- 5 hours ago
How are local policies and shifting political landscapes directly impacting communities on the ground?
Let’s talk about it LIVE.
Political Science expert *Prof. Brenette Abrenica* joins *Beyond the Headlines* to look past the political noise. We will analyze the real state of local governance, the critical factors influencing our electoral systems, and how regional leadership can better align with public needs and youth perspectives.
Ask your questions in real time.
Let’s talk about it LIVE.
Political Science expert *Prof. Brenette Abrenica* joins *Beyond the Headlines* to look past the political noise. We will analyze the real state of local governance, the critical factors influencing our electoral systems, and how regional leadership can better align with public needs and youth perspectives.
Ask your questions in real time.
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NewsTranscript
00:19It starts with a fresh shot of espresso. Bold, rich, bold, just right.
00:29Then comes the milk. Steamed smooth, creamy, and balanced. The perfect latte is not brushed. It is crafted. One cup
00:39at a time. Your perfect latte is ready. Coffee first, then everything else.
00:48Good afternoon. Welcome to Beyond the Headlines. I'm DJ Moises.
00:52Philippine politics is rarely short of debate. But beyond the headlines are important questions about democracy, governance, political parties, political
01:04dynasties, representation, and the role of citizens in shaping our future.
01:09Joining us over a conversation made possible by our friends at Coffee First is a respected political science expert who
01:17has spent years studying the institution's behaviors and the ideas that influence public life in the Philippines.
01:24We have Brinette Abrenica. Hello, Brinette. Good afternoon. Welcome to Beyond the Headlines.
01:31Thank you so much for having me, DJ. And I also am very happy joining the rest of your audience.
01:37And yes, before we start, because we're about to graduate another batch of political science experts or scientists.
01:45Can you walk us through at least briefly now on the significance of political science in today's environment?
01:54Well, political science has never been a weakling in terms of the curricular offerings in the country and worldwide.
02:02There are a lot of phenomena around us that really, you know, talks about the relationships of individuals to institutions
02:11and institutions to institutions.
02:13And the role of political science is to help not really solve problems, but to help us understand the dynamics
02:19of these institutions and what is the role of individuals in all of these dynamics.
02:25And I think more than ever, today is one of those very important epochs in Philippine history where political scientists
02:35need to be at the front line.
02:38Not because we can provide all explanations for what is going on, but to constantly walk through people and walk
02:47with people so that the ordinary people, the Pinoy, and the citizens of the world will understand that the process
02:59by which the institutions are performing the way they do now
03:04is a huge contribution to what we are doing is a huge contribution to what we are doing to the
03:09institution.
03:10We have a lot of role to play.
03:12So political scientists and all social scientists need to be at the front line to help people navigate this quite
03:19messy world and messy country that we have.
03:22And speaking of everyday Filipinos or everyday Cebuanos for that matter, since election is still in 2028 now,
03:30So beyond the campaign season and election itself, what do you think is important for citizens like me to continually
03:40sustain participation in everyday governance?
03:45Yeah, that's very important.
03:47While the national elections will be in 2028, this year we will have our local barangay election and SK elections.
03:56And I think everyday, we have to continuously contribute to the brick of democracy that we enjoy.
04:04Otherwise, the kind of democracy that we have right now is very much of a reflection of how people deal
04:12with government institutions.
04:14So political scientists or non-political scientists, we all have stakes in government.
04:20And ordinary Filipinos should be empowered in a sense that we need to understand that everyday, we contribute to the
04:34kind of politics that we have.
04:35We contribute to the kind of government that we have.
04:39We contribute to the kind of policies that our representatives are capable of putting up in their own chambers.
04:47So we need to be, number one, informed of what is constantly going on on a daily basis.
04:54That is why mainstream media and now with social media contributing its thoughts in the conversation, they are important sources
05:04of information.
05:05But more than that, while we have mass media, the traditional media and social media, we, number two, should not
05:13abandon learning about our politics.
05:16Our day-to-day interactions with our own families, with our own communities, tell us so much about the needs,
05:24our needs and the needs of our own people.
05:26And that should be articulated very much in various platforms.
05:31Number three, we cannot look at elections as something that is so far-fetched from us.
