RedBlueThoughts

I came to a popular bookstore in Singapore and there I read my very first book on Open Democracy. I was a wonderful read. I then asked myself—can we actually craft a government expousing open democratic principles in the Philippines? Can it be possible?

As a political scientist cum journalist, I believe that it will be quite difficult. Under the present setup of government, open democratic ideals will definitely be met with scorn and even derision by the Filipino elite. Why? There still exist a patronage system in the Philippines where the oligarchs and the aristocrats thrive. This system perpetuates the present setup of rewards and punishment where the poor is always punished and the rich always rewarded. There can never be an equitable system in the Philippines because the very values of the Filipino have been corrupted almost beyond repair. The poor already accepted their fate under this system. They accepted the fact that they are serfs under a modern day neo-feudalist society.

Philippine history has recorded such kind of setup, even prior to the arrival of Western feudalism in the 16th century. Contrary to what the National Democrats believe, this patronage system antedated Spanish colonial rule. We had the alipin saguiguilids and the aliping namamahay, two kinds of serfs or slaves, enjoying none of the privileges and rights of the Maharlika or the Timauwa. The Spaniards thought they already demolished this system. At a surface, probably yes, because there are no alipins right now. However, if you look closely at the psyche of the Filipino, there are still remnants of this system today and it would take a soci0-political revolution to totally eradicate this.

The principles of Open Democracy could work in the Christian areas. However, it would be extremely hard to apply such principles in Mindanao where there are clear hierarchical societal systems in place. Such systems, though some say, is based on Islam, is actually non-Islamic. We can say that it is still an indigenous system hiding under the cloak of Islam.

Open democratic ideals run counter to Islamist principles or even in the indigenous patronage system. Open democracies flourish under Christian domains, never in Muslim countries. Weber wrote in his article about Christian values that capitalism thrives under Christianity because the very notion of open competition is encouraged. Everyone has rights because each one is theoretically, a son of god.

In a sultanate, economic competition is encouraged. However, rights are subsumed under the patronage of the Sultan. This applies even in the concept of a regional Islamic state. In an Islamic state, there are two kinds of citizens: the Muslims and the non-Muslims. Muslims are not taxed—non-Muslims are taxed (jirah). In an open democracy, everyone has to pay taxes, with no exceptions.

There are many things that differentiate these two systems. Now, if we apply these ideals to Mindanao, there is a great possibility that it will be met with extreme opposition because you will destroy the very institutions which have existed even prior to colonial rule. War is inevitable.

Current efforts being made by donor countries in Mindanao provides the answer. Social engineering thru developmental efforts is the answer. The peoples of Mindanao must be assisted first in rehabilitating their homeland. Then, after rehabilitation, Mindanaoans will be very open to this ideal. I have seen it work in other Muslim areas in Mindanao. It is the answer, not war.

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