Major political parties. Visual from Pinoy Wired.

I can still vividly remember Professor Roland Simbulan‘s lesson about the nature of political parties in the Philippines. Actually, he discussed it every meeting for one whole semester. I can also still remember how he quoted Senator Juan Ponce Enrile regarding the matter. According to Enrile, the only genuine political party in the Philippines is the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). The CPP  is a political party based on ideology which recruits members and formulates and carries out programs based on their core political philosophy. I can also remember how my professor described political parties abroad. He told us about a legitimate and productive communist party in Japan and the ideology-driven Conservative and Labour Parties in the United Kingdom. Unfortunately, these things are not true in Philippine politics.

Political parties in the Philippines might possess some idealogical principles to some extent but their existence thrive not because of ideology but because of accommodation and elite factions. Considering the dynamics of political campaigning here in the country, we could see candidates boast individual platforms without consideration of and cohesion to the “ideology” of their respective political parties. Furthermore, some candidates regard their membership to political parties as a way to form “cliques” or voting blocks. Worse, some candidates do not consider it at all. For example, here in Muntinlupa City, there are virtually no political parties. What we have are “Partido Fresnedi” and “Partido San Pedro” since the latter has a mixture of different politcal parties. The former, however, relies on Liberal Party’s popularity (Yellow Shirt with the Philippine Archipelago–they wear one everyday). Who cares anyway?

Even though the Philippine electorate is after the candidate and not after the political party, it is important to take a look at the main thrust of each political party. Let us try to find if an “ideology” or some form of it at least. I will consider the political parties of the different presidential candidates because, more likely, they are the mainstream ones or they are those we can see down to the local level.

Liberal Party (LP)

Liberal Party’s attraction banner is “Transformational Leadership”. The party’s platform revolved around different areas of concern from the Economy to the Environment. To find a solution to the problem, Liberal Party argues that the government should fight corruption, prioritize empowering jobs, make education the central strategy, protect public health and deliver justice to the poor.

Ang Kapatiran Party (AKP)

Ang Kapatiran Party’s carrier statement is “Para sa Diyos at Pagbabago” and “Integridad”. According to them, their party “will focus more on moral principles than political expediency, more on the needs of the poor and the vulnerable than the interests of the rich and the powerful, more on the pursuit of the common good than the demands of special interests, and more on the culture of life than the culture of death”. Moreover, AKP promises to deliver “The Politics of Virtue” and “The Politics of Duty”.

Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP)

Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino’s main thrust lies on populist principles. Unfortunately, I can’t find a more specific information about populism as PMP’s core philosophy.

Bagumbayan-Volunteers for a New Philippines (B.BAYAN-VNP)

Bagumbayan-VNP argues that everyone of us should have a “vision grounded on values empowered by voluntarism”. Just like the Liberal Party, Bagumbayan-VNP listed different “values” ranging from voluntarism to environmentalism.

LAKAS KAMPI-Christian Muslim Democrats (LKS-KAM)

Lakas Kampi-CMD presents different principles that, according to them, would “develop and advance the political, economic, and socio-cultural systems of Philippine society”. These principles range from Good Governance and Globalization to Social Justice and Solidarity.

Bagong Pilipinas (BP)

Bangon Pilipinas advocates for “genuine change”. They want to change leadership through peaceful means; the system that breeds corruption; and the “hearts and minds of all Filipinos”. Furthermore, BP wants foster an advocacy that “builds on faith in God and ourselves, and in our capacity to do what is right and condemn what is wrong.”

Nacionalista Party (NP)

Nacionalista Party carries the slogan “Ang Bayan Higit sa Lahat”. The core value of NP is “Independence”. According to them, “The Nacionalistas achieved political independence from its colonial masters. Now, the focus is on achieving economic independence”. No further substantiation was given in their party’s website.

I tried to find information about Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL)’s main thrusts as a political party but I can’t find anything except bits of history about KBL as an “umbrella political party”. Anyway, let’s go my personal observations. All of them presented vague goals and political thrusts. Well, I believe the current system of political parties is to provide an umbrella thrust and it is up to the candidates to formulate their specific platforms based on the political party’s core philosophy. However, all of them are talking about the same things. Worse, their core thrusts cannot even be expressed in one simple and concrete phrase or statement. Well, I honestly liked NP’s “economic independence” but it is just a mere restatement of the other parties’ thrusts.

I’m afraid that this is an irreversible political culture. This kind of system might actually work if each thrust is concrete, is representative of the interests of different social groups and classes (this is what political parties are for anyway) and has the ability to answer the nation’s problems directly. I hope that the next government can do something about this matter. For the mean time, the electorate should dissect the candidates’ individual platforms rather than attributing that candidates’ perceived performance to their political parties, to the prominent personalities of these political parties and, of course, to the color (or design) of their clothes when campaigning.

[Main source/Further reading: Contemporary Politics in the Philippines: The Configuration of Post-EDSA I Political Parties by Professor Roland Simbulan.]