Social Ethics Society

  The Asia Institute in Tokyo is hosting a Discussion on Radical Politics in the Philippines this coming July 6, 2022 at 3PM. The speakers are Benjiemen Labastin (LSU), Ruben Balotol (VSU), Menelito Mansueto (MSU-IIT), and Gerry Arambala (LSU). The reactors are Dr. Godiva Eviota-Rivera (MSU) and Dr. Christopher Ryan Maboloc (Ateneo). The online event will be hosted by Dr. Layne Hartsell. Please use the QR code to register.

  Dr. Christopher Ryan Maboloc's book Radical Democracy in the Time of Duterte has been released. Pre-orders are currently being shipped all throughout the country. The book will be on display at Jade Book Store in Davao City in July and ElziStyle Book Shop. The book can also be purchased worldwide on paperback via Amazon. A launching will be held in Davao City soon. Those who want to get a copy can choose from any of the following options: 1. Paypal and Credit/Debit Card Payment: https://www.elzistyle.com/product/radical-democracy-in-the-time-of-duterte   2. GCash and Bank Transfer Payment: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf0tpbY0JeEKS-d4H-ksfh13Fx3YrmY0JNbaecTH7wWgXemIw/viewform

  Part of the mandate of the SES is to develop local scholarship and advance the growth of its members. In a strategic planning held in March last year, the Board envisaged the publication of books by its members. With the help of international scholars who did the reviews, three titles have been published through KDP Amazon International.

The book Covid-19 Philosophical Research is a compilation of the published papers of eight Social Ethics Society members on the Covid-19 Pandemic. The book reflects about the ethical, social, and political ramifications of the public health emergency. This book will soon be available on Kindle via Amazon as an e-book.  Congratulations to the following authors: Anton Heinrich Rennesland (UST) Dr. Raymundo Pavo (UP Mindanao) Dr. Sheldon Ives Agaton ( EVSU) Dr. Rogelio Bayod (Cor Jesu) Dr. Guiraldo Fernandez Jr  (VSU) Glio Joy Layos (Bukidnon State University) Dr. Al Flores Quillope (NDMU) Dr. Godiva Eviota-Rivera (MSU)

  Radical Politics in the Philippines - A Reader has been released. The volume is authored by Benjiemen Labastin and Gerry Arambala of La Salle University in Ozamiz, Menelito Mansueto of MSU-IIT, Dr. Rogelio Bayod of Cor Jesu College, and Ruben Balotol of Visayas State University. The book contains the published essays of the scholars on the topic radical politics. According Dr. Christopher Ryan Maboloc, who wrote the introduction, these essays are a testament to a critical period in Philippine history. They serve as a voice to an underrepresented narrative in our society.

  In this book, Mr. Gerry Arambala, Chair of Philosophy at La Salle University in Ozamiz, intends to provide the narrative of radical politics in Ozamiz, using the lens of radical democracy. It is a pivotal move in Mindanao studies. He employs the theory of Chantal Mouffe and analyzes local politics based on the works of Nathan Quimpo, Paul Hotchcroft, John Sidel, and his mentor in political theory, Christopher Ryan Maboloc. Arambala argues that Police Chief Inspector Jovie Espenido, in the same way as President Rodrigo Duterte, has changed the course of Ozamiz politics by challenging the grip into power of the Parojinogs. Using Sidel’s bossism as a vantage point, Arambala thinks that change in Ozamiz was possible because of the leadership of Espenido, who put the local bosses to task as he went into cleansing the city of its drugs and criminal elements. Ozamiz City politics is not different from national politics. The local problems in the city reveal that it can be a microcos...

  By Dr. Jeffry Ocay  The trajectory of Prof. Christopher Ryan Maboloc’s book is largely towards presenting a highly nuanced interpretation of President Rodrigo Duterte’s approach to politics as a concrete instantiation of what the famous Belgian political theorist Chantal Mouffe calls “radical politics” (or radical democracy). This is indeed a brave attempt given the highly controversial nature of the issue. In fact, Prof. Maboloc’s take on Duterte’s brand of politics as radical has drawn harsh criticism from mainstream scholars and activists alike. While I do not necessarily agree with some of the salient points of the book considering that I have my own biases not to mention that I am also prone to be overcame by my own incompetence, I should not miss to highlight the fact that Prof. Maboloc offers a fresh look at contemporary Philippine politics through the lens of Mouffe’s notion of radical politics. I must also say that Prof. Maboloc elegantly framed his arguments to the...

  By Dr. Mansoor Limba  While existing literature on Philippine politics is replete with written works through positivist and neoliberal lenses, the author provides a postpositivist-postmodern analysis of President Duterte’s brand of presidency while avoiding other postpositivists’ ontological non-foundationalism. In sum, the notion of ‘radical democracy’ puts into question the neoliberalist pursuit of what Richard Rorty called ‘final vocabulary’. It is to turn upside down the table of “capital/periphery” project. It is a tale of both decentering and re-centering – the de-centering of ‘imperial Manila’ and elitism, and the re-centering of the Bisaya, Mindanao, and masa. And this saga continues. - Dr. Mansoor Limba is an Associate Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Ateneo de Davao University. He holds a doctorate in International Relations from Tehran University.   

About   the   Book This book took five years to write. The essays chronicle the six-year administration of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte. It traces the historical roots, reasons, conflicts, and justification for his radical or progressive approach to politics. The author, according to Dr. Julio Teehankee, is the first to use a postmodern perspective and pose a challenge to the liberal interpretation of the rise to power of the first president from Mindanao. The ten essays tackle various facets of the issues faced by the Duterte administration – the war on drugs, peace in Mindanao, and the Covid-19 pandemic, among others. It puts together and take up the ideas of prominent political science scholars – including Julio Teehankee, Nicole Curato, Nathan Quimpo, Rey Ileto, Patricio Abinales, Karl Gaspar, Wataru Kusaka, John Sidel, Vicente Rafael, and Michael Cullinane. The heart of this work rests in the theory of Chantal Mouffe, who says that politics cannot be based on agreement b...