What’s a Philippine political party? First a tragedy, then a farce

The analysis of what Philippine political parties stand for, the principles they swear by, has to start with the party that leads the ruling coalition, the Liberal Party. We all can readily declare that it is a party with a history, way back from the first republic. Manuel A. Roxas, the president sworn-in after the republic was formally inaugurated , was the first public face of the LP. And the first from the LP to be president.

A party with an outsized, all-too- important role in shaping the early years of the republic and still leads the country at this stage in the 21st century is automatically vested (rightly or wrongly) with many things, foremost of which are the gravitas of its leaders and the party’s capacity to evolve on its basic programs and advocacies. You would think the LP, Philippine context, is just like the other famous LP, the one now ascendant in Canada led by Justin Trudeau. No, and tragically, it is not.