05:37And it's not, election is not time-bound.
05:41While we do regular elections in between like three years or within the year we will have the barangay and
05:46the SK elections, elections is something that we do every day.
05:50Why?
05:50Because elections is all about choice.
05:52And we need to make a choice as a people.
05:55Do we choose the same government?
05:57Do we choose the same setting?
05:59Do we choose the same propaganda?
06:03Or do we choose something better for us and for our people?
06:08So constantly, on a daily basis, be informed and make the proper choices.
06:12And speaking of being informed and making proper choices, I have a particular case in point.
06:19Let's talk about, for example, participation of everyday Filipinos like me in matters like, for example, the impeachment.
06:29Because it will happen already next month.
06:31And people would say it's both a legal process and it's both legal process and political process.
06:38For an ordinary citizen like me, what would be the hacks that you would suggest?
06:43So that I would be able to tell that, hmm, this is already a political process rather than a legal
06:49process.
06:51Yeah, the duality of the concept of impeachment is very important, not only to those who know the law, but
06:58everybody else.
06:59Why?
06:59Because, one, it is a legal process because everything that goes into the impeachment process is all about whether or
07:08not the sitting official is able to fulfill one's function or had violated certain rules.
07:15And there are very specific enumeration in the Constitution as to the grounds for impeachment and how the impeachment process
07:24will have, the procedure will have to go.
07:28So, as the legal side, it's there, it's found in the law of the land, that's the 1987 Philippine Constitution,
07:35while also using different jurisprudence in the country and abroad to better understand how these grounds and how the procedures
07:43are to be fulfilled.
07:45On the other hand, it is a political process.
07:48Why?
07:48Because it is going to be our representatives who will be representing us.
07:54So, when I mean, by the way, by representatives, these are our representatives in the lower chamber or in the
08:00lower house or in the house of representatives.
08:03They may either be representing districts or they are representing the party list groups.
08:11So, the representatives of the representatives of the people are the ones saying that on behalf of the Filipino people,
08:19we are putting these charges against a sitting official because of certain violations.
08:24So, when they do that, that's the lower chamber determining these grounds and putting forward a case before the impeachment
08:37court, and that is the Senate of the Philippines.
08:39And without us being too biased about it, we have just to accept the fact that the ones sitting as
08:46jurors in this case are politicians in their very nature.
08:53Unlike the courts, the Supreme Court for that matter, they are non-political in the sense that they are not
09:01elected by the people.
09:02So, they don't serve the people who voted for them, but they actually serve what the law provides them to.
09:11Although, in general, they still serve as public servants.
09:14They do serve the Filipino people.
09:17But there is a huge difference here because when you have jurors who are senators who are elected at large,
09:26inevitably, we cannot deviate them from and separate them from their own political parties or political lines or political alliances.
09:38And it is inevitable for us to see the recent events in the Senate as a way to maneuver and
09:45to set the stage for the impeachment, having the appropriate numbers, having the people who will dominate, say, the majority,
09:55for instance.
09:55Although the tables may have turned in the past few days, but that in itself is a context.
10:03And we need to appreciate that and we need to understand.
10:06Now, what is now the hold of an ordinary citizen over the politics that may actually occur or may have
10:14actually occurred before us?
10:17I think it's our present, our constancy of being informed and being present.
10:24We need to look at them while they're doing the things that they're supposed to do.
10:29And consequently, while after looking at them, we need to make them accountable.
10:35And accountability may not come immediate like tomorrow or immediately after the end of the impeachment process, but accountability may
10:45come during election.
10:47And when our politicians are unable to serve the interests and are unable to represent the interests of the people,
10:56what the people need and what the people want, I think their accountability will come whether or not they'll be
11:02re-elected to office or otherwise.
11:04So be present and making them accountable.
11:08Actually, I love the concept when you said about the importance of being present because, yeah, you also raise a
11:15good point that it is also a political exercise rather than a legal exercise.
11:21So for us to be able to see the nuances in the complete context, it's important for us to really
11:27constantly follow the proceedings as everyday citizens.
11:30So thank you for reminding us that.
