opened the door for the recognition of peoples organizations and their role in official governance...
TRANSCRIPT
Opened the door for the recognition of people’s organizations and their role in official governance through the party-list system
Also made people’s organizations vulnerable to violent attacks by unofficial state assassins
State power is being shared, even as a token, but nevertheless shared, with representatives and leaders of mass movements
The real hope lies in deepening the processes of democratization, to strengthen and widen grassroots citizens’ movements which can act as an effective countervailing force against the economic, political and military domination of the oligarchy
Social Movements should be active in their engagement with the legislative and executive agencies in advancing the people's agenda
And with local government units for strengthening and consolidation of grassroots political power
Links and unity and struggle with various interest and professional groups, not just class-based political movements, should be established and firmed up
should always be a principled one
must maintain its high moral ground
should never imitate the practices of corrupt traditional politicians and the parties of the elite, just to win power
should not ride on the money machines of the elite
should show that it is the genuine people’s alternative to the corrupt patronage politics of the oligarchy
State power and the political system could become a means to defuse the militancy of the people’s movement by making too many concessions to other social classes
Embarking on compromises with elite factions is often considered a risk one must take in taking the electoral road to power and social change
Not just to provide check and balance in the state or to share power
Develop local and national leaders for the emergence of a genuine political party of the non-elite to challenge oligarchic power
Unify the diverse forces behind a coherent program and truly broad political movement
Elections at the national and local levels should not be a mere contest among the factions of the oligarchs or bureaucrat capitalists, among whom we are made to choose from. The real struggle is between continued oligarchic rule and exploited/oppressed masses.
Real power is not in state power per se. Real power is in grassroots movements seeking to wrest control of economic and political power from the oligarchs.
"Organization is the weapon of the weak against the strong."
- Robert Michels,
Political Parties