HI 166-A

Ea B. Palacios
Word Count: 499

Reflection Paper: “The Postwar Rise and Decline of the Left in Southeast Asia”

The discussion by Dr. Nathan Gilbert Quimpo on the postwar leftist politics in Southeast

Asia highlighted factors that led to its rise and eventual decline. For most SEA countries, socialism

and communism were adopted in response to oppressive forces. Countries such as the Philippines

were under the power of a colonizer such as America whose control over politics and the economy

left citizens feeling disempowered and unheard. Leftist politics argue for the abolishment of

unjustified inequalities, something that the colonial countries were imposing in SEA.

However, leftist movements in the Philippines were labeled as insurgent or radical due to

the stark contrast between the political - and even social - structure set up by its colonizers Spain

and, most notably, America. The political and social structures of postwar Philippines allowed

politicians and the elites to consolidate power and take advantage of their government or economic

positions to use the nation’s resources for their own benefit and to further entrench themselves in

the center of Philippine society. Eventually, it culminated in campaigns by groups such as the PKP

and the Huks protesting the unfair distribution of wealth in the Philippines.

Unfortunately, leftist movements eventually declined to its very nature of refusing to play

a part in the regimes crafted by the entrenched politico-economic elites. Their refusal to do so

allowed these elites to remain entrenched in their regimes.

I believe that the tactics by which leftist parties such as CPP in the Philippines fail to

dominate the nation’s politics are parallel to why the Filipinos during the Philippine-American War

were not seen as a civilized people. These parties use armed struggle because they believe that they

cannot win through the status-quo politics which remain dominated by rightist politics. During

the Philippine-American War, Filipino soldiers adopted guerilla tactics because they knew they

could not successfully go against the Americans who possessed more arms and soldiers better

trained in regular warfare. Filipinos were thus seen to play “dirty.” Similarly, leftist parties believe
that they cannot succeed due to the regimes of politico-economic elites and thus they resort to

tactics such as armed struggle. Yet in doing so, they are labelled as “insurgents” or “radical” and

therefore too unstable to dominate Philippine politics. In order for leftist politics to have a part in

the mainstream, they must take a legal and democratic approach and participate in elections.

As a citizen of the Philippines, I want to be able to have a voice in my government. I want

to feel as if my beliefs, such the fair distribution of wealth, is considered by the leaders of our

nation. Our nation’s politics and government should be representative of the Filipino people. By

widening its spectrum to allow for both leftist and rightist policies, we allow for more inclusive

policies and discussion. It helps eliminate the polarizing labels of “radical” when truly, it simply

means a group whose ideologies deviate from the dominating elites, even though their ideologies

may be more reflective of the populace majority.