SADIRING TAWO:

From Familial to Oligarchic Politics

Adrian V. Remodo

I. INTRODUCTION

Politics in Bikol in particular and in the Philippines in general is undeniably a

politics of few families. A political name plus strong machinery is a time-tested
formula to win the game called election. While it is also true that there are some rare
instances where a politician is born out of peoples initiative, his/her fight will be a
bloody fight, a fight that passes through the eye of the needle, and more often than not,
an affiliation to a strong political party, which is still dominated by the same few strong
political families, is a big help, if not the solution.
This paper attempts to develop a political philosophy from this becoming
normative affair of our political life. Using Bikols sadiring tawo, I shall argue that our
deep familial consciousness is the same reason that governs our socio-political affairs.
We live and die being conscious of our kinship affairs. From this social situation, a
pressing ethical issue emerges: how do we relate to the ibang tawo, that which is othered
by the hegemonic magkasaradiring tawo? From this problematic, this paper further
develops a conjecture that from this social philosophy, oligarchic politics takes shape.
The last reflections shall attempt to redirect the exclusivist notion of sadiring tawo to
being an ethical standard that is based on an inclusivist understanding of this concept.

II. THE FAMILY NAME AS THE GENESIS OF SADIRING TAWO

Filipino values are inherently ambivalent. Sociologists affirm that the value that
prods a Filipino/a to action is or can be the same value that can make him/her a
fulltime bummer. Well known, of course, is our bahala na attitude. On the one hand, it
makes us courageous to pursue our dreams however uncertain they may be. With faith
to the Divine, we Filipinos path the uncharted seas if only to look for our survival.
OFWs are the best example of this positive bahala na. They are the ones who brave the
land that is stranger to them, only taking recourse on stories on how the foreign land is
a greener pasture than the Philippines. On the other hand, with the bahala na notion, one
can go with his life carefree with that will happen, delaying that which should be done
urgently.
The family is a value that works in this way for us.
1

Gabriel Marcel affirms that selfhood begins in ones loving encounter with her
family. Ones capacity to say I is rooted at the experience of being one with her family
that teaches her what constitutes that I-ness. Marcel states thus that [m]y family, or
rather my lineage, is the succession of historical processes by which the human species
has become individualized into singular creature that I amI share with them as they
do with meinvisibly; they are consubstantial with me and with them.1
The child is the cross point of historical processes of her lineage. These historical
processes constitute her identity which is essentially a shared identity, that is, an
identity which is unique to her yet at the same time an identity of a bigger social
organization called family or clan. This bigger social organization is the first awakening
to the fact that selfhood is never a solitary notion but is always an involved or shared
one. As the child grows, her familial involvement is the source of pride or the lack of it;
her family name becomes the first determinant of her social stature. With pride, Marcel
continues, the child becomes aware of her familys name or reputation and hence it
[pride] behooves me to prove myself worthyit is a constructive sentiment, helping me
give me foundations on which to establish my conduct.2 In her bigger field of identity,
therefore, the child is awakened to the wealth, or the lack of it, of his lineage. This is
among the first things that introduce her to what the child calls self.
This Marcelian exposition of the relationship between the birth of the self and the
pre-exisiting social structure called family is not far from Bikols notion of sadiri, our
term for self. The sadiri is born when it realizes that she is different from the other, the
iba. There is a story of a dog who happens to pass by a river, and there, it saw another
dog carrying a bone. Growing jealous of the bone, the dog barked at the other dog he
saw at the river, without realizing that it is his own image that he sees, and thereby
losing the bone for his hearty meal. This story illustrates selfhood. The sadiri is aware of
her pagsasadiri. Sadiri niya an saiyang sadiri, the self owns itself. Essential then for the
sadiri is the act of owning or appropriation. To own ones sadiri is to have an awareness
of her totality and thus the other is that which does not belong to her act of being a self.
Wilmer Tria notes hence, an iba pwedeng maribong kun sisay an sadiri alagad an
sadiri dai nanggad mariribong kun sisay sya. Sya an kagsadiri kan saiyang hawak. Sya
an kagsadiri kan saiyang pagkayaon.3 It is in this act of owning that she becomes

Gabriel Marcel, Homo Viator, trans. Emma Crauford (New York: Harper Torchbooks, 1962), 68.

Ibid., 76.