11:34So now if we zoom out a little bit and then let's take a look at our maturity, maturity of
11:40the political climate in the Philippines, both on the space of our elected officials and also the voters like me.
11:49Have we matured over time?
11:53Well, that's difficult to answer very straightforward.
11:59What we have our literature saying that the political behavior of individuals, both those in power and those who actually
12:09put them in power, vary.
12:12And the variety is caused by context, but a lot of things, space, time, in general context, the social, political
12:20and economic environment and so on.
12:23But let me explore a little bit on the political maturity of politicians.
12:31I think over time, we have been asking as a people, we have been asking for an anti-political dynasty
12:39law.
12:40And this is not just asking for anti-political dynasty law because there is a provision in the Constitution that
12:47still is unfulfilled, considering that a legislation by Congress is needed.
12:52But because we have already seen the effects of political dynasty hovering in communities and in populations and the direct
13:04relationship of political dynasty to poverty.
13:07I think the Ateneo Policy Center research on political dynasty from the thin to fat dynasties to the relationship of
13:19political dynasty and political families to economic situations of localities have littered already Philippine literature and Philippine political literature in
13:32particular.
13:33But it seems like the feeling of having the need to have the law is still very wanting among our
13:43politicians.
13:44For one, we understand that they will be the first ones to get the brunt of, so to speak, of
13:51having an anti-political dynasty law because they will be defining themselves.
13:57So in that case, this is just one scenario, this is just one condition and one circumstance.
14:03For me, the level of maturity of our politicians still is not that high.
14:08Or shall I say, many of our politicians have still relied on popularity, on family dynamics, on their family clout,
14:20on patronage as a means to get elected.
14:24So we have seen the scandals on flood control involving families and so on and so forth, how the economic
14:34bureaucrats have really conquered spaces within politics.
14:39They're not sitting there, but they're influencing so much with how budgets are allocated and so on.
14:45So that, for me, is my very crude assessment of politicians.
14:50On the other hand, I think for the voters, for the ordinary citizens, there is a certain strength going on
15:00in terms of the increasing level of maturity.
15:02And this has been aided by education, formal and informal education.
15:09People are trying to be informed and people are looking for ways to be informed.
15:14And for me, that is very positive.
15:16However, we are overtaken by a lot of information that are not properly filtered or are not properly processed or
15:31are spliced.
15:32Or we are overtaken.
15:34Our desire for information has been overtaken by shortcuts.
15:39Although in literature, we do accept shortcuts as a way for people to get information.
15:45Political psychology explores that quite deeply.
15:50However, if we are very reliant on cognitive shortcuts and we are unable to actually process very big information into
16:00something chewable and something that we can actually use for decision-making, then that becomes difficult.
16:05In this day and age when attention span is very short and there are available very short shortcuts in 30
16:14seconds or even in 10 seconds, you get information.
16:18And these are stored in our brains quite powerfully.
16:21And we are just unconscious that they are helping dictate the way we make political decisions or the way we
16:29look at the political landscape.
16:30Now, for me, even if there is this desire to be informed because we are overtaken by algorithms with shortcuts,
16:40then perhaps our political maturity is backsliding.
16:44Our political maturity is going back and forth.
16:47So this is the very reason why we need to not only be progressive in terms of our formal education,
16:57but even so with our civic education, our daily education on Philippine politics.
17:04Otherwise, we may be relying on absolute shortcuts that are not helpful in the way we process very complex political
17:12settings and situations.
17:14And I would agree with you about the importance of, which is related to what you raised earlier about presence.
17:20And this is translated also to everyday education rather than relying on soundbites or headlines or shortcuts, as you would
17:31say.
17:31So now, because you raised an important example, which is the House-approved anti-dynasty bill.
17:40And I'm just curious about what you also think about this one, because personally, I find the bill not exactly
17:48the anti-dynasty bill that I would have wanted to see,
17:52because it looks like this only prevents up to second degree of consanguinity.
17:57But my issue is not even there, but it's because it's also bounded by just locality.
18:03So meaning families can still take turns.
18:06And as long as they don't belong to the same locality, they can hold office simultaneously.
18:12So what are your thoughts about this?
18:14Is this something that will also move forward our maturity as a country?
