ANATOMY OF PHILIPPINE POLITICS1
Economic Power Makes Political Power
It is beyond doubt that economic power makes political power. A political system is
possible and can last only because it is based on an economic foundation, on the mode of
production that gives sustenance to the political ideas and institutions in the
superstructure of a society. With this basic assumption, we may start to make a
comprehensive presentation of the anatomy of Philippine politics.
However, we cannot really make a profound critique of Philippine politics if we do not
grasp the historical principle that the masses in our semicolonial and semifeudal country
can build up their own political power in the countryside through a struggle entailing a
process of eliminating the political and economic power of the local exploiters and local
bullies, area-by-area and step-by-step without as yet being in full control of the national
economy. We keep this principle in mind even as our topic is the anatomy of Philippine
politics now.
To know well a political system or a particular form of society, it is necessary to
comprehend the basic political contradictions at work, emerging from basic
contradictions of socioeconomic classes, even if these should at first appear to be in
equilibrium. If we try to make a presentation of the Philippine political system without
considering its basic socioeconomic contradictions, then we would be merely trying to
depict a lifeless skeleton seeming to have the quality of permanence. It is the relentless
conflict of classes in our society that keeps our politics dynamic and impermanent. The
very existence of class exploitation reveals the fact of class struggle, no matter how
suppressed or obscured by one means or another, and also reveals the prospect of social
revolution, no matter how much it is restricted by the state power of the ruling classes.
If we are interested in the anatomy of Philippine politics as if it were a dead or passive
structure, all that we have to do now is to read and reread the Philippine Constitution. We
would just say that we have a republican and presidential form of government which has
three basic branches – executive, legislative and judicial – in equilibrium under a rule of
check and balance; that the Filipino electorate has the democratic right to vote in and vote
out men in the government; the electoral choice is mainly provided by a two-party system
ensured by a constitutional provision on electoral inspectors; and that in between and
during elections, the Filipino people are formally gifted with a bill of rights which is
supposed to allow them to act in and speak out their interests collectively and
individually.
But, in these turbulent times, we cannot afford to be naive and superficial. We cannot
refer dogmatically to formal rights and say that sure enough we have democracy in this
country. We have to investigate the national and social reality. Especially at a time that
more and more people are getting dissatisfied with the political system and its political
1 Originally published in the October 26, 1967, issue of The Philippine Collegian, official student newspaper of
the University of the Philippines.
, processes, it becomes more compelling on our part to look into the most vital struggles
that are now severely straining the ability of the system to contain. In other words, we
have now to see Philippine politics in the light of fundamental issues and demands that
divide social classes and political groups daily and drive them to irreconcilable
disagreement or conflict.
The Class Basis of Political Tendencies and Trends
We have to have a clear perception and knowledge of the economic classes within our
semicolonial and semifeudal society. Their basic demands are of a political character,
involving relations of members within the same class, relations between classes, relations
within the nation as a whole and relations with other nations. Political tendencies, trends,
issues and possibilities are founded on these classes existing and operating within
Philippine society. What can sustain a political movement or a political system is a
definite economic class or an alliance of economic classes that have certain interests or
that have certain aspirations and demands.
It is not possible, in a class-divided society like that of the Philippines, for all classes to
have common or similar interests to protect and advance. The fact is that some classes are
united against other classes because of a basic contradiction of interests. Thus, the
diametrical opposition of basic political standpoints.
With regard to the basic struggle for national democracy to which all patriotic Filipinos
should be committed, the entire range of social classes in the Philippines is divided into
two camps. There is the camp of those classes who wish to achieve the completion of the
national democratic revolution and there is the opposite camp of those classes interested
in the perpetuation of imperialist and feudal power in this country.
The masses of workers and peasants, the intelligentsia, the petty property-owners and
nationalist businessmen are interested in the success of the struggle for national
democracy. On the other hand, the imperialists, their comprador agents, their landlord
and corrupt bureaucrat allies would rather have a semicolonial and semifeudal
Philippines which they can easily exploit.
The Filipino workers, who are enlightened with the most advanced ideas of this era, are
interested in a national democracy in the Philippines because this rejects and supplants
the political power of foreign monopoly capitalism and landlordism. This means actual
sovereignty and genuine independence, Filipino-owned industrialization, a
thoroughgoing land reform and the opportunity for the working class to establish and
build up the democratic power of the people and lead in the march to social revolution
and progress.
The Filipino peasants are interested in national democracy in the same way that the
workers are, but they are most interested in national democracy because it breaks feudal
chains and provides them the substance of freedom.
