I.

Introduction

A. Background

Tumakbo kang SK para easy money—is one of the most iconic lines

coming from Filipinos who perceived politics as the easiest way to become

rich. During the recent SK election, people made fun of candidates that

once they won, may bago na ‘yang Nmax bukas. The context of ‘easy

money’ in the given statement shows the normalization of corruption in

politics. This also proved that once you are in politics, you are also labeled

as corrupt, and those people who helped in the campaigns get a job or

government contracts once the candidate wins. Unfortunately, these were

one of the many reasons why Filipinos limited their participation in politics,

due to having lower expectations and being hopeless about having good

governance. Moreover, the comeback of the Marcoses in the palace has

proved how Filipinos are forgiving, despite how martial law killed innocents

and violently abused human rights.

B. Theoretical Framework

Plato believed that dictatorship naturally arises out of democracy,

and the most aggravated forms of tyranny and slavery arise out of the most

extreme liberty. Democracy is the second-most important target of the

Republic, which, for him, promotes extreme liberty and rejects the idea that

a society should be governed by wisdom over desire or passion. It

discourages people from seeing politics as a battle of opinions, power, and

 interests. Extreme liberty emerges when selfish people rule, motivated by

their desires to attain power.

C. Statement of the Problem

From the previous results of every election, how does it show the political

culture of the Filipinos?

II. Presentation and critical analysis of data

A. Reality

The world of politics also became the battleground for celebrities,

basketball players, and other famous personalities. They almost occupied

all the seats in the national and local governments, proving that they are not

just good-looking and good actors and actresses but can also serve the

country. In terms of whether they know or not about their running position,

Filipinos always believe that everything can be learned once they are in the

position (mag-aaral pa lang). Luckily, the public is more fascinated by these

characteristics and charisma; they are more into face value and popularity

than political programs and credentials. In this case, we should not be

surprised if the country has a government full of celebrations and parties in

Malacanang attended by the most performing government officials in terms

of corruption. The media is also full of entertaining scenarios in the Senate

showing how these politicians are doing their jobs in solving important

issues in the country. For example, amid the government's substantial debt,

the suggested solution of the great "Bato" Dela Rosa was quite

straightforward and yet unconventional. He suggested that, to solve this

 particular problem, why not increase the population as a means to alleviate

the government's substantial debt burden, which currently amounts to

nearly P15 trillion? (“Mas maganda siguro manganak tayo ng maraming

anak para lumaki ang population natin, at pag lumaki ang population, mas

marami mag hatihati są utang, mas bababa ang per capita utang natin,”

dela Rosa said.) Aside from that, the media also shows how these

politicians handle legislative procedures of hearings. Unfortunately, this was

just a piece of role play in the Senate, as the results are always on the side

of who has the power.

These were the products of who and how we vote. Sadly, the way

we perceive politics today is still the same as yesterday, meaning this isn’t

new at all. We become imprisoned in this kind of setup and reality, and none

of us are willing to change it and form a new image of democracy by

choosing the right politicians in the government.

B. Reflection

Normalizing corruption and government incompetence needs further

analysis of the political culture of the Filipinos and how this happened and

became part of the system of every individual. It seems that we never get

tired of anomalies and government controversies. We always ended up with

the same arguments and complaints for a decade, hoping for a new and

competent government at the next election, but still, the same results

happened. The decline of political participation was also anchored in this

political culture. Many Filipinos don’t want to exercise their rights even when
 voting, believing that their votes don’t count toward changing the system.

The hopelessness and decline of political participation are a representation

of how this particular system affects every individual, but despite the mere

fact that this is very visible, sadly, only a few have the eagerness to stand

for a change. This is what Plato meant when he said that democracy

promotes extreme liberty and rejects the idea that a society should be

governed by wisdom over desire or passion. Too much liberty also causes

people to choose not to move and use their rights for the benefit of all; they

are too tired to ask for good governance and decide to rely on what their

leaders can do. Once their leaders fail, another public apology will turn

people's hearts to forgiveness once again. (Bigyan ng pagkakataon, baka

nagbago na).

C. Response

It was cited in chapter 1 of the Philippine Political Culture and

Governance of Cristina Jayme Montiel that culture includes both subjective

and objective elements in which shared group mentalities, including feelings

and thoughts, are covered by subjective aspects, while artifacts, group

norms, and tangible symbols are examples of objective cultural aspects. In

this paper, she points out the various Filipino political cultures, both in

subjective and objective cultural aspects. One of them was the sharing of

mental scripts, wherein it was already embedded in the people's minds that

a person who helped during the campaign would eventually have a position

or contract with the government once the politician won. Well, this can be
impossible to think of if there's no such thing that has been proven yet.

