How Do We Know If Democracy Is Dying?
By: Jess Brugada
Tags: Philippines, Current Events, Activism, Opinion, Democracy

The principle of democracy is founded on three values — participation, representation, and accountability. Democracy cannot exist if one value is missing. In the Philippines, while we can say that we continue to uphold the participation and representation side of things — not much can be said of the third one.

So how do we know if democracy is dying?

Democracy is dying when the supposedly equal branches of government are not doing its purpose. Our constitution made sure that there will be no abuse of power by creating three branches of government — executive, legislative, and judiciary — to keep each other in check. Now we have executive powers being dominant and getting away with what they want, the legislative sector acting as a support and the judiciary branch being next to non-existent. Who will tell those in powers that they are going too far? Who will remind them that what they are doing is unconstitutional? We all know the answer.

Democracy is dying when the government is trying to take control of the media. One would say that the media is the bloodline of democracy, allowing people to know everything they need to know while also providing different perspectives that are vital in discourse. When the government is starting to silence the media, take away their ability to inform people because of petty reasons just so they can have a monopoly of information and propaganda — you better be wary. Nevermind the fact that they did not target all media companies at once. If they did it before, they’ll do it again for those who would not comply with what they want.

Democracy is dying when critical thinking is considered dangerous. When people who are trying to voice out their opinions and concerns against the government are being demonized for not being “grateful” enough thus discrediting their valid inputs, you need to think twice. You have high ranking officials telling that the youth has no business meddling with the matters of the country’s future. Every medium of discourse is flooded with trolls that do nothing but be a sheep to the government’s propaganda. Democracy is founded on the maxim “government by the people, for the people” so when we are stuck in a place designed to restrict our thoughts and cannot even make our voices heard, is the government really for the people anymore?

Democracy is dying when freedom of speech is being limited or worse, punished. We all know that every freedom has its limits as long as you are stepping on other people’s rights, but to go far as compromising people’s privacy and punishing someone just because they are a vocal critic? That is not how it should be. It is just encouraging people to be careful with what they are saying because one wrong word and you’re going to jail. The government should be afraid of what we can do, not the other way around. They can brand the laws to convince it’s for battling terrorism, but if we leave the definition to them, singling out activists would be really convenient.

So look around and think about what is happening. The very form of government our heroes worked hard to earn for is crumbling right in front of our eyes. Instead of focusing on the task at hand i.e. making the Philippines a better and safe place to live, they make sure that no one can hold them accountable so that they can do whatever they want. Accountability is dead. Democracy is on life support and those crooked men and women disguised as leaders are eager to pull the plug.

Imagine living in a democratic country yet you are being demonized for criticizing your own government.

Soon enough we don’t need to imagine anymore.