Critical reflections on the moral foundations of EDSA 2
Eric Gutierrez
The basic argument of this essay is that theorising on contemporary Philippine politics has been limited and crippled immensely by moralistic philosophies employing conventional rationality--like those which found its 'flowering' in EDSA 2.... As a result, the dynamics of (politicians') interaction with ordinary people, the bases of their support, and the sources of their legitimacy, are often missed. Such morality, when left unchecked, can lead to the 'institutionalisation' of anti-masa, selectivist politics.
People Power redux
Sandra Burton for Time Asia
The Philippine people took to the streets and ousted President Estrada—but who really made the key decisions that sealed his fate?
Oops, we did it again
Anthony Spaeth for Time Asia
Many Filipinos will be proud that last week's mass display of public indignation rid them of a President who was none-too-bright, unreliable after lunch and, if the testimony in Joseph Estrada's Senate trial is true, had the moral scruples of a two-bit Tondo hustler. But as with Woodstock II (or III), the sequel to 1986's People Power revolution is an echo with a hollow yet distinctly nasty tone. Hundreds of thousands of Filipinos cast presidential no-confidence votes with their feet—an act that doubled as an impromptu referendum on their constitution and all the institutions that comprise the Philippines' democracy.
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