Nicole Baysa

201508446
Reflection on Understanding Philippine Politics

UNDERSTANDING PHILIPPINE POLITICS is comprehensive reflection on the state of

Philippine politics on how it impedes the growth and development of the nation. It tries to dissect
the ills that beset our political system. Three political components have been mentioned namely,
struggle for power between government and opposition, the bureaucracy and public opinion. A
brief political history has been presented to show how these components are integral to our
political system. It also tried to make an opinion on how the country can move forward through a
possible authoritarian model but which the author does not favor, a state initiated roadmap for
development, voters education to distinguish the true leaders from the impostors, social justice,
caring for the basic needs of the poor and combating corruption.
My thoughts on what ails Philippine politics are the following:
First, the Philippines, for decades, has been ruled by several countries to name, Spain, the
US and Japan. To my understanding, not once were we able to liberate ourselves from these
colonizers simply because our ancestors never had the tenacity to unite as one nation against the
colonizers. There were conflicts between factions. Aguinaldo and Bonifacio during the Spanish
era, Aguinaldo and the US collaborator, Paterno, and the conflict among the officers that led to
the demise of one the ablest generals, Antonio Luna, during the US occupation, and, the
Japanese collaborators versus the Huks during the Japanese era. The fight continues up to the
modern times between the Marcoses and the Aquinos, Aquino and Arroyo, and now the
Yellowtards versus the Dutertards. We have to accept the reality that politics in the Philippines is
largely divisive and to my mind, has played a negative impact on our progress as a nation. The
politicians in this country seem to believe that nobody except themselves, can improve the nation
from its woes. So the cycle of bitterness in politics seem to go on until the other party meets its
downfall and the other, takes over.
Second, I do respect our culture on how we cherish our family. We care for our elders,
we do support our kids up to the time that they can already live on their own and parents do not
mind extending their support even to their grown-ups as long as they feel they are still needed.
However, the downside of this culture is, it extends to politics and the family cannot delegate the
political field to anyone else except their family members, regardless of their capability. Majority
of the people in power in the Philippines are scions of political leaders of the past. The Marcoses,
the Aquinos, the Roxases, the Binays and the Cayetanos to name a few in the national front and
so much more in local politics. The unfair distribution of power has largely relegated the
potential brilliant leader to a mere follower whose contribution might have been significant but
unfortunately, was not given the chance to prove his or her worth due to political dynasty. The
Filipinos penchant for choosing their leaders simply because they belong to this or that family
has, to my mind, resulted to our lack of growth and progress.
 Third, on certain occasions, we may be able to select good leaders but what good does it
do when the culture, practice and wrongdoings of the constituents seem to erode the good
qualities of the leader? Take the case of Rodrigo Duterte, a guy who came into power because a
lot of Filipinos think he is the one who can save this country from its myriad of problems. He
promised the moon when he said the drug menace can be solved in 6 months. It is more than a
year now and apparently, he came to accept the fact that he may not be able to solve it during his
term. The problem does not only involve drug users and pushers. It is the well- entrenched drug
syndicates that involve government officials, police and military officials, local officials up to
the barangay level that makes it very hard for him to solve the menace. Another example is the
workplace. It seems we are not getting any better because the people working there appear to
lack the drive to improve their services. Where has discipline and the desire to uplift our lives
gone? Who shall we blame for our lack of progress? Did we ever ponder on the great words of
JFK, ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country?
Lastly, a lot of people might disagree, even the author of the article seem to oppose, but
an authoritarian system might be the answer to our political woes. In my view, before we can
truly exercise democracy, we need to DISCIPLINE ourselves first. Discipline, in all the
simplicity of the word, has been the formula of hundreds of successful people and nations. The
problem is, this trait seem to be far from being observed and practiced in this country. All the
laws have been laid down to everyone but the QUESTION remains, is everyone following the
law? How strict are our law enforcers? How often is the lagay and padrino system practiced to
evade the law? How corrupt is our system that we seem not to improve in our undertakings? For
several decades, we have tried several leaders, but what change have we noticed? Arent we still
the Sick man of Asia? The system that imposes discipline, in its strictest sense, might be the
solution to the recurrent political crisis we are experiencing.