18:22You know, the moment we seal this bill, we're actually snatching from the Filipinos the sense of understanding our own
18:36reality.
18:37What I'm saying is, if this bill gets to become a law, we're actually redefining political dynasty 360 degrees.
18:48We are absolutely telling people in our own consciences that the political dynasty we believe existed before isn't true.
18:59And we are redefining political dynasty as something relaxed and something beneficial.
19:05And this stifles already the capacity and the ability of us Filipinos to actually challenge institutions.
19:18So for me, the anti-political dynasty bill that was passed was actually sealing political dynasty, legalizing political dynasty.
19:28It's just a matter of nomenclature and it's a matter of defining context, so to speak, that that very scenario
19:38is not any more unpredictable.
19:41It is existing.
19:43We have we have already politicians, couples for that matter, who run in different districts just so that they can
19:54have the bandwagon of both areas.
19:56And for me, it's an insult to intellect and it's an insult to the capacity of the Filipino people to
20:04really know what political dynasty is.
20:06The very simplistic concept of political dynasty is familiar politics.
20:11And the very simple manifestation is when you share the same family name.
20:16And while the last family name and speaking of the last family name, because you may have various family names,
20:24but you just use the last family name.
20:27They may be different.
20:28But if you trace all of these families, they actually belong to very exclusive, very few families all over the
20:37country.
20:37I remember this book from PCIJ, it was published way, way back.
20:42But for me, it was a very powerful book because it traced different provinces and the dominant family names.
20:49Not because we're accusing them to be creating their own political dynasties, but the presence of similar families occupying different
21:00positions, even scattering themselves to different districts, to different municipalities, is itself a picture of what political dynasty could be.
21:13And if we have to talk about the effects of political dynasty, I think many literature has already proven that
21:23most political families dominating a locality almost always leave their people poor.
21:32And what could have been the reason?
21:35Is it because they're pocketing things?
21:37I don't think that's the more direct, but because development is very exclusive to areas or to people, to individuals
21:46belong to the same clique.
21:48We are yet to see development that is very much genuine in places in the country.
21:58Development in the Philippines has been very scattered, very popular, very sporadic.
22:04So it's very important for Filipinos to not just be happy that there is a political dynasty bill that has
22:11passed third reading, because I think that's what we have been wanting.
22:15Okay, there should be that bill to see the light of day.
22:19But more importantly, scrutinize that version or any version for that matter.
22:25And thank you for raising that, because I also agree that it looks misleading because it's entitled anti-dynasty bill.
22:34So for, again, going back to what you raised earlier, for everyday Filipinos who's not following this one or is
22:40not constantly present and are just dependent on the header or the title, it would look like this is what
22:46we are looking for.
22:47But, yeah, to your point, I also agree that this looks like more of an institutionalizing dynasty.
22:54For one, I know of a certain family who are scattered in different locations and all have legislative functions.
23:00So they can continue, even with the passing of the anti-dynasty law.
23:06If ever, this is going to graduate eventually to becoming a law.
23:09So now let's go to our party system also, because I learned somewhere, and I'm also curious about your thoughts.
23:18I've learned somewhere that among the reasons why our leaders just switch from one party to the other, depending on
23:26what's convenient to them, because our party system also is not strong.
23:32No, I'm also curious about what are your thoughts about our current political party system?
23:39Yeah, I will have to be bold to say that we don't really have a political party system in the
23:45Philippines.
23:46We have political parties to slate candidates during election.
23:51I think that we have, we have alliances of groups.
23:55But in terms of the party system, that is something we have not established, even way, way before, no?
24:01The Nationalista Party, the Federal, and so on and so forth, Partido Federal ng Pilipinas, they were one of the
24:09old parties.
24:12A political party system is supposed to, number one, articulate the interest of the people.
24:22So that's very basic.
24:24Why do you have political parties?
24:26Because you have people to represent.
24:28And the political party becomes a means, a vehicle, to slate politicians, slate candidates during elections, who will articulate those
24:41interests.
24:43That's very fundamental of a political party, of a political party system that must exist in a country.
24:49Representation.
24:50Number two, political party system is there to provide dynamics for dialogue.
24:57So that even if they don't get a position in government, political parties continue to exist because they do lobbying.