Wilmer Joseph S. Tria, Ako asin an Kapwa Ko, Ikaduwang edisyon (Naga City: Ateneo de Naga University
Press, 2007), 83.

whole and at home with her being. Another term that proves that ownership is essential
to selfhood is ako: it both means I and acceptance.
In as much as the sadiri realizes that she belongs to bigger relationship, she
becomes aware that her selfhood is not hers alone but actually is originally a sharing to
the structural selfhood or identity of the family that she belongs into; the childs concept
of being a sadiri rests on the lineage or genealogy that owns her family name. May
kagsadiri kan saiyang sadiri. As F. Landa Jocano purports, kinship lies deep in the heart
of every Filipino. It is the core of Filipino social organizationactually, its nucleus. It
affects, if not dominates, the formation, structure, and functions of Filipino institutions,
relationships, values, and worldview.4 For us, this genealogical bond extends not only
to nuclear family set up but extends even to the whole angkan or clan of both the father
and the mother. Here, the sadiri becomes aware that she has the sadiring tawo: that
which is part of ones genealogy; the members of ones kinship; the members of the
angkan that, by virtue of blood relationship or by rituals, impose a claim on ones own
identity.5
Hence, the sadiring tawo is crucial to ones pagkamidbid sa sadiri or selfconsciousness. In a setting where the family is the primary vehicle for the socialization
of the young; the source of emotional and financial support for its members; and the
chief claimant of loyalty6 the sadiring tawo trains the member of the angkan according
to its own worldview, rules, and concept of selfhood. The new sadiri is claimed by her
sadiring tawo as their own, their pagsasadiri. Thus, the child, by virtue of her being born
in this particular angkan, ought to pay respect to all who are called her sadiring tawo.
Randolf David describes this as very traditional to us, even something we cannot run
away from. In the advent of the many theories that tries to pursue the ideal that the self
is a project that is yet to be achieved, David affirms that we cannot deny the element of
destiny when it comes to shaping our selfhood. Even the greater projects of

F. Landa Jocano, Filipino Social Organization: Traditional Kinship and Family Organization (Quezon City:
PUNLAD Research House, INC., 2000), 13.

5
It is a potent research agendum in the future the analysis of the tension of the colonial beginnings or
introduction of the Western notion of family to the pre-colonial angkan system which may give wider view on
the politics of sadiring tawo. We have to bear in mind that the term family is not endemic to our language
compared to the term kapag-arakian which I surmise to be the social arrangement that gives way to the logic
behind sadiring tawo. A question that can be asked along this conjecture is that whether the Western family logic
remains a foreign notion to our psychology and sociology that no matter how we try to operate under this
influence, we always retreat to this precolonial notion of kapag-arakian, a notion that is heavily relies on blood
relationship. Nevertheless, for the purposes of this paper, we take the family as an operational term that is already
a given in our society today.

6

David G. Timberman, A Changeless Land: Continuity and Change in the Philippine Politics (Pasir Panjang:
Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1991 and New York: M.E. Sharpe Inc., 1991), 16.

imagining a self away from what history might have given us brings us even closer to
this destined self which means our being (possibly) forever entrenched into our
genealogy which, like the traditional societies, bind their members to custom. A
destiny is never self-chosen; one is born into it. Through magic or homeopathic
practices, one may seek to alter ones destiny, but in the end, the individual stands
powerless. He must resign himself to what he is and what he was, banishing all
illusions about being able to craft or transform himself willfully.7
This of course has a positive side. The sadiring tawo is the first to offer a shoulder
in moments of needs. As sadiring tawo, anyone who despises the kadugo is seen as a
worthless person; to turn ones back to kasadiring tawo is to dissociate ones self to the
whole genealogical identity. There is an unwritten rule within a particular group of
magkasaradiring tawo that they have to stand for each other come hell or high waters. A
child then while developing her sense of pagiging sadiri is never alone. She grows
immersed in this community of presences that happen to be her sadiring tawo. It is in
being immersed in this first community that he learns her self projects. Tria puts it thus:
An pamilya iyo an tataghan sa pagpapakatawo. Ini an tataghan
nin sarong lumbod na boot tanganing sya magin sarong sayod na
tawo na andam na makipagkapwa. Digdi naghahalat na mahimsa
an saiyang pagkayaon tanganing ihiras sa iba.8
Moreover, the care for the sadiring tawo also takes root from another strong
Filipino value of the utang na boot as brought about by the familial sense of being
responsible to the welfare of the members of this genealogical relationship. As such, the
one who does not recognize her sadiring tawo after some period of time is banned from
the angkan and is labeled mayong utang na boot. The one who forgets the sadiring tawo is
the person who fails to join the pride, and becomes proud of his pagsadiri, which, as
already said, can be understood as self and his properties.
Consequently, as the sadiring tawo then develops strong support system, it can
also determine its ibang tawo. Generally, there are two ways where the ibang tawo is
determined. First is by bloodline default, that is, the Other is whoever who does not
belong to kinship by virtue of her carrying a different family name. The Other belongs
to other roots, to another family tree. The second is by disowning when a member of


7

Randolf S. David, Nation, Self and Citizenship : An Invitation to Philippine Sociology. Intro. Josephine
Dionisio, Gerardo Lanuza, Arnold Alamon (Quezon City: Department of Sociology, University of the Philippines,
2002), 210.