Another thing that she added was having negative emotions toward

outgroup members. This was very evident in the palace, where the

members thought that the rival camp was scheming and plotting against

them. This kind of political culture always ends up with chaos and political

drama, rather than focusing on how to solve relevant issues in the country.

Having collective memories about past administrations is also part of our

political culture. It does affect the trust of many in government projects and

implementations, and it is also one of the factors contributing to the decline

in political participation. The request for constitutional amendments has

been a source of fear for many due to how Marcos Sr. used his power to

change the Constitution and rationalize the declaration of martial law.

In the essay entitled, Take the Money and Run? In 'Personality in the

Post-Marcos Era by John T. Sidel, he mentioned that one of the political

cultures of Filipinos stemmed from their common beliefs: the utang na loob,

pakikisama, smooth interpersonal relationships, compadrazgo, and an

attraction to leaders who project a certain kind of culturally distinctive form

of charisma (see Lynch & de Guzman 1973). This led to a political culture

in which Filipinos were more fond of personalistic loyalties, and vote-buying,

fraud, and violence during the election became normalized. Once the

elected politicians fail, the blaming game begins, as Rodrigo Duterte uttered

after the protests of the public against the war on drugs. “Ngayon, ginagawa

ko, ‘yung sinasabi ko, galit kayo. Eh bakit kayo bumoto sa akin? Di ba sabi
 ko sa drugs, gagawin ko? Kaya nga sinabi ng mga pari sa inyo huwag si

Duterte, kasi mamamatay ang mga tao. Tapos, pinapanalo ako ninyo ng,"

he said. Unfortunately, after a very long six years of struggle, another "sorry"

will make Filipinos regain their trust in the same government.

III. Summary, Conclusion and Recommendation

A. Summary

Certain practices, behaviors, and the like become culture once this

particular activity is recurrent and eventually becomes social construction

and convention. Due to the recurrent practices in politics, Filipinos have

created this kind of political culture, which somewhat explains why we have

to deal with these problems. Corruption, government anomalies, political

drama, and the like became the image of Philippine politics, and this is due

to how we perceive it and choose our politicians. Also, we cannot deny that

these political cultures were rooted in the common beliefs of Filipinos, such

as mapagpatawad, utang ng loob, pakikisama, smooth interpersonal

relationships, and attraction to leaders who project a certain kind of

culturally distinctive form of charisma. These recurring political activities are

one of the factors in the decline of political participation.

B. Conclusion

What Plato believed, that democracy promotes extreme liberty and

rejects the idea that a society should be governed by wisdom over desire or

passion, was correct in the context of the Philippine government. It

discourages people from seeing politics as a battle of opinions, power, and

interests. This proves how Filipinos normalize corruption among politicians

and vote-buying during elections. Extreme liberty emerges when selfish

people rule, motivated by their desires to attain power. Therefore, many

Filipinos always end with the same argument: lahat ng umuupo sa gobyerno

ay kurakot.

C. Recommendation

Since there have been numerous attempts at constitutional

amendments, it’s time to amend the qualifications for the executive and

legislative branches to avoid unnecessary politicians in the government.

Also, voters' education should be implemented and included in the

curriculum. The government must take certain measures to encourage

people to participate and regain trust in engaging in politics.

References:

• Bato suggests increasing population to tackle gov’t debt; Diokno doubtful.

(n.d.). Manila Bulletin. https://mb.com.ph/2023/8/15/bato-suggests-

increasing-population-to-tackle-gov-t-debt-diokno-

doubtful#google_vignette

• Jones, L. (2022, February 23). Why Plato hated democracy - a

philosopher’s stone - medium. Medium. https://medium.com/the-

philosophers-stone/why-plato-hated-democracy-3221e7dcd96e

• Montiel, C. J. (n.d.). Chapter One: Philippine Political Culture and

Governance. Chapter One: Philippine Political Culture and Governance.

https://www.ombudsman.gov.ph/UNDP4/wp-
 content/uploads/2012/12/Philippine-Political-Culture-and-

Governance.pdf

• Philippines: Personality beats the political program. (2022b, February 5).

Friedrich Naumann Foundation. https://www.freiheit.org/personality-

beats-political-program

• POLITIKO News Philippines. (2017, April 27). Ba’t kayo bumoto sa kin?

Duterte to continue drug war even if supporters complain - POLITIKO.

POLITIKO - News Philippine Politics.

https://politiko.com.ph/2017/04/28/bat-kayo-bumoto-sa-kin-duterte-

continue-drug-war-even-supporters-complain/features/

• T. Sidel, J. (n.d.). Take the Money and Run? “Personality” Politics in the

Post-Marcos Era. Public Policy, volume 2(number 3).

https://cids.up.edu.ph/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Take-the-Money-

and-Run-vol.2-no.3-July-Sep-1998-2.pdf