I FIRST encountered the word "oligarchipelago" — a politically relevant term to describe the Philippines — six years ago. I found it amusingly poetic yet timely because it combined our country's geography and reputed power structure. The term gained prominence when then-President Rodrigo Duterte, having just taken power, claimed that oligarchs were behind the proliferation of mining and gambling activities.
In a Cambridge University Press article titled "Trading in Vain? Investigating the Philippines' Development-oriented National Security and Free Trade Linkages," Michael Magcamit highlighted the prevalence of structural poverty and institutionalized inequality as the consequences of the country's oligarchic condition. However, it can be argued that oligarchs are only concerned with preserving their wealth, which Jeffrey Winters (Northwestern University's director of Equality Development and Global Studies) describes as a wealth defense. It is up to them whether to employ ethical means to manage their assets given that there are also many prosperous individuals in the country who choose to be generous.
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