We are being played

First of 3 parts

MY recent three-part columns described the incipient clash of two political dynasties, the Marcos and Duterte clans, employing surrogates in their opening gambits. House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, a Marcos cousin attempting to inject himself this early as a wannabe heir to the Marcoses through a people’s initiative (PI), a constitutional change attempt under the guise of economic amendments, shifting government from the unitary-presidential to the parliamentary form. This system gives him a better chance of heading a government over Vice President Sara Duterte, heiress-apparent to the unitary presidency.

For the Marcoses to gain the upper hand, this entails the defanging of the powerful media empire of religious charlatan Apollo Quiboloy, Duterte’s alter ego, who has proven himself to be a major political player himself with his captive votes. The Senate and House hearings are theaters of the absurd where these spectacles unfold.

But as I have maintained all along, America, who in some surreptitious way is very much involved, is indifferent to this dynastic rivalry per se. Its only concern is which side promotes its role as a global hegemon. Marcos predisposed toward serving American interests trumps that of Duterte’s whose dislike for America was displayed from the start of his regime, exacerbated by idolatry toward Xi Jinping. So, to tilt the balance in Marcos’ favor, the Duterte family’s powerful ally, Pastor Quiboloy, is held hostage with a warrant of arrest and a possible extradition.

America’s FBI and CIA and the US justice system are put in play, not to mention a direct threat to Duterte himself with the ICC cases hanging over his head. This is America’s retribution, a long-held grudge on the Deegong’s proChina stance versus BBM’s proAmerican tendencies. The dramatis personae are all in place. But as in any major drama unfolding, there are behind-the-scenes impresarios.

To complete my hypothesis, I introduce in this latest series the concept of “deep state,” which, unbeknownst to many Filipinos, is part of our peculiar American contemporary colonial legacy. The analogous questions: Do we have similar organisms in the country, and if so, what are they, and how do they figure in our political and cultural dynamics? And who among the emerging ruling dynasty will they lean to?

The deep state

For the uninitiated, the term “deep state” had existed in America for decades but was exposed to public scrutiny only during the incumbency of President Donald Trump. This refers to a clandestine circle of influential individuals within and outside the US government, lodged in the military, intelligence services, and other institutions that wield significant power over the political system, shaping government policies and decisions on every facet of American life.

This shadowy network mainly operates outside the democratic process, pursuing an agenda that may not align with the interests of the general public. The revolving door between the private and public sectors reinforces a symbiosis, allowing these people to populate sensitive positions in government in every incoming US administration while being anchored to private sector interests.

The genesis of the deep state has its roots in the early days of the Cold War when the US government estab

lished a vast national security apparatus to combat communism. Over the succeeding administrations, it metamorphosed into a “secret government” involved in orchestrating coups in many countries, manipulating elections and other covert operations, and advancing America’s and/or their own private interests. Adherents of the concept see the deep state as a necessity for maintaining stability and continuity in a global multi-polar world, hewing close to the American-Western ideals of democracy, free trade, and liberal capitalism. Opponents and skeptics see it as a threat to democracy and the rule of law.

Deep state’s influence on PH

President Ferdinand Marcos (the elder), in the early days of his presidency, was the darling of America as he championed anti-communism. Snatched from Spain, the Philippines became America’s first colony ever and a bastion of America’s version of democracy and freedom.

In a paternalistic relationship, America had always guided the Philippines until the time that Marcos Sr. decided to unshackle the country from democratic liberal capitalism, consolidate political power and establish a dictatorial regime. The Constitution was suspended, and Congress was dissolved. Political opponents, journalists and activities were arrested; the media was censured, suppressing dissent. All anathema to America, particularly to the deep state that acts as America’s puppeteers. Marcos allowed his cronies to pervert capitalism, turning it into a “kleptocracy,” amassing wealth and power while stifling competition and economic growth in the country. Corruption was massive.

He went further off-script with his martial law regime fraught with human rights abuses. America’s deep state began to sour on him, and President Reagan baited the confident Marcos into holding a “snap presidential election” that could legitimize his martial law regime.

Corazon Aquino won the presidency.

Richard J. Kessler, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment, had this to say: “The transition in the Philippines from Ferdinand Marcos’ dictatorship to Corazon Aquino’s transitional democracy is viewed by many as one of the great foreign policy successes of the Reagan administration. According to one National Security Council official… ‘Those of us involved in this policy who are Asianists, not politicos or pundits, knew what we were doing.’ Further, he noted, ‘The Philippines was going to be a crisis, and we recognized it over two years ago.’

“Other analysts have suggested President Ronald Reagan handled the crisis skillfully by permitting professional diplomats to guide events to their final solution: Marcos’ departure from Malacañan Palace aboard US helicopters on Feb. 25, 1986. According to this view, with widespread violence averted, months of political turmoil came to the best possible end. But a chauffeur service for failed dictators should not be confused with a foreign policy.”

This was the hand of the American deep state operating!

PH version of a deep state

In the best Filipino tradition of “gaya-gaya,” we have adapted the deep state concept to our homegrown political culture. Unlike America, which was created to advance America’s hegemony, the Philippines has no hegemonic ambitions nor the capacity for one, but we modified some of its trimmings and nuances.

One unique difference is the people who wield power in our country have been imbued with our distorted version of political leadership, an offspring of an incubus marriage of 100 years of an imposed American set of democratic traditions with 300 years of Spanish colonial influence: both distorting our original traditional sultan and datu hierarchical structural relationships. These practices mutated into our current system as political patronage (polpat).

Our electoral processes, for instance, are the overarching environment upon which polpat incubates, procreating generations of viruses spreading through our system of governance. Paradoxically, democracy can’t exist without elections, except that in our culture, we managed to debauch the same.

Today, polpat has become more pervasive, permeating all levels of governance from the presidency down to the barangay, fomenting systemic corruption in all public and many private institutions.

Our version of a deep state is a trinity of symbiotically interrelated groups — the elected officials themselves, headed by the president/patron, the political dynasties from whence they spring forth, and the oligarchy — all overarched and stitched by patronage politics.

(To be continued)