Machiavellian moves

set an autonomous and different path on his own. And the best way to do it is to create a scenario of conflict where he can literally achieve two things. First is to weed out and clean up his alliances, which in this case would mean he would consider the 86 deserters as good riddance. And second, and more important, is that he can now become more autonomous and even be given the license to be critical of this government.

If this is the scenario, then this government has a lot to worry about with Cayetano. He may be down but not out. As an insider in the Duterte administration, he would probably know a lot of secrets; some of which are deep and dark. He would most likely know where the metaphorical dead bodies are buried. He may possess vital information that can ruin some people’s political ambitions.

It would be easy to paint this latter scenario as a deadly Machiavellian game. It is easy to appropriate Niccolò Machiavelli as the guiding patron for amoral and ruthless political practices, him being stereotyped as the bad boy of political theory.

But if there is one thing that many people grossly misinterpret about Machiavelli, it is that one where he is stereotyped as synonymous with the kind of politics that is without morals, and where ends would always justify the means, no matter how abominable. Very few people realize that Machiavelli is an exponent of republicanism that is pragmatic and appreciative of the functional role of conflict and dissent in advancing the interests of citizens. Many people are stuck in Machiavelli’s The Prince and fail to venture into his other major work, Discourses on Livy. Indeed, Machiavelli argues against the privileging of social virtue in politics and considers the functional role of conflict and political contestations. However, he also focuses on politics as a relation between political forces, and not as a noble endeavor that appeals to some universal moral framework or value system. Tensions engendered by political contestations is what promotes political stability and may even enable the protection of the rights of citizens.

Thus, if indeed Cayetano triggers an internal strife within the ruling political class, then so be it. Let the political overlords go at each other’s throats. Let their greed for money and power be their undoing, and let their destruction of each other be the Machiavellian means for all of us to be liberated, find our way, and choose someone else in 2022 that would serve as an excellent contrapuntal to the kind of politics that has not served the people’s interests well.