8

Tria, 106.

becomes iba-ibahon, which means she no longers embodies the character of the
magkasaradiring tawo. Jocano thus writes:
Should individuals choose to deviate from the existing kinship
rules, they take the risk of being sanctioned by the other members
of the group. These sanctions are expressed in traditional ways, like
ostracism, gossip, and scandal. Or, if the espoused behavior
changes are accepted, these become the new rule of conduct
specific to the position they occupy within the kinship domain.9
The way a sadiri sees the world, thus, begins and can end with how the sadiring
tawo raises her. As this is the case, the magkasaradiring tawo plays a definitive role as to
what kind of society we will have. As Timberman further notes that in the Philippines,
inter-family relations can determine personal friendship and enmities, marriages, and
political and economic alliance.10 From the familial setting hence, society is formed,
and in our case, [a]ll sorts of community life are as shown above organized around
the family, from economic endeavors, to religious fiestas and, last, but not least, political
parties.11
As affirmed however at the beginning of this section, Filipino values are
inherently ambivalent. Thus, while on the one hand the value of sadiring tawo offers a
solid institution where the members can rely on, on the other hand, the strength of
blood and ritual ties discourages trust among non-family members to create a weversus them mentality.12 With strong sense of identification that happens in the group
of magkasaradiring tawo, the ibang tawo can be possible forever be an outsider to the
goods that circulate only within the particular magkasaradiring tawo. As an iba, it is
outside of the familys circle of support, influence, and care. Under this logic, the sadiri
is not the keeper of the iba.13 Randy David even argues that the phenomenon of Filipino
diaspora actually follows this rationale, that is, strictly speaking, OFWs feel only

Jocano, 15.

10

Timberman, 17.

11

Lukas Kaelin, Strong Family, Weak State: Hegels Political Philosophy and the Filipino Family (Quezon
City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2012), 97.

12

Timberman, 17.

13
Important in understanding this notion is the concept of sakop. The Other is not part of the sakop
or scope of the influence of sadiring tawo. For a lengthy discussion, see Leonardo Mercado, Elements of Filipino
Philosophy (Tacloban City: Divine Word University Publications, 1974)

obliged to help his own family, even his angkan, and the fact that the Philippines
benefits from their dollar remittances comes but accidental to their main intention.14
Hence, with the sadiring tawo mentality, we fall prey to kanya-kanya system. Good
becomes centralized to a particular group of magkasaradiring tawo. As Kaelin notes,
attitude and recognition towards other people depend fundamentally on the question
whether they are relatedAs soon as relatedness is established, the interaction gets a
familial tone and trust is established.15 The Other, being an object of mistrust, becomes
an outsider to the group of relatives. In a society operating under this framework,
Jocano further argues:
Kinship, as a framework of relationship, is narrower in scope
than other institutional structures of Philippine society. It is
familistic and egocentric. The statuses it confers and the roles it
allocates are limited to descent, affinity and ritual relationships.
However, its influence in structuring relations and in shaping
behavior is transcendental; it permeates the entire social system.16
Bikols use of sadiring tawo therefore shares the meaning of kinship or angkan.
What is peculiar, however, lies in our use of sadiri as the word that delineates what is
the same and what is the other. While the Tagalogs call their angkan as kamag-anakan,
sadiring tawo speaks a lot more in this sense. It highlights ownership as constitutive of
selfhood and social organization. Thus, the magkasaradiring tawo owns a good that is
theirs alone, material or immaterial.17
From the philosophy of sadiring tawo flows the dialectics of the ideological
dakulang tawo and sadit na tawo: as one is born in angkan nin darakulang tawo or the
opposite of it. Dakulang tawo is the family of the wealthy, powerful, the landowner, and
the educated; the sadit na tawo is the voiceless, the property-less, the descendant of the
tumatawo of the landlords. Tumatawo speaks a lot for us here. The dakulang tawo, having
amassed great wealth, plays as the real tawo of the society: she is the self, the sadiri, that
has attained an identity in the society; the tumatawo only who shares in the pagkatawo of

14

This also, David argues, is due to the governments failure to provide the basic goods of its people and
therefore they feel that they have to look for the means of survival on their own and for their own family. See
Randy David, Reflections on Philippine Sociology (Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press).

15
Kaelin, 95.

16
Jocano, 14.

17
While the Tagalogs use of ka in kamag-anak readily shows mutual relationship, sadiri as the marker in
Bikols familial character can speak of being owned much as it shows selfhood that is rooted in ones sadiring tawo.
This meaning is both contained in the word sadiri that the Tagalog kamag-anak does not.

the dakulang tawo. The sadit na tawo remains an Other, an ibang tawo, and can only speak
of selfhood if she becomes a property (by employment or by other means) of the
dakulang tawo.
With the philosophy of sadiring tawo, one is therefore led into at least three
notions: (1) the strong familial based on familial relations which includes both the
nuclear and the extended members becomes a definitive marker of the values that
define ones own self worth; (2) a discussion of the good becomes particular only to
ones sadiring tawo and thereby the Other is possibly forever ostracized from the
distribution of this good; and (3) for the Other to somehow share the power of the
hegemonic magkasadiring tawo and by doing so, being owned (which, again, is the
condition of selfhood) by the dakulang tawo is the way to have crumbs of selfhood. The
first element is a good starting point of our social philosophy, but the other two points
make it really problematic. Generosity can surely start at home, but when it ends there,
we are in trouble for sure.