25:07They continue to push these interests to different institutions.
25:12And these institutions will have to provide them spaces through lobbying and so on and so forth.
25:18So political parties exist not only during election.
25:22So they are there for representation.
25:25They are actually there to continue what they're supposed to represent, even through lobbying.
25:30And number three, political parties are supposed to stand their ground.
25:33What I mean by this is why we have a political party system so that people will understand that in
25:41the country, there are stands that we have to make because there are circumstances that may be surrounding us.
25:50And this is very vital and very important.
25:55If we don't have political parties who actually work even beyond elections, then our party system is dead.
26:05And in the country now, that is the phenomenon we're seeing.
26:10We have political parties and we have political alliances who best slate candidates, but not necessarily do the first thing
26:20I said, which is to represent interest.
26:22They simply slate candidates.
26:25They simply slate candidates.
26:26They simply carry politicians.
26:28They simply bring politicians together.
26:31They simply accept donations to be used for campaigns, but they're not representing an interest.
26:38And this is one of the things I'd like to strongly underscore, that if our politics is not grounded in
26:47interest, our politics is highly personalistic and our politics is highly person-centered.
26:53So the moment we deviate from interest and we focus on the personality, we focus on individuals, then we are
27:05very personalistic in our approach.
27:08And what kind of policies do we expect from that?
27:12Policies that are also very much person-centered, very personalistic and never interest-driven.
27:19And I'm also actually hoping for the day that we would be electing platforms into office and not necessarily personalities,
27:30because I also agree with what you just said.
27:33That's why in the Philippines, it's just easy to switch from one party or the other.
27:37And the tendencies and the patterns, at least that I noticed, is people would switch to the ruling party.
27:43Always.
27:44Almost always.
27:45Almost always.
27:47Yeah, so that's why there is no check and balance.
27:49So just in case you would be given a chance to actually improve this particular area, because I really think
27:57that this is also one area that should be strengthened for us to mature as a country.
28:04What would be the changes that you would want to be in place?
28:11Well, that's a tough question.
28:13I know.
28:14I know.
28:15I know it's easier to be a political scientist than to think of being a politician, because your landscape changes,
28:21you know.
28:22But from the point of view of someone who has studied and who actually journeyed with people who do study
28:31our political, our electoral, and our government system, while we have very strong laws and while we have very strong
28:43integrity mechanisms,
28:45they are all there, I have to tell you, we are very poor in terms of implementation, number two, we
28:56have many laws, name it.
29:01And I think in one literature review, it says that the Philippines has almost complete laws compared to other countries.
29:10But we are still down to the same issue, poor implementation.
29:16And poor implementation actually results to poor accountability.
29:24So having that as premises, if given the chance, what we need to strengthen is to strengthen our implementation of
29:36our good laws and our good mechanisms and to really make people accountable.
29:44It is very difficult to convince people to believe in government, not because government is unable to perform its functions,
29:54but because government is so slow to make people accountable.
29:59For example, I am also a member of the Cebu anti-corruption coalition, and this coalition came about because of
30:09the flood control problems that the country have seen in the past year.
30:15While corruption has already been there for a long, long time, or older than you and I, I suppose.
30:22But it is because of the difficulty of government to make people and institutions accountable that it has led to
30:34deaths, it has caused lives, it has damaged properties.
30:40And even if we are seeing this year in, year out, we seem to have not learned the lesson.
30:47Since Tino, in November 4, 2025, people are asking, in Cebu in particular, who have we made accountable?
30:55And we have not seen one or two or three, because we are still ongoing investigation and so on and
31:02so forth.
31:03And we are layering all of these issues one after the other.
31:07So it is very important to implement laws properly and to make people and institutions accountable.
31:15And yes, I am one with you.
31:18I have yet to hear.
31:20And I think we don't even need to go far.
31:24We can just stay in Cebu, considering the effects of Tino, and that would have been enough pain to hold
31:30people accountable.
31:33But unfortunately, nothing has been significantly done in that area.
31:37The other thing also, and you can also comment on this, while I'm also seeing at least some big fishes
31:44that are being investigated.
31:47But the reason why I raised the party system, because it would appear like there's also a line.
