DURING the course of the presidential campaign, now President-elect Rodrigo Duterte had repeatedly stated that he was a left-of-center socialist. Although he sympathized with some elements of the ideology of the extreme left, he did not agree to the use of violence as a way to achieve structural reforms in our society, to ensure a more equitable distribution of wealth. Statements like this coming from a major presidential candidate are a fresh and welcome development to the democratic political maturity of our nation. For too long, mainstream national candidates have refrained from directly stating their ideology in the political spectrum. Fearful of alienating segments of the electorate who would not agree or understand their ideology, they would always prefer to talk about simple issues that could easily be digested, and this would always boil down to the issue of corruption. The left-leaning political parties were the only forces that consistently articulated their political ideology.
The seminal ideas of left-of-center political thought in the country started to germinate after World War II. Inspired by the social teachings of the Catholic Church, a group of young idealists joined the Magsaysay for President Movement, a group independent of the Nacionalista Party (NP), who had adopted Magsaysay as their standard-bearer. After Magsaysay’s election, the group found themselves in the corridors of power. They were instrumental in crafting many of the social justice programs of Magsaysay’s short administration. This development, coupled with crafty military actions, took the wind out of the sails of the violent revolution advocated by the extreme left that was then knocking at the doors of Manila. It was democracy in action.
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