III. SADIRING TAWO AND OLIGARCHIC POLITICS

After elaborating on the defining role of sadiring tawo in the way we organize
our social relationships, I now proceed to argue that our politics, in Bikol and in our
country in general, follows this logic of familial power relations. I shall expose that the
way we choose our leaders and play our socio-political affairs in general is highly
oligarchic in nature and this takes root in sadiring tawo philosophy; oligarchic politics
is sadiring tawo politics. Meanwhile, the short review of our political history that
follows aims to discuss that while we may have a negative attitude towards sadiring
tawo politics, it is, on the contrary, the very system that we were having since
precolonization. Thus, Kaelin reports that even the Former Sen. John Osmena himself
acknowledged that an anti-dynasty law runs contrary to the social vein of our
society.18
A. Short Review of the Historical Beginnings of Philippine Oligarchy
Dante Simbulans work, The Modern Principalia: The Historical Evolution of the
Philippine Ruling Oligarhy, offers a thorough and excellent exposition of the elite system
of governance from Pre-Philippine History to the Post-American War governance in the
Philippines.19 Simbulan traces the elite system as springing from barangay as the

18

Kaelin, as quoted in Mojares, The Dream Goes on and On, 312.

political system of the pre-colonization time. He writes that the barangay which was
family-government structure, generally of 30-100 families although there were some
large barangays and barangay confederations having up to 7,000 inhabitants.20 From
here, Barangay society was divided into three major classes: (1) the maharlika or
nobility; (2)the timawa, or freemen; and (3) the serfs and slaves (aliping namamahay or
aliping sagigilid.21
Early on that time, the chieftain or the Datu is the wealthiest in the society, and
the respect given him extends to his angkan. Quoting Antonio de Morga, Simbulan
further reports that:
The descendants of such chiefs, and their relatives, even though
they did not inherit the lordship, were held in the same respect and
consideration. Such were all regarded as nobles, and as persons
exempt from the services rendered by the others or the plebians.22
As a political leader, the Datus role is varied, hence:
He was a lawmaker, judge, chief executive, and military leader. As
judge he was often assisted by a group of elders called maginoos
who also belonged to the maharlika class. He had control of the
land although the actual title was vested in the barangay. He also
controlled trade, fishing, etc.23
The concentration of political powers to the Datu of course led him to be the
most powerful in the land. Gerona claims that this was one of the ancient categories for
one to be called oragon. From Pre-Colonization to Spanish time, oragon already
connotes a strong hold on power whose meaning can be as extreme as from being a
warrior to being sexually promiscuous. He writes that dahil ang datu ang puno ng
baranggay at pinakamakapangyarihan sa lahat ng maginoo, ito ang antas ng
pamayanang katutubo na humahawak ng kapangyarihang likas at kapangyarihang

19

Dante C. Simbulan, The Modern Principalia: The Historical Evolution of the Philippine Ruling Oligarchy
(Quezon City: The University of the Philippines Press, 2005).

20

Ibid., 14.

21

Ibid.



22
Antonio de Morga (Jose P. Rizals edition). Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas (1609) as quoted in Simbulan,
16.

23

Ibid.

higit sa katutubo. Likas ito, ayon kan Foucault, dahil sila ang humahawak ng
intrumento ng kapangyarihan tulad ng babae, ginto, lupa, at mga alipin.24
This political system however was changed when the colonizers came with their
concept of the nation as the political organization. From the very concentrated power of
the Datu, the encomienda system introduced by the Spaniards transferred the dominion
of the natives over the vast lands to the encomenderos, the Spaniards who are most
loyal to the king. Consequently, the natives who were once enjoying the vast fruits of
the land and are only indebted to the power of the their native leader became subjects
of the encomenderos who monopolized trade.
Part of the divide and conquer technique of Spanish colonization included also
the subtle transferring of political power. The Datu became the cabeza da baranggay while
a stronger political power brought by wider scope of sovereignty called alcaldias
headed by the Spanish alcalde mayores, and the pueblo, headed by the gobernadorcillo
which was elective, with the franchise limited to the twelve most senior cabezas who
made three nominations in the presence of the parish priest, the outgoing
gobernadorcillo and the Spanish alcade mayor. The final choice was made by either by
the central government or, in the case of more remote provinces, by the provincial
governor.25 With this political line-up, the principalia class was born.
The inclusion of the locals or the indios to the governing body proved to be a
good strategy. The former datus did not feel much deprived of power since they shared
the power structure of the colonizers. In fact, they became Hispanized as vividly
portrayed in Jose Rizals novels. While still being indios, they became part of the
principalia. Later, they became the mestizos, or the one with Hispanic blood, spoke the
Castilian language, lived in the cabeceras, and most importantly, were given the chance
to have education. Truly, those who had been given these chances become the elite in
the society, the ones who became part of the alta sociedad, the ones who differed from
the ordinary indios.
Racial mixing, however, was not limited to the Spanish mestizos. We remember
from our history lessons than the Chinese were already having contacts with the natives
through their trade and commerce. This in turn produced the Chinese mestizo
population which until now is well known for building business empires. In a research
conducted by Tomas de Comyn, there were already 2, 398.5 Chinese mestizos out of 59,


24

Danilo Madrid Gerona, Oragon in Sawikaan 2007: Mga Salita ng Taon. Eds. Romulo P. Baquiran and
Galileo S. Zafra (Quezon City: The University the Philippines Press, 2008), 70-71.

