On its “Independence Day”, the Philippines remains a sad and CONFUSED colony

Today, the 12th of June, is the Philippines’ imagined “Independence Day” — the day when she unilaterally declared herself “independent” of her Spanish colonial master. That was not to be for long as history would go on to reveal. Way above Filipinos’ pointed heads as their “revolutionaries” patted themselves on their backs, Spain and the United States had already been negotiating the handing over of the little colony to the latter for a tidy sum of $20 million.

It remains debatable to this day whether the Philippines actually did become an independent state half a century later on the 4th July 1946 (the Philippines’ recognised independence day). Consider that for a moment and then take stock of what is happening in the Philippines today. Filipinos find themselves caught in a catfight between two dominant partisan camps today — the Dutertards loyal to former President Rodrigo Duterte and the Marcostards who are loyal to current President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. The object of the spat? None other than which contemporary hegemon to latch on to.

On the right corner of the ring are the Dutertards and their continued attachment to the infamous (depending on who you ask) “pivot to China” of their cult leader. On the left corner are the Marcostards — this time joined by, well, leftist elements — who find warm fuzzy comfort in Uncle Sam’s familiar embrace. This quaint political squabble between incumbent and “Opposition” exhibits a microcosm of the intellectual bankruptcy that is the Philippines’ national “debate”.

Glaringly absent in this “debate” is a set of indigenous principles upon which can be put up as stable reference for what it means to be an independent Philippine Nation. This is because these “debates” are framed by nothing more than personal loyalties and, now, two flavours of colonial mentality.

The most disturbing aspect of this bipolar partisanism can be seen on the Left Corner — an emerging Axis of Intellectual Dishonesty that sees the “liberal” Yellowtards and extremist communists in bed with their historical arch-enemy: the “evil” heir to the Marcos Dynasty no less. The coagulation of this Axis affirms the colonial and financial power Uncle Sam continues to exert on Imperial Manila’s traditional oligarchy. The Philippines’ learning-impoverished population and citizenry of lazy thinkers provides fertile ground for a battle of hegemons’ ideologies and global agendas.

The Noted One himself observes in a recent Inquirer piece using, as context, the ongoing “investigation” into the ghostly background and personal circumstances of Bamban Mayor Alice Guo who managed to deftly navigate the Philippines’ convoluted bureaucracy to secure local political power despite her sketchy national origins…

Investigations so far have been racist in their lazy assumptions and breezy unwillingness to take into account the messy state of the documentation of many Filipinos, the different subgroups among Chinese Filipinos, and differences between Pogos’ and Beijing’s efforts to influence officialdom.

In short, left to politicians’ devices, investigations into critical issues and execution of essential imperatives are no more than means for these politicians to fulfill media exposure agendas or, worse, used as smokescreens to mask or distract the public from more confronting core truths about how things came to be. No surprise then that expensive and disruptive initiatives like these devolve into nothing more than public circuses that deliver no results.

Here is where we circle back to the old imperial dynamic — that of the hands global powers-that-be play in stirring up unimportant frenzies in societies populated by lazy thinkers and comprehension-challenged people. Colonial powers do what they do because they can. It’s all business and nothing personal — a fact that makes the immense emotional investment Filipino partisans and “activists” sink into their personal cult followings even sadder.

benign0

benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.