The Philippine Left, within the context of the political spectrum, will always be there. However, the organizations/personalities of the Left historically changes as the political changes. Currently, those in the legal Left, including Makabayan, Bayan Muna, etc. that identifies with the CPP brand of Left politics, are prospering. The underground armed Left groups are the ones that are being left behind, except in some areas in Southern Philippines where the rationale for armed struggle still resonates with the people. The reason is simple: there simply is no compelling logic nor a critical mass for a protracted armed struggle.

Thank you so much Sir Mon! Nakatulong po talaga 🙂

Hi Justine,
Hereunder are my answer to your questions:

1. “Political maturity” is an elusive concept as it depends on a myriad of factors (nature of state, political history, context of a political event, role of political actors, etc) that, individually, may or may not have a decisive impact on a people’s response to a given political situation. It is therefore a relative concept that needs to be defined in a given stage of political development of a society. In the current post-Marcos democracy, we often refer to the transcendence of voters from traditional politics of “guns, goons and gold” and their self-realization of their sovereign power as people as an indicator of political maturity.

2. For me, political maturity, aside from the preceding points I mentioned, requires citizens to participate in both elections (voters, monitors, candidates, or campaigners) and governance (active participation in engagement with government, monitoring government performance, building democratic practices and institutions, and political party building).

3. Filipinos, as citizens, are in transition. A significant percentage (maybe a majority) are prepared to participate in democratic elections and governance. They may vote on basis of platform and programs, possibly join political parties, and other political activities within the context of a democratic society. The rest are still within the bounds of traditional politics.

Greetings!

We are a group of undergraduate students majoring in Psychology from De La Salle University and are currently conducting a study on political maturity. This is in partial fulfillment of our thesis requirement in our Psychology degree program. Our study seeks to define the term political maturity given our proposed theoretical framework which consists of three components: political awareness (cognitive component), political preferences (affective component), and political participation (behavioral component). In this light, we would like to ask the following questions:
1. What is your understanding of political maturity?
2. What other terms do you associate political maturity with? What is your understanding of these terms?
3. Do you think Filipinos are politically mature? Why or why not?

Learning about your expertise in the fields of Political Psychology and/or Political Science, your insights will greatly be appreciated and will surely contribute in the further understanding and development of our study. Rest assured that your responses will be used solely for our study and will be given proper citations. Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact any of us. Our contact details are provided under our names below.

Hoping for your kind support and favorable response. Thank you very much and God bless. We remain

In St. La Salle,

JOSE MIGUEL V. MORENO
III-AB Psychology & BSC Legal Management
migimoreno417@gmail.com
+63922-899-6985

JUSTINE S. PAZ
IV-AB Psychology
justine_paz@dlsu.ph.com/ justine_paz018@yahoo.com +63905-230-8187

BRYAN JOSEPH G. UY
III-AB Psychology & BSC Marketing Management
bryan_uy@dlsu.ph / bryanjosephgouy@yahoo.com +63917-829-8110