25

Simbulan, 19-20.

900 indios in Camarines as early as 1810.26 Like their Chinese fathers, the mestizos
were primarily merchants at first but soon expanded into landholdings. Starting as
inquilinos (lessees) of haciendas owned by religious corporations and other
landholders, the Chinese mestizos accumulated wealth by subletting the lands they
leased for profit, or by employing indio kasamas (share tenants) who were treated as
serfs and not fairly compensated.27 These Chinese and the Chinese mestizos soon gain
prominence in society through their accumulated wealth that they soon become
accepted in the alta sociedad.
Thus far, we see that early on in the history of our nation building, elitism is
already at work. From the concentrated power of the datu, to the Hispanized
principalia and with Chineses prominence, wealth as defined in land accumulation and
businesses, and power as defined in government position and education, were already
the standards of belonging to the alta sociedad and the ilustrados.
Going back to our discussion on the Philosophy of the sadiring tawo, we can see
that generally there are two classes of the angkan, or of the magkakasarading tawo. The
one is the elite group of magkasaradiring tawo, and whose bloodline were held at high
esteem in the society as they are the ones who held positions in the land and the owners
of the lands. This forms the hegemonic class of the dakulang tawo. Even up to now,
political families can trace either Spanish or Chinese origins. Hardly does anyone who
comes from the less influential clan, the other group of the magkasaradiring tawo, can rise
to political prominence. Like the old times, political power is just transferred from one
sadiring tawo to its other members. Politics until now is defined by the terms of the
principalia class. They remain the mga oragon, the darakulang tawo.

B. The American Politics and the Philippine Party System

From Pax Hispanica, what comes next in our history as a nation is the Pax
Americana. As a government borne fresh from the Philippine uprisings against the
Spaniards, one of the big challenges that America had to hurdle over was the armed
revolutionaries who at that time were burning with fervor either for Philippine
independence or for the inclusion of the Philippines as a Spanish province and thereby
giving it representation to the Mother Spain.
America and its notion of democracy however offered new windows for the
Filipinos who were already tired with the Spanish monopoly of power. With the

26

Tomas de Comyn, Estrado de las Islas Filipinas en 1810 in Simbulan, 24.

27

Ibid., 25.

10

American democracy, famous for its slogan a government of the people and for the
people, rooms for participative politics were opened up, and hence political parties
were born. Notwithstanding its significance until today, the creation of political parties
was a political tactic. For Gealogo, there are at least two main reasons for the
introduction of political parties in the land:
The first was the realized need by the American colonizers to
put forward a viable avenue for political participation by Filipinos
as a counterpoint to the armed resistance of the Filipino
revolutionaries against colonial occupation. The electoral exercise
and the attendant formation of political parties will therefore
present itself as an alternative reaction to American rule by
Filipinos who would otherwise be involved in armed resistance.
The second is the need to attract a significant number of Filipino
elites into the fold of colonial governance. The electoral process
would ensure elite participation in the colonial political project of
integrating the well-to-do members of the society to the
institutionalization of the colonial administrative control over
population.28
With the creation of political parties hence, power was supposed to be
decentralized. State and the Church, one of the issues Filipinos hated most under
Spanish colonization, was finally separated (at least in principle). Americas selfappointed mission of restoring democracy to nations like Afghanistan in our times is
as true in the period of its Philippine colonization. Nevertheless, it was only a case of
emperor wearing a new robe. With their goal of recruiting the same elites that came
from the principalia class of the Spanish times, true decentralized political participation
remained a far-fetched dream. The same angkan, the same magkasaradiring tawo
occupied political positions.
What caused the elites to continue ruling is the very requirement of the
American electoral system: a former seat as municipal captain, gobernadorcillo, alcalde
and other offices from the past colonial era; a real property to the value of 500 pesos or
an annual pay of thirty pesos or more of the established taxes; and Spanish and English
literacy.29 Thus, the earliest political parties, namely the Nacionalista and the Federal
Parties, with those mentioned requirements, were essentially both elitist parties,

28

Francis A. Gealogo, History of the Political Parties in the Philippines in Oligarchic Politics: Elections and
the Party-List System in the Philippines. ed. Bobby M. Tuazon, foreword Dr. Elmer Ordoez (Quezon City: CenPEG
Books, 2007), 2-3.

29

Ibid., 4.