31:53So that only this part are held accountable, but the other part is also not.
31:58And I'm also hoping for the day that it won't matter.
32:02There's no line in between.
32:03We can hold accountable regardless of which side they are in.
32:10It's very true.
32:12Okay.
32:13Sige, I thought you were going to say something.
32:16Yes.
32:17You know, when I hear stories of accountability being implemented in countries like Singapore, in Thailand,
32:24and these are our neighbors.
32:27We belong to the same playground, so to speak.
32:31I just really hope we share the same culture of accountability as theirs.
32:38It is seeing even the highest official of the land resign from office because of an accusation.
32:46But in the Philippines, you don't see that.
32:48I mean, I don't know if politicians do consider Filipinos just to be unable to remember what
32:58accusations are there or what courts have proven, but we keep on re-electing them to the same
33:06position, even higher than the previous one.
33:08You know, for me, it's very critical that Filipinos should always remember.
33:16As I've said, we have to be present.
33:18But of course, let us not leave yesterday just yesterday.
33:22Let us use information from the past as information to help us decide.
33:28Otherwise, we are repeating the same mistakes, and we are doing the same things over and over again.
33:35Although there are narratives to explain that perhaps people are just so tired,
33:41people are uneducated about certain things, or people have not seen changes anyway.
33:49So why bother change?
33:52But for me, hope begets hope.
33:56Let us not stop our learning and our yearning for learning, and let us not stop making ourselves
34:05accountable as well.
34:07And what do I mean by that?
34:08If election time comes, and we don't really see anything out of this politician from the
34:15previous term, then by all means, don't choose them.
34:20By all means, change your choice.
34:22Or by all means, have someone who can represent your interests be slated during election.
34:30And this is the kind of power that people have forgotten to utilize.
34:35People may have forgotten that the force is with them.
34:40The power of government emanates from people, from us.
34:44And people may have forgotten that while there are politicians who have the capacity to launch a campaign,
34:51and, you know, perhaps by people's vote, the general population has that power of numbers who can really slate someone
35:02who can carry their interests and have that space in government intended for them.
35:08Otherwise, we are going by the vicious cycle of having the same people over and over and over again.
35:16I'm actually enjoying this conversation.
35:19It looks like it would have been better if I just went to your area across and were having coffee
35:24instead.
35:25But anyhow, before we'll end our conversation, because I'm just reminded with everything that you just said also,
35:34especially the one recently, about how come also people did not notice that the party list system is supposed to
35:41be a representation of the marginalized sector.
35:44But I'm just surprised why people did not notice that the ones who are being elected under the party list
35:50system are no longer a good number of them.
35:54In fact, maybe nearing majority of them are no longer representation of marginalized sectors.
36:01For me, I don't want to put fault on people because they were just given choices, you know.
36:08For me, it's the fault of the educated.
36:11The ones who actually understood the law and did the workaround of the law and a maneuvering of the law
36:20to justify marginalization.
36:23Imagine security guards being marginalized.
36:27I don't question that at all, if indeed they are marginalized.
36:31But someone representing them, first nominee or second nominee, the son of a former president,
36:38then how come that is a valid representation?
36:41So for me, I don't put fault on people because by the interest put forward by the different partless groups,
36:50they seem to be legitimate.
36:52I mean, if you look at the communities around the country, there could be, and I'm using could,
37:00there could be some marginalization.
37:03But what's worse in the country, what's worse in the Philippines is the educated people,
37:09the ones who have a hand on government, the ones who have access to political spaces,
37:17the ones who can't make representation.
37:19They're the ones working around and justifying that their nomination is a valid representation of a marginalized group.
37:31That, for me, is a blunder.
37:33Sorry for the term.
37:35Why does it pay me, so to speak?
37:39Why is it so hurting?
37:41It's because we're fooling ourselves and we're fooling the Filipino people.
37:47In an ordinary farmer from an upland community, one has to travel 30 minutes to an hour from home to
37:56the nearest elementary school to actually vote.
38:01And I've seen this as a simple volunteer for over 20 years.
38:07Filipinos, you know, ordinary Filipinos, they try their best to perform their function, especially on Election Day.
