REFLECTION ON THE TENSION BETWEEN MONARCHISM AND LIBERALISM

IN EUROPE, AMERICA, AND SPAIN AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON THE

PHILIPPINES
Submitted by Marwin Joyce Odita

18th and 19th century had been difficult times in the Europe, America, and Spain.
Several wars had happened and need for reform rose. The civil war happened in America
after it was triggered by Abraham Lincoln, countries in Europe were seeking a more
responsible government, and Spain fight to have representation.
Revolutions happened in these countries and I believe that it had influence the
Philippines. Filipinos began to see themselves as one people and began to acquire a sense of
individuality, and took a step to fight their rights to freedom from the Spanish colonial rule.
In territorial states such as the Philippines, where peoples of different ethnicities and
cultures are forced into a nation through Western colonialism, we need a king to be a symbol
and driver of unity among a divided nation. We need just one person to fight for the
conflicting needs of the hundreds of distinct local cultures.
Monarchs are educated and trained in every subject and aspect of society; from birth,
their upbringing and education is geared toward ruling. They can easily solve gentrification
by awarding more land to the upper and middle class, or maybe even taking the land
themselves; or resolve cultural conflicts by reciting a speech; or extinguish economic
problems by allowing foreign investors to steal territory. Oh, all the things that only a
monarchy could do.
As leader, the monarch can indeed defend our freedom as a nation, in exchange for
some of our personal freedoms, such as the right to vote, since that wouldn’t be necessary
anymore; as well as the right to free speech, assembly, pre-trial release, and due process; and
the right against arbitrary arrest, torture, capital punishment, ex post facto laws, and
extradition, among others. In addition, the monarch as general-in-chief can increase police
and military presence in order to make citizens believe they are protecting the nation from
terrorists and outside invaders, when in reality they are just defending the government from
detractors.
In our current state, where we are plagued by the COVID-19 crisis and the rise in
injustice and immorality, we need to look to someone like a monarch to be our inspiration
and guide, to be the one to provide all the solutions.
When we need a role model of justice and morality, the monarch can be our one
exemplar. The monarch is our paragon of morality because they are legally entitled to have
mistresses throughout the course of their reign and are privileged to sexualize women in
speech and in practice. The monarch is our baton of justice precisely since they are free to
advance the interests of the kingdom, and will do anything for the beloved land, even kill
their top opponents.