Lessons from America

Like many liberals – heck, like most people with any sense of sanity and decency left in them – I rejoiced at the total repudiation of Donald Trump and his Republican Party in the Nov. 3 midterms. As one of millions of Filipinos with children, siblings and other kinfolk in America, and one of the billions of earthlings injured in all kinds of ways by one man’s megalomania, I had been praying hard for this moment, if only to remind myself that divine justice remains possible in this sordid world.

All in a few weeks, we saw Lula push back the fascist right in Brazil, a student-led anti-corruption coalition win in Serbia and Netanyahu stalemated in Israel. And now this. At this moment of giddiness, can we Filipinos be faulted for imagining that we, too, are due for epic change in the Philippines?

With our presidential elections coming up in two years, are there applicable lessons to be learned from the American experience to ensure the triumph of democracy and the return of accountability and good governance?

We can feel tectonic shifts happening belowground as VP Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial advances, likely to be resolved before the year ends. Whether she’s shut out of 2028 or somehow qualifies to run, the Dutertes remain a formidable force. And while a bruited Baste Duterte-Robin Padilla ticket seems designed to make us gag, it won’t be a joke if and when it happens, taking note of survey findings that 60 percent of Filipinos remain unconvinced that Sara is guilty of corruption, a mountain of evidence notwithstanding.

It’s no comfort that President Bongbong Marcos, who’s been getting a free pass from middle forces for trumpeting a noisy but sputtering anti-corruption drive, just showed his true colors by looking away while his allies in Congress cooked up a pork-heavy budget and then lately by appointing a baggage-laden Chief Justice whom critics expect to provide the Marcoses with political insurance. We’re definitely not feeling that “reform” vibe that we thought, for a feeble instant back there, PBBM himself was interested in stoking.

What’s a good and smart Pinoy democrat (small D) to do? Herewith, some propositions from this pedestrian kibitzer and his equally non-pundit friends, whom I polled for their ideas. They’re not graven in stone, and I could be somewhat off or dead wrong, but these could be starting points for a longer and deeper conversation among Pinoys sick and tired of seeing Marcoses, Dutertes and the same old dynastic names in their future.

1. Build a big tent. This will mean sharing platforms and maybe even beds and breakfasts with some people you’d rather not be seen with, but tolerance and cooperation will be key. Those partners could and should include “soft” and persuadable Marcos and DDS supporters whose allegiances are anchored less in any kind of ideology than in unmet needs.

The Democrats didn’t win just because of their registered base. Especially in the red states, they were buoyed up by millions of disaffected Trumpers who felt ignored or betrayed by their marmalade hero, who splurged billions on wars and decorative pet projects while ordinary Americans suffered at the gas pump and the grocery. Here, we can’t win if we can’t pull over some of the 60 percent who still believe the evidence vs. Sara is weak. We need to ask the BBM and DDS faithful: what have they done for you? Are your lives any better now?

A broad alliance will include extremes, but it should be firmly driven by the moderate core, lest it lose its way in infighting, which some progressives are particularly good at. If you’re the kind of activist who’d rather lose at the polls than compromise or concede one percent of your preciously inflexible agenda, then we might admire your steadfastness, but electoral, united-front politics clearly isn’t for you. Principles are important, but your insistence on absolute correctness could lose you the whole project, and leave the common enemy rolling on the floor.

2. “It’s the economy, stupid.” This was Bill Clinton’s mantra when he took on and won over George H.W. Bush in 1992, but it clearly remained relevant in the 2026 midterms, and will continue to do so, the worse things get.

For Pinoys, this means prioritizing economic and welfare issues over ideology: food on the table, gas in the tank, education for the children and affordable drugs and care for the sick. The candidate who can’t promise these and show how they can be delivered will be irrelevant.

We need to tie corruption to poverty, and dynastic politics to corruption – reduce big talk to gut issues, plot the short line from bad politicians to popular hunger and misery and, above all, craft concrete solutions that offer hope.

3. Organize well and communicate well. Translate that big tent to strong, broad, ground-level organization. Involve faith-based groups, which have large, committed constituencies. Connect to the local – Senate hearings get the headlines, but local needs and issues get the votes. Everywhere across the US, and again especially in hostile territory, Democrats made deep inroads through skillful organization and reaching out to the disaffected. (Also take a page from Lula’s super-effective digital blitz in Brazil.)

And of course it helps enormously to have a solid, capable and personable candidate like Texas Sen.-elect James Talarico, possessed of a sharp mind, a good heart and a compassionate voice, all indicative of an inner strength. We need someone of his likeable kind to deflate the showy bluster of a Robin Padilla by offering a more attractive and substantial alternative.

Victory in 2028 isn’t the end or the ultimate objective. It should simply be the beginning of expanded opportunities to get the right things done, and to undertake what was near-impossible in a previous administration, like leaving the budget totally pork-free, prosecuting and punishing the corrupt and putting public money where it’s most needed and where it matters.

All that said, the most outstanding prospect remains the obvious one: Leni Robredo, who exemplifies the best of good governance in both substance and style. If only she could think of the country as a bigger Naga (in a far different way from how Rodrigo Duterte thought he could turn it into a greater Davao), many of these initial concerns would vanish, and we can all focus on getting her and us across the finish line.

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Email me at [email protected] and visit my blog at www.penmanila.ph.