Herbert Docena, PhD, is a lecturer in sociology at the University of the Philippines, Diliman.
Recent protests against political corruption in the Philippines led to violent clashes at the presidential palace. The country’s rulers shouldn’t be surprised at the reaction after imposing their own forms of violence on its working classes for so long.
Ferdinand Marcos Jr, son of the former dictator, won a crushing victory in this year’s Philippine presidential election. Responsibility for this disaster lies with the liberal politicians who failed to carry out the most basic social reforms while in power.
For too long, the Philippine left has been sucked into giving support to different factions of the ruling elite. An unprecedented left-wing campaign in this year’s presidential election is a chance to break with that approach and put forward a radical agenda.