11

notwithstanding of course the different political ideologies of their parties, namely,

statehood and integration of the Philippines with the United States for the Federal
Party, and immediate independence for the Nacionalista.30 Thus for, Carl Lande, these
two parties were essentially competing factions of actually one party, a ruling party
elite that had the same analysis of social conditions, the same political norms and the
same programs of government.31
Our party system hence takes off from the sadiring tawo philosophy albeit in
another form. The sadiring tawo is no longer simply the kadugo or the angkan; not only
by bloodlines do they form a collective but also by rituals of political ambitions do they
become one. The constant seeking for the hegemonic dakulang tawo makes one realign
herself to a more powerful sadiring tawo now named party. This is the logic behind
turncoatism which for the then LDP President Angara is the most destructive aspect of
Philippine politics. That is why there is no stability or continuity in political parties
because the winners from the other parties usually go to the majority ruling party
which usually controls the perks, pork barrel and privileges.32
Present day politicians therefore are not so far from the Datu politics. Like the
angkan of the datus who enjoyed the same honored and privileged stature, politicians
become one with the parties who can offer them better and secure way of continuous
political career, regardless of differences in ideologies. Working under sadiring tawo
politics, the politician has to be one with the angkan who has the name, who has a
powerful lineage, and of course, who resembles the beginnings of the principalia.
Sadiring tawo politics is so pervasive that even the multi-party system does not
guarantee the eradication of the elitism in politics; different parties but same names
dominate them.
The institutionalization of the Party List system offered new hopes for true
representation and thereby achieving the democratic ideal of wider political
participation. Instead of voting for individual politicians, voters now choose for parties
that carry the banner of the marginalized and underrepresented sectors of the society.
Thus, under this system, the decentralization of powers to the elite is hoped to be
achieved soonest as the other group, the sadiring tawo of the voiceless now takes a seat
in the House of Representatives. It is very potent power that the elite has to reckon


30

Ibid.

31

Carl H. Lande, Leaders, Factions and Parties as quoted in Eric Gutierez, et.al., All in the Family: A Study of
Elites and Power Relations in the Philippines (Quezon City: Institute for Popular Democracy, 1992), 5.

32

Roland G. Simbulan, Contemporary Politics in the Philippines: The Configuration of Post-Edsa I Political
Parties in Oligarchic Politics: Elections and the Party-List System in the Philippines. ed. Bobby M. Tuazon, foreword
Dr. Elmer Ordoez (Quezon City: CenPEG Books, 2007), 28.

12

with. Groups like workers, veterans, women, immigrants, youths and others soon
found a place where an equal footing in politics beamed new hopes. The party list
system promised the ibang tawo to be finally included in the long history of politics
dominated by the hegemonic magkasaradiring tawo.
However, oligarchy has taken so deep roots in Philippine politics that the still
elite dominated government proved to be a thick wall that the ibang tawo cannot
collapse easily. Thus, despite the series of bills that are supposedly reflective of the true
state of what the hegemonic sadiring tawo considers its ibang tawo, legislations which
harm the poor have been passed with alacrity, indicating that Congress still remains not
only the bastion of the elite but a maker of laws that marginalize the people. Party list
legislators parlayed their role to protect the interests of the masses they represent only
to find themselves often voted out in deliberations and shunned through brash tactics
and arm-twisting of the House leadership.33 More than hampering bills that favor the
marginalized, progressive party lists are not only the most vilified but also hunted
down, its leaders persecuted, many of its members killed, while forces within the
government engage on covert efforts to bar entry to Congress.34
Party lists too proved to be not immune with enchantment to power so as not to
fall prey to traditional politics of the oligarchic magkasaradiring tawo. Millionaires,
businessmen, the highly educated, soon gained posts as representatives of the poor, the
landless, and the uneducated.35 What is sadder in this situation of party list system is
when the poor and the marginalized are organized for the political ambitions of the
few. We are aware of the proliferations of these party lists and the essential question is
which among these groups truly count as true representation of the marginalized? And
which among these groups play the chameleon game of politics?
From this discussion of the general Philippine political condition, a closer look at
our particular Bikol politics can make our points even sharper. To do this, let us take at
the following names36:


33

Manalansan, Jr., 51.

34

Ibid., 91-92.

35
th
th

See the reports of the assets and liabilities of party list representatives from 12 to 13 Congress in
Manalansan, Jr., 65-67.

36
Commision on Elections,
http://www.comelec.gov.ph/?r=Elections/2013natloc/ListOfCandidates/CertifiedListOfCandidates (April 28, 2013)
This data is meant to show how few families have been dominating the electoral scene. While there may be other
families who may merit being in this presentation, I only choose the family names of those who have the largest
number of running candidates for the 2013 election. Common knowledge (which is also verifiable by future
researches) about how long these families have been seating in elected positions abounds.