Economic Power Makes Political Power
It is beyond doubt that economic power makes political power. A political system is
possible and can last only because it is based on an economic foundation, on the mode of
production that gives sustenance to the political ideas and institutions in the
superstructure of a society. With this basic assumption, we may start to make a
comprehensive presentation of the anatomy of Philippine politics.
However, we cannot really make a profound critique of Philippine politics if we do not
grasp the historical principle that the masses in our semicolonial and semifeudal country
can build up their own political power in the countryside through a struggle entailing a
process of eliminating the political and economic power of the local exploiters and local
bullies, area-by-area and step-by-step without as yet being in full control of the national
economy. We keep this principle in mind even as our topic is the anatomy of Philippine
politics now.
To know well a political system or a particular form of society, it is necessary to
comprehend the basic political contradictions at work, emerging from basic
contradictions of socioeconomic classes, even if these should at first appear to be in
equilibrium. If we try to make a presentation of the Philippine political system without
considering its basic socioeconomic contradictions, then we would be merely trying to
depict a lifeless skeleton seeming to have the quality of permanence. It is the relentless
conflict of classes in our society that keeps our politics dynamic and impermanent. The
very existence of class exploitation reveals the fact of class struggle, no matter how
suppressed or obscured by one means or another, and also reveals the prospect of social
revolution, no matter how much it is restricted by the state power of the ruling classes.
If we are interested in the anatomy of Philippine politics as if it were a dead or passive
structure, all that we have to do now is to read and reread the Philippine Constitution. We
would just say that we have a republican and presidential form of government which has
three basic branches – executive, legislative and judicial – in equilibrium under a rule of
check and balance; that the Filipino electorate has the democratic right to vote in and vote
out men in the government; the electoral choice is mainly provided by a two-party system
ensured by a constitutional provision on electoral inspectors; and that in between and
during elections, the Filipino people are formally gifted with a bill of rights which is
supposed to allow them to act in and speak out their interests collectively and
individually.
But, in these turbulent times, we cannot afford to be naive and superficial. We cannot
refer dogmatically to formal rights and say that sure enough we have democracy in this
country. We have to investigate the national and social reality. Especially at a time that
more and more people are getting dissatisfied with the political system and its political
1 Originally published in the October 26, 1967, issue of The Philippine Collegian, official student newspaper of
the University of the Philippines.
, processes, it becomes more compelling on our part to look into the most vital struggles
that are now severely straining the ability of the system to contain. In other words, we
have now to see Philippine politics in the light of fundamental issues and demands that
divide social classes and political groups daily and drive them to irreconcilable
disagreement or conflict.
The Class Basis of Political Tendencies and Trends
We have to have a clear perception and knowledge of the economic classes within our
semicolonial and semifeudal society. Their basic demands are of a political character,
involving relations of members within the same class, relations between classes, relations
within the nation as a whole and relations with other nations. Political tendencies, trends,
issues and possibilities are founded on these classes existing and operating within
Philippine society. What can sustain a political movement or a political system is a
definite economic class or an alliance of economic classes that have certain interests or
that have certain aspirations and demands.
It is not possible, in a class-divided society like that of the Philippines, for all classes to
have common or similar interests to protect and advance. The fact is that some classes are
united against other classes because of a basic contradiction of interests. Thus, the
diametrical opposition of basic political standpoints.
With regard to the basic struggle for national democracy to which all patriotic Filipinos
should be committed, the entire range of social classes in the Philippines is divided into
two camps. There is the camp of those classes who wish to achieve the completion of the
national democratic revolution and there is the opposite camp of those classes interested
in the perpetuation of imperialist and feudal power in this country.
The masses of workers and peasants, the intelligentsia, the petty property-owners and
nationalist businessmen are interested in the success of the struggle for national
democracy. On the other hand, the imperialists, their comprador agents, their landlord
and corrupt bureaucrat allies would rather have a semicolonial and semifeudal
Philippines which they can easily exploit.
The Filipino workers, who are enlightened with the most advanced ideas of this era, are
interested in a national democracy in the Philippines because this rejects and supplants
the political power of foreign monopoly capitalism and landlordism. This means actual
sovereignty and genuine independence, Filipino-owned industrialization, a
thoroughgoing land reform and the opportunity for the working class to establish and
build up the democratic power of the people and lead in the march to social revolution
and progress.
The Filipino peasants are interested in national democracy in the same way that the
workers are, but they are most interested in national democracy because it breaks feudal
chains and provides them the substance of freedom.
