poverty-stricken "aliping namamahays" and "aliping saguiguilids." This was illustrated by Dr. Jose Rizal in Noli and Fili where Capitan Tiago represented the oppressive, coercive and exploitative elite and Padre Damaso reflected how the Church used the teachings of God to subjugate the ignorant, the powerless and voiceless "hoi polloi" represented by Sisa, Crispin and Basilio. The mental derangement of Sisa was a figure of speech to show the malignant socio-economic decay of the country's political, economic and social situations.

The padrino system is shown how powerful families intermarry to preserve the monopoly of power. The marriage between two Marcoses (BBM and Irene) to the Aranetas are palpable evidence that in this country, even love, romance and marriage can be arranged to preserve domination of both the economy and politics. I recall the historic unification of the hitherto political enemies: the Quibranzas of Lanao del Norte and the Dimaporos of Lanao del Sur.  The union of two political clans in Lanao assured their domination of both the politics and the economy in that Muslim territory. This spectacle is repeated in all provinces in the country. The pattern is the same. That is why the Khos control Masbate, the Defensors, Garins and other elite control Iloilo, and so on. I do not have to mention Cebu because we all know what is prevalent.

In the Philippines, a poor boy can only rise in the nation's totem pole if he is a handsome actor, a gifted scholar from Harvard or a husband of a landed heiress if he is not a drug lord, a glib tongue religious pastor and appointed son of God, a Pogo dummy of foreign predators or a rice smuggler. Salvation in this country emanates from physical attributes, high education or being an action star, a crime or political warlord. All the rest should accept their fate as laborers, servants, construction workers, prostitutes or beggars.

The truth hurts but that is the true state of the nation which no president would dare to tell the people.