13

NAME

POSITION

PARTY

Villafuerte, LRay

Member, House of Representatives, 2nd Nacionalista Party

District, Camarines Sur
Villafuerte, LRay, Jr.
Provincial Governor, Camarines Sur
Nacionalista Party
Villafuerte, Luis
Provincial Governor, Camarines Sure
Nationalist Peoples
Coalition
Villafuerte, Nelly
Member, House of Representatives, Nationalist Peoples
Camarines Sur, 3rd District
Coalition
Fuentebella, Arnie
Mayor, Camarines Sur Tigaon
Nationalist Peoples
Coalition
Fuentebella,
Nanay Mayor, Camarines Sur Sagay
Nationalist Peoples
Belen
Coalition
Fuentebella, Wimpy
Member, House of Representatives, Nationalist Peoples
Camarines Sur, 4th Distrct
Coalition
Alfelor, Emmanuel Jr.
Mayor, Camarines Sur Iriga City
Nationalist Peoples
Coalition
Alfelor, Felix Jr
Member, House of Representatives, Nationalist Peoples
Camarines Sur 5th District
Coalition
Alfelor, Ganggang
Mayor, Camarines Sur Iriga City
Liberal Party
Alfelor, King
Councilor, Camarines Sur Iriga City
Nationalist Peoples
Coalition
Alfelor, Ruperto
Member, Sangguniang Panlalawigan, Nationalist Peoples
Camarines Sur 5th District
Coalition
Imperial, Harold
Provincial Vice Governor, Albay
Liberal Party
Imperial, Pem
Councilor, Albay Ligao City
Liberal Party
Imperial, RB
Member, Sangguniang Panlalawigan, Liberal Party
Albay 2nd District
Imperial,
Gregorio Councilor, Albay Legazpi City
Nacionalista Party
Ferdinand
Escudero, Antonio Jr
Provincial Vice Governor, Sorsogon
Nationalist Peoples
Coalition
Escudero, Chiz
Senator
Independent
Escudero, Dennis
Councilor, Sorsogon Casiguran
Nationalist Peoples
Coalition
Escudero, Jun
Member, Sangguniang Panlalawigan, Nationalist Peoples
Sorsogon, 1st District
Coalition
Escudero, Marilou
Mayor, Sorsogon-Casiguran
Independent
Escudero, Nanay
Member, House of Representatives, Nationalist Peoples
Sorsogon 1st District
Coalition
Escudero, Ramon
Vice-Mayor, Sorsogon Casiguran
Nationalist Peoples
Coalition
Kho, Olga
Member, House of Representatives, Lakas
Christian
14

Kho, Tony

Masbate - second district

Provincial Governor, Masbate

Muslim Democrats
Lakas Christian
Muslim Democrats

Kho, Wilton

Mayor, Masbate - Cataingan

Lakas Christian
Muslim Democrats

Thus, we can see that particularism as contained in sadiring tawo remains the
climate of our political system. It remains an organization that is concerned with the
welfare of its group, of its own sadiring tawo. This power play extends in the voters
disposition during election. They would vote for their sadiring tawo as it gives them
room for possible employment should their candidates win. On a national level, voters
choose the candidate that comes from their region or district with the hope that their
place will be given priority for development. When Raul Roco ran for presidency, I
learned from my sadiring tawo that they are voting for Roco primarily because he is a
Bikolano, and thus, isay man an madamay sa Bikolano kundi an mga Bikolano?
Therefore, the question that we have to raise then after this critical review is how
can we re-direct the Philosophy of sadiring tawo towards a philosophy that shall
enhance Philippine politics?
IV. SADIRING TAWO AND SOCIAL IMAGINATION
The last section of this paper tries to re-direct sadiring tawo from its highly
angkan orientation to a philosophy that shall contribute not only to regional
consciousness but to nation building efforts.
As early as Platos time, oligarchy is already defined as a government resting on
a valuation of property, in which the rich have power and the poor man is deprived of
it.37 It has to be noted that for Plato, oligarchy is result of the corrupted soul of those
who were meant to be guardians and rulers, whom he forbade to have any private
propertyincluding women and childrenas acquisition of these would necessarily
distract them from doing their duties which are to guard and rule the entire polity.
Plato justifies thus:
Both the community of property and the community of families,
as I am saying, tend to make them truly guardians; they will not

37

Plato, The Republic VIII in The Dialogues of Plato. trans. Benjamin Jowett, ed. Mortimer J. Adler
(Chicago: Oxford University Press, 1988), 405. All references to Plato will be taken from this edition of the
Dialogues.

