It’s all we have

There’s something abstract about Independence Day and all its flag-waving, as a celebration of becoming free from Spain rather than of something gained: independence and much, much more. For example, not enough is said of the fact that we established Asia’s first republic and, by virtue of that republic, Asia’s first liberal democracy.

Both Rizal and Bonifacio, and other reformers and revolutionists, were inspired by the French and American models established in the 18th century; and, in the 19th century, by several former Spanish and one Portuguese colonies in Latin America.

In turn, the Philippines, at the fringe of Asia, caught the imagination of our neighbors, who were either under colonial rule or tyrannical monarchs. Or both. China was under the Qing (pronounced Ching) dynasty, which was actually Manchurian rule. Worse, the Qing dynasty was degenerate, held hostage by western powers that had carved up China, as well as by local Chinese warlords.

Although the Malolos Republic was short-lived, the Philippine Revolution inspired reformers and revolutionaries across Asia. “Rizal” remains a popular name for children in Indonesia and Malaysia; people are aware of him as a nationalist. Chinese and Korean nationalists also looked to the Philippine revolution with interest.

Rightly so, we focus on nationalism when we talk about our revolution and our Independence Day, but we should not forget that we were not just fighting Spain, and later the United States. We wanted freedom—and this strange thing called democracy.

Democracy Day?

There are times when I think we need a Democracy Day, or at least use Independence Day to talk about democracy. What we see, too often and more often these days, is talk about the “dangers” of democracy, or that we have “too much” democracy. Some of this discourse is, of course, self-serving, propagated by those who honestly see democracy as useless, especially in the way it interferes with their ambitions.

But for many other Filipinos, and people who observe us from outside, there are honest fears that our democracy is “too” free-wheeling, almost as if there is some kind of prim and proper standard of what democracy is.

Greater consciousness about what democracy is, especially in the Philippine context, should allow us to better appreciate what democracy has done for us, and what it can still do for the nation.

That consciousness must come by looking at democracy as a work in progress, with historical contexts. This thing called democracy is based on liberalism, a philosophy radical in the way it recognizes the individual—and the individual freedoms, called rights, that go together with responsibilities. It is not surprising that in the last two and a half centuries of republics built on liberal democracy, those “rights” continue to evolve. The Americans’ view of rights had blatant exclusions based on race, and the bloody American Civil War of 1861 to 1865 showed how divided the nation was on this issue of race and rights, a division that continues to this day.

When the Americans took over the Philippines, their definition of suffrage was framed by their own experience. Initially, only men could vote; not only that, they had to be men who had properties—never mind that this new colony, still under the yoke of feudalism, had millions of landless Filipinos. Women’s suffrage came slowly to the United States, ratified by a constitutional amendment only in 1920. In the Philippines, women did not get to vote until 1937.

There have been important milestones in the development of our concepts of rights. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, amid the American Depression, talked of “freedom from” rather than just “freedoms to.” People could, we Filipinos should, appreciate what it means to have freedom from hunger, as well as freedom from fear.

Democracy allows us to respect each other as human beings, and allows us to prevent wars. In 1948, as the world tried to recover from the Second World War, the global community saw it fit to formulate a Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In the postwar period, those rights, and democratic processes, continue to be debated on, including who has rights. There are still people horrified by the very idea that women have rights, and children, too—and, what is this LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) rights?

Our lives are permeated by rights, even in the most authoritarian of societies. Just think of the license to drive, the license to marry, the license to practice a profession—those confirm certain rights we have, and responsibilities.

Rights, happiness

For all the talk about the happy Filipino, we haven’t quite enshrined the right to happiness, which is found in several countries’ constitutions, notably the United States’. We forget that one of liberalism’s most radical propositions is that an individual could marry for love. It is a right still denied to millions of people throughout the world.

June 12 has been declared Loving Day to mark a US Supreme Court decision issued on that date in 1967, or 50 years ago. Appropriately, the couple who filed the case challenging the ban was surnamed Loving. It was a ban which affected many Filipinos who lived in the United States.

The right to same-sex marriage is what captures the news all the time, but there are many other struggles, not necessarily in the legislative arena: to marry for love, to marry without dowries (the bride’s family having to “pay” the groom’s family), not to be married off as a child, not to be divorced by the man declaring three times: I divorce you. Democratic institutions, however frail, allow these struggles.

Laws are passed, amended and abolished through democratic processes that go beyond the legislative chambers. The law on distracted driving—texting or using a tablet while at the wheel—has been put on hold because of the outcry in the streets, in social media, all leading to successful attempts to get a TRO on the law.
Meanwhile, we continue to raise our reservations about other proposed laws such as those on tax reform, which would not be possible if it were not for a democracy that allows us access to information, and to participate in governance.

If there have been failings in our political system it has been because we have too little, rather than too much, of democracy. While the requirement of property ownership for voters was lifted in the Philippines, we have not been able to dismantle feudal structures; so today, democracy remains a farce in many parts of the country, where votes are dictated by guns, goons and gold, and democratic processes are open to manipulation, especially in a post-truth society.

This is why this year’s Independence Day took added significance. With martial law in Mindanao, and threats to extend it to the entire country, we have to think hard: If it hadn’t been for our democratic institutions being in place, however weakly and however flawed, we would be in the worst straits today.

There are times indeed when it seems democracy is all we have left today to defend lives, and define our future.
mtan@inquirer.com.ph