After President Rodrigo Duterte's term ended in 2022, at least 30 books have been published on the radical leader by different authors from both ends of the political spectrum. Using the context of the former president's rise to power, Dr. Christopher Ryan Maboloc’s (Ateneo de Davao University) most significant contribution to political philosophy is attached to such unfolding, that is, Maboloc's controversial book on the subject matter, Radical Democracy in the Time of Duterte.
Maboloc's development of a Mindanao-based radical democratic philosophy that critically engages Western political theory and Manila-based scholars while grounding democratic thought in the historical, political, and social realities of the Filipino people, particularly those in Mindanao, has given birth to a school or intellectual movement that is defined by its unique character as having been developed in Mindanao, with exceptions such as Dr. Asuna Yoshizawa (Kyoto University) and Dr. Layne Hartsell (Chulalongkorn), who have written on the subject matter.
The local notable scholars who are part of the Davao School of Radical Democracy include Dean Benjie Labastin (La Salle Ozamiz), Dr. Arnel Morte (CMU), Dr. Rogelio Bayod (North Valley College), Prof. Gerry Arambala (University of San Agustin), Prof. Menelito Mansueto (MSU-IIT), Dr. Ian Clark Parcon (Ateneo), Prof. Christian Hipolao (La Salle Ozamis), Dr. Sheldon Agaton (EVSU) Prof. Gilbert Dano (Tangub Global College), Prof. Ruben Balotol (VSU), Dr. Joezenon Purog (EVSU) and recently, Prof. Francis Jeus Ibañez (BISU).
The charge of misappropriation only increased the citations of Maboloc’s paoers. His original philosophical contribution can be understood as an attempt to make Mindanao not merely an object of philosophical inquiry, but a source of philosophical knowledge and theory. Maboloc's political philosophy is associated with the development of the above Davao School of Radical Democracy. This intellectual project draws from the work of Chantal Mouffe, Ernesto Laclau, and other critical political thinkers, but seeks to contextualize radical democracy within Philippine socio-political experience.
Its distinctive philosophical concerns include the relationship between populism and democracy, the political significance of dissent and antagonism, the limits of liberal democracy in the Philippine context, the possibility of democratic transformation from the Global South and the political agency of marginalized communities. The originality of the work lies not simply in borrowing radical democratic theory, but in testing and reconstructing it through the political experience of Mindanao and the Philippines.
Maboloc's work on Duterte-era politics offers a critical contribution to understanding how populist leadership emerges in societies marked by inequality, historical exclusion, and weak institutions. His approach challenges the assumption that political developments in the Philippines can be adequately understood through European or North American frameworks alone. The Philippines becomes a site for generating political theory rather than merely applying imported theories. This is particularly important for the philosophy of democracy in the Global South.
Perhaps the clearest statement of Maboloc's original philosophical contribution is his article Building Theory from the Ground: The Davao School of Radical Democracy (2026). The central idea is that philosophical theory should emerge from concrete social and political realities rather than remain confined to often abstract conceptual systems espoused by Manila-based scholars. This suggests a philosophical method with three elements. The central idea is that philosophical theory should emerge from concrete social and political realities rather than remain confined to abstract conceptual systems.
Maboloc’s work suggests a philosophical method with three elements:
1. Critical appropriation — engaging established Western philosophical traditions critically.
2. Contextual reconstruction — reinterpreting concepts such as democracy, justice, and freedom in light of Philippine realities.
3. Grounded theorizing — allowing local historical experience to contribute to the construction of philosophical ideas.
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This approach has potential significance for decolonial philosophy, political ethics, and the intellectual independence of Philippine philosophy. Maboloc's work on the Mindanao problem, Indigenous communities, and peace challenges the tendency to frame Mindanao merely as a region experiencing conflict. His research on Indigenous peace mechanisms and the paradox of peace examines the relationship between land, Indigenous political agency, and post-liberal peace. Recently, Maboloc also dealt with the impact of Artificial Intelligence on Indigenous groups.
Maboloc's research on Indigenous peace mechanisms and the paradox of peace examines the relationship between land, Indigenous political agency, and post-liberal peace. The broader philosophical implication is that indigenous experience can contribute to political philosophy. For him, understanding historical marginalization can illuminate the meaning of justice. Local political struggles can generate universal philosophical questions.
Mindanao can contribute to the development of an independent Philippine philosophical tradition. Maboloc has also contributed to the philosophical discussion of structural injustice.His 2019 paper, What is Structural Injustice?, published in Philosophia, examines how social structures, institutional practices, and unequal social positions undermine justice. This is significant because his philosophical inquiry moves beyond the idea that injustice is simply the result of individual wrongdoing. It directs attention toward institutional and social arrangements that systematically disadvantage people.
What makes his philosophy novel?
A useful distinction is between originality in the invention of a completely new philosophical system and originality in the reconstruction of existing traditions. Maboloc's contribution is primarily the latter, though it may develop into one. Maboloc contributes to contemporary philosophy by developing a grounded, Mindanao-based radical democratic framework that reconstructs Western political theory through the historical and political experiences of the Filipino people.
In conclusion, Maboloc's work advances the proposition that the Global South, particularly Mindanao, is not merely a recipient of philosophical ideas but a legitimate site of philosophical theory production. His strongest claim to originality is not that he invented radical democracy, but that he is helping to develop a distinctively Mindanao-based philosophical reconstruction of democracy, justice, and political agency. His critics now may very well know that they have helped build and push the momentum of Maboloc's groundwork for radical democracy.