15

tear the city in pieces by differing about mine and not mine;
each man dragging any acquisition which he has made into a
separate house of his own, where he has a separate wife and
children and private pleasures and pains; but will be affected as far
as may be by the same pleasures and pains because they are all of
one opinion about what is near and dear to them, and therefore
they all tend towards a common end.38
Notwithstanding its ethical and moral implications, for Plato the reason for these
common lives of the guardians and the rulers is clear: universal good always takes
precedence over particular good. As the ones who are in charged of taking the care of
the rest of the population, they too are tasked to take everyone in the State as their
whole family. Furthermore, the short review of the history of Philippine politics has
showed us that the oligarchs have ruled us since the old times. Philippine economic
setting also proves Platos point: whereas the rulers become richer and richer, ordinary
people strive hard for their daily means of survival.
Sadiring tawo philosophy falls under the same thread of failing to see the
common good and fixing our sight on a particular good. Guardians and rulers fall into
the business of taking wealth as their private property for the sake of their own family,
and thereby becoming less and less concerned with their virtues as the leaders of the
land. The dialectics between the sadiring tawo versus ibang tawo, as Plato points out,
creates two classes: the first class, born with available wealth and power, becomes the
citizens and are the ones who are entitled for leadership; the second, being deprived of
wealth and riches, the Others who fall outside the care of the hegemonic sadiring tawo,
they resort to criminal acts.
Nonetheless, sadiring tawo philosophy offers us a very powerful platform on
which we can hinge our political life. The ethics of pakikidumamay and pagmamakulog
among the magkasaradiring tawo is what we need most in our politics.
However, this potency of sadiring tawo philosophy to be a source of cohesion in
a larger context of society is limited by its extreme personal character that it can despise
the Other out rightly if no relationship is established. Sadiring tawo as a philosophy
should not limit us from this highly angkan-based politics. There is an urgent need for
us to go beyond this particularism that leads to political dynasties, undistributed
wealth, and the constant tension between the rich and the poor. As we have seen
earlier, the notion of sadiring tawo is highly concerned with its sakop, as one always
feels responsible towards his sadiring tawo. What is difficult in our set-up to day is that
the two classes of magkasaradiring tawo, that of the rich and the poor, are always on

38

Plato, Book V, 364.

16

the process of other-ing. One is always different to the other, and therefore, no genuine
care for the common good is possible.
The growing political apathy of the Filipinos concerning politics precisely takes
root from this. We feel that the government has become a class of its own, where the
main concern of our politicians ,is no longer the common good but only the good for
their own families, for their own angkan, for their own parties. This situation only
strengthens and perpetuates the social situation of the voiceless class of the
magkasaradiring tawo as a class whose members are left on their own, and thus they
have to struggle on their own, for their own.
If the philosophy of the sadiring tawo, from its being highly angkan-based
becomes decentralized so as to accept the whole imagined nation as the breadth of its
ownness, its pagkasadiri, then it becomes a more welcoming philosophy rather than a
marginalizing one. Sadiring tawo as a philosophy has to be destroyed from its totalizing
tendencies, and from there, it needs to be reconstructed for it to be able to take the
others kaibahan (difference) as its mean for an authentic pag-iiribahan, and hopefully for
a more genuine solidarity. The Other is always there knocking and waiting to be
welcomed in our fences of our particularistic mentality. For this to happen, an ethics of
pakikisumaro is necessary:
Sa pakikisumaro nalalampasan an pagkakaiba dawa ngani
iginagalang pa man giraray an kaibahan. Sa pakikipagkapwa na
nakagamot sa pakikisumaro, dai na hinihiling kan duwang
magkaibahan an saindang pagkakaiba kundi mas nahihiling na an
pagiging saro. Bako na sana sindang magkaibahan, kundi
magkasaroan nin boot na kun sain an gustong sabihon iyo na
nahihiling na ninda an ka-bootan kan lambang saro. Ini an
kahulugan kun kita minsasabi na, nasasabotan taka huli ta bako
na ikang iba sako.39
This then is the challenge for the Philippine politics and the government that
springs from it: to divest itself from oligarchic character so as to be true to its agenda of
a true democratic government. For this to happen, the tawo that resides in the scope of
the sadiring tawo should mean each and every Filipino trying to share in the good that
has to be preserved and be distributed by the government; every family that longs to
have social support; and ultimately the nation that longs for solidarity that does take
away differences and diversity. Until the sadiring tawo is not decentralized, this politics
will remain as it is: a politics of the few; a politics of the elite.

39

From my essay, An Dalan nin Pakikisumaro in Pagpukaw (Naga City: Ateneo de Naga University,
Philosophy Department).

17

The same demand is true to the other group of the magkasaridiring tawo. The
sadit na tawo must also decentralize itself and involve themselves in political exercises.
They too have to break free from tutelages of their patrons who feed their particular
good and have a consciousness of a more general society in choosing their social good.
If they fail to do so, the socially paralyzing understanding of sadiring tawo philosophy
will remain as it is.
Thus, the philosophy of sadiring tawo if applied in national context, calls for
responsibility to the common good more than the particular. This is challenge is also
true to region-centered thinking. When we limit our good only to our particular region
or if we vote for a candidate because of her regional affiliation and not because of her
political platform, then we too are guilty of the particularistic tendency of sadiring tawo
philosophy. Sadiring tawo philosophy has to loosen its particularistic stance and be able
to authentically welcome the Other as a rightful claimant of social good. To democratize
the sadiring tawo philosophy is to be conscious that we are each others keeper,
something that, as of now, is but a dream in our highly oligarchic society.
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Comission on Elections,
http://www.comelec.gov.ph/?r=Elections/2013natloc/ListOfCandidates/CertifiedList
OfCandidates

19