38:15So an ordinary farmer, a Lolo or a Lola, will have to labor that hour walk one way to the
38:22elementary school to register.
38:23And you are given over 150 choices of party list groups.
38:30And they're scattered all over.
38:32They're not in any alphanumeric sequence for fairness purposes.
38:38They have almost similar names.
38:42We don't know who they are, what they represent.
38:45A mini-mine-mo will be best for someone who doesn't know one in the list.
38:50Or may just be, you know, pinpointing a choice of a party list group whose TARP has reached the Aplan
38:59Barangay.
39:00And that is one important representation that should have been optimized by the general Filipino public.
39:07So this is an appeal, so to speak.
39:10For the ones who have the access, for the ones who have the capability to represent, please spare the Filipinos.
39:23Give space for those who genuinely represent the marginalized.
39:28There are many of them, though.
39:30Women, children, farmers, fisher folk, urban communities.
39:40Political machinery has continuously invaded even the party list system.
39:47And when I speak of political machinery, I'm speaking of money.
39:50I'm speaking of political clouds.
39:52I'm speaking of political dynasties backing up and supporting party list groups.
39:58So this is an appeal.
40:00While the national election will still be in 2028, we still have over two years to prepare for that.
40:08We have to start now.
40:10Because our deadline should have been yesterday.
40:14Okay, so I'm enjoying what I said, this conversation.
40:18And hopefully we can have more of this as the impeachment, for example, would unfold.
40:22And other interesting developments in the country.
40:25But for now, Brinette, before we end this conversation, I'm also curious about what gives you hope about Philippine politics.
40:36Yeah, I think this is something very personal already.
40:40Not because I'm a teacher of political science, that's not all.
40:43If I was just a political science teacher, because I graduated from political science and I'm stuck with my students
40:51and my class,
40:53the perspective would be different.
40:56But personally, it is because of my engagement and my advocacies.
41:01And what realities I have seen firsthand when I am on ground.
41:05When people actually ask, who do I vote during this election?
41:10I mean, that is a very personal question.
41:13And asking another individual who to vote gives me a sense of hopelessness on this individual.
41:21That instead of thinking and processing and appreciating that freedom to choose, he or she relies on someone else.
41:28Maybe it's just too messy for one to process.
41:30So for me, seeing that example, seeing that scenario of someone on the ground when we go to our political
41:40education in parishes gives me hope that it's not about me.
41:47It's about the general population.
41:49Seeing people who suffer HIV and AIDS because they are unaware of the different benefits that government is supposed to
41:57provide them because they lack information.
42:01That gives me hope that there are people that needs information.
42:05They need to be cared for and need to be linked to care.
42:10That gives me hope.
42:11And when people continue to fight.
42:14I'm not expressing a violent fight, no, but people who still believe that things can be done and things can
42:25change.
42:25Though slow it may be a process, but as long as I see people who continue to fight on behalf
42:33of others and on behalf of the only Philippines we have, that gives me hope.
42:38So people on the ground, people who need to be cared for, and people who continue to fight.
42:45That gives me so much hope that despite the mess and despite our difficulty as a country, we can still
42:52have more for the Philippines.
42:54So thank you very much, Brinette, for your time and your expertise.
43:00And thank you for joining us today.
43:03And thank you, Coffee First, for supporting Conversations That Matter.
43:08So politics is not only about elections, parties, or public officials.
43:13It's also about citizenship, participation, and the choices we make as a society.
43:21The future of any democracy depends not only on those who seek public office, but also on those people like
43:30us who choose them.
43:32So I'm DJ Moises.
43:33This is Beyond the Headlines.
43:35Have a good afternoon.
43:42It starts with a fresh shot of espresso.
43:46Bold.
43:47Rich.
43:48Bold.
43:49Just right.
43:51Then comes the milk, steamed smooth, creamy, and balanced.
43:57The perfect latte is not brushed.
44:00It is crafted.
44:01One cup at a time.
44:03Your perfect latte is ready.
44:06Coffee first.
44:07Then, everything else.
44:22Thanks.
44:24Peace.
44:25Smells good.
44:31Now.
44:33Sounds good.
44:35Such a chicken.
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