The trouble with the Philippines is that its political discourse is cursed with a lopsided ideological spectrum. There is a “far left” camp consisting of the commies, their terrorist “New People’s Army”, and the so-called Makabayan bloc of front organisations that orbit them. There is also a swathe of confused centre-left to centre-right camps that are each unclear as to what they respectively stand for. What they do have in common is no more than a perverse lust for power and money and a penchant for cult-of-personality brand management as their preferred campaign approach. These are the “tardic” camps of the Yellowtards, Marcostards, and Dutertards.
What is missing is a camp that fills the “far-right” section of this pole. This is the camp whose role it is is to be as ideologically crystal clear as its counterparts on the Left — i.e., clear in its opposition to the woke, fairness-obsessed, atheist, gender-fluid, nuclear family-busting ideology of the commies and their front parties. A far-right party sports an ideology anchored on the core values of country, God, family, and traditional values, among others and upholding the clarity of purpose of a meaningful life led on the back of these foundational schools of thought.
Indeed, the true home of the Roman Catholic Church itself is not the moral fluidity and the grey area “inclusiveness” of the Left nor the selective show-me-the-money ethics of the tardic camps. Its home is the consistent and coherent frame of the conservative Right within which it will need no longer compromise on its core dogma.
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It is now evident that the forever-bickering traditional parties of the Philippines are in severe deficit of charismatic leadership and statesmanship of the sort that builds gravitas and legacies. Unfortunately Filipinos habitually limit themselves to having to choose from among these vermin at present.
Interestingly, recent history showcases a case study of the rise of an alternative to traditional tardic/commie parties. Back in 2017, Rodrigo Duterte came out of nowhere from the Philippines’ deep south to disrupt Imperial Manila’s inbred political ecosystem of crooked politicians and “thought leaders” and exploit widespread voters’ disenchantment with that landscape to seize the presidency. Unfortunately, just like everything else Filipino, this rare episode of clarity was destined to end in a monumental fuck up that sees the former president today being tried by an “international criminal court” halfway around the world and the machine left in the hands of an heir who, to put it succinctly, is not her father by any stretch of the imagination.
It also didn’t help that Duterte himself was not a true conservative despite his ability to endear himself to the public. His administration was characterised by blanket antagonism of the Church and by his inability to effect coherent stewardship of his government.
Too bad. A resurgence of far-right parties is on-going in the rest of the liberal democratic world also mostly driven by popular disdain for traditional politics in their respective electorates hitting critical mass. From Japan and India to the UK, Germany, and France, the “far right” is on the rise if not already in power. The Philippines, with its dysfunctional traditional parties, is ripe for this too and, given the way things are going, very likely will be a missed opportunity for a similar resurgence of traditional conservative leadership.
If only an ounce of imagination can be applied to drive a bit of political innovation. Filipinos are overdue for a choice that truly mirrors their character as a people — religious, traditional, family-centred, and deeply conservative in their tastes and outlook. It will take a leader and a party that appeals to its constituents along those simple points to achieve a coup similar to what Duterte pulled back in 2017. More important than that is the strategic chops to learn from Duterte’s failure to sustain his legacy.
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If you think the country isn’t based on conservative values then just compare it with other countries. And you will see that you are wrong. I believe the reason you think the country needs a true far-right party is because you focus too much on the left and the lefties shortcomings. And too little focus on right-wing nutcases in the country… like yourself.
Actually, I do think Philippine society is an inherently conservative one. I wrote that clearly in the article.
No you didn’t wrote that clearly in the article. And then again if you did, why do you think the country is cursed with a lopsided ideological spectrum and therefore needs a proper far-right party when it is already full of conservatism?
Actually I did write it. And it was crystal clear.
you are such a hopelessly diehard right-wing nutcase that you are convinced you cannot be wrong even if you try to see it from a reader’s perspective. I really should give up trying to convince you 🙂 bye
Bye! 😀
the country should just break up into a federation of autonomous states.
each with its own rules.
like, if the northernerds want freer policies on drugs and liberal gay lifestyles and coddling of NPA and subservience to the ICC and so-called “human rights” and more state spending on ayuda, then go for it.
just leave the rest of us alone.
the trouble with the Philippines then, is that we try too hard to be united, when we should just embrace the disunity of our people.
having centralized governance from imperial manila over peoples of different cultures, languages, and local needs and priorities is just plain foolish.
we want safer communities
we want tougher law enforcement
we want the removal of sidewalk vendors and squatter colonies
we want the drug war to continue
we want tokhang to continue
we want to abolish the useless commission on human rights
we want the ICC to leave us the fuck alone
we want duterte back
now if you northernerds prefer hontiveros or de lima or that fag kiko then so be it. just leave us the fuck alone!
I’m not gonna go in making an internal critique of your far-right sympathies and your 180 degree turn as regards the Catholic Church.
Instead I’m pointing out that your argument still consists of playing the broken game of Filipino democracy instead of calling out that the whole playing field is rigged and dysfunctional. As annoying as Filipino Commies and Western-style woke progressives are, their presence is ultimately irrelevant in the context of an apathetic Filipino public who would rather prefer to watch Showtime and stay addicted to Facebook and TikTok instead of organizing riots to overthrow the oligarchs.
And the Philippines’ isn’t facing the same sort of problems that provided the conditions for the resurgence of far-right parties in the West and certain non-white countries like Japan and India. The Muslim community in Metro Manila would be utterly screwed by the Catholic majority if some jihadist terror attack were to occur in the NCR.
Can’t say I disagree with anything you wrote here other than to say my references to the “far right” and Catholic church aren’t “sympathies” per se but more of highlighting that there is a gap in the landscape that a camp with the intellectual and marketing chops to exploit it can fill.
Unfortunately, as you rightly point out here, ideologies routinely fly above the heads of apathetic and intellectually-bankrupt Filipinos. But then, that again is just another characteristic of the market that a camp and a leader with a bit of brain can incorporate into a strategic political plan.