Mindanaotoday.com | Mindanao state formation: Nationalist-Colonialism part 1
BY :RAI Bollozos Sanchez
HI there!
In Philippine political society in the state context, the kind of politics is not isolated within the periphery of the central state but also to subaltern actors involved in the processes from groups of state institutions.
In this case, state-society communication relies on the root of the commonly understood problems of being a state.
Yet, political institutions wherein the state is a relation of men dominating men, a connection supported by employing legitimate violence.
According to Max Weber, if the condition exists, the dominated must obey the authority claimed by the powers that be—politics strive for ‘power for power’s sake,’ that is, to enjoy the prestige feeling that ability gives.
In democratic countries, state formation could come through social consciousness on which the awareness of society can be achieved when the people’s minds communicate and become one—a single organic whole.
Enlightenment philosophy, one by John Locke, recognizes political power; men must consider the state all men are naturally in and must be equal—no one having more than another without subordination or subjection.
However, this enlightened concept of the state of men is virtually different in defining state formation relating to the realities of the bounds that the state embodies.
Mostly, in local governance, the foundation of government has been adversely maligned when a man succumbs to societal changes when communal history develops into deliberate changes of society to or against localized states.
In understanding Philippine politics, one should consider geography as an integral factor. The Philippines is an archipelagic country with more than 7,100-plus islands.
The archipelagic nature speaks local political histories. The wondrous archipelagic and geographic realm is a formidable witness of history—an intangible observer and victim.
The central administration in Manila results in inequitable development in the different regions.
The amorous façade of the islands has a highly centralized government that is ineffective in dealing with the contingencies in far-flung parts of the country.
Assumingly, the unitary and centralized Philippine government summarizes post-colonial construction fostering “nationalist-colonialism.”
As Patricio Abinales theorized, “the beginning of the integral change molded the argument of ‘strong society and weak state’ or ‘state-society relations’ deduces a historical setback.
The changing aspects of “state-society relations” are evident within an unstable settlement zone, types of political and social relations established through time by communities, groups, political clans, and individuals in the provinces.
During the early years of American rule in the Philippines, the United States government debated whether a tutelary government would culminate in autonomy or independence.
The new governors of the Philippines continued the rationalization and strengthening of the colonial state started by Spain.
The United States expanded Filipino participation in governance and built a universal education system in the metropolitan language.
In southern Mindanao, the United States War Department created the “Moro Province,” an autonomous regional structure covering roughly two-thirds of the island. Constabulary units joined the army to help govern military-controlled special provinces.
During the early American period in Mindanao, there were patches of resistance and unity never merged among leaders of the different Muslim communities.
Seeing conflict in Mindanao is how the government disintegrate the Muslim periphery to incorporate to become hyphenated Filipinos. (MT)
To be continued…
(Ryan Albert Ignacius “RAI” Bollozos Sanchez, 40, is a native of Cagayan de Oro City. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in History and currently finishing his Master of Arts in History at Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan. He is currently a full-time faculty in the Department of General Education and Interdisciplinary Studies in Xavier Ateneo – teaching Readings in Philippine History, The Life, Works and Writings of Jose Rizal, and Interdisciplinary Studies subjects. He taught part-time at the Liceo de Cagayan University teaching Southeast Asian History and Government, and U.S. Government and Foreign Policy. You may reach him at rsanchez@xu.edu.ph)