Unremarked, however, is the even more fundamental fact that the fatal absence of ideological and program differences among Philippine political parties is only a reflection of the dominance over Philippine politics of basically the same handful of families that have had a monopoly over political power since Commonwealth days. Only on the surface do these families seem to have differences. Despite the rhetoric about reform (can anyone be openly against change in a country that so desperately needs it?), they’re united by the same political, economic and class interests premised on keeping Philippine society the way it has been for centuries. The Binay dynasty is as committed to stasis and stagnation as the Roxases, the Enriles, the Arroyos, the Estradas, the Aquinos and the Marcoses. Loudly anti-communist, they are themselves extremely class-conscious, protective of their privileged status and zealous in the exercise and defense of their entitlements. For all their pro-poor pretensions, the Binays never let us forget that they’re more powerful and wealthier than the people who put them in the Vice-Presidency, the Senate and the Office of the Mayor of Makati. And through Benigno Aquino III’s seeming modesty there often flares that burst of ill temper, certainty and arrogance so characteristic of the descendants of the Spanish-era principalia, who think the poor to be no more than uncomprehending brutes whose sole purpose in life is to vote them into office every three years.
Posted on: Fri, 07 Nov 2014 02:40:14 +0000
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