Caciquismo is a Latin American term for bossism or warlordism. This is evident when local chieftains palisade their own jurisdictions with blood and carve their own obtuse laws and regulations that are implemented by their private armies or goons. The Philippines is a mere playground for bloodlust warlords.
The assassination of Negros Oriental governor Roel Degamo and the killings of eight other individuals on Saturday, March 4, 2023 could be an effect of a Filipino-style caciquismo. The brazen killings in the Central Visayas province have dwarfed other big issues that the country is facing, such as the International Criminal Court’s drug war probe and the frequent Chinese incursion into the West Philippine Sea.
Degamo’s death could simply be dismissed as merely a paint that smeared the political canvas of Negros Oriental. But the issue is deeper than that, and its hue is darker still. His death cemented the country’s status as that of a post-war Latin America that inherited nothing but the carnage of cartels and mafias of former colonial masters. For many of us who profess to have tasted the fruits of American democracy, think again. That kind of democracy is a huge blunder.
Some of the eight individuals who were slain during the attack belonged to the poorest of the poor, as evidenced by their being members of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps. Their names will remain unsung. It is always the poor and the innocent who will suffer when the high lords play their games.
What the country saw was a massacre of defenseless individuals by rogue individuals with high-powered firearms inside a private compound during a public gathering.
Caciquism inflicts terror this way: Choose one political side, and the next day you’ll be stepping on the edge of death and life.
The discourse on human rights is often disregarded until events such as the Degamo assassination, the Maguindanao and Mendiola massacres, bring it to the forefront. Then, after a short silence when the living bury their dead, the people get on with their lives.
As Filipino apathy looms, perhaps there is another politician who tightens his grip on power and prepares to emerge as a warlord.