Excerpt from
Democrats vs Nacionalistas– the differences between the two parties and their main policies
by Julia Demonstrado (on the Inquirer)
November 6, 2016
The Democrats' symbol is a blue tamaraw, while the Nacionalistas' is the green eagle.
As the Filipino people decide whether Democrat Francis Pangilinan vs. Nacionalista Sonny Angara, we're going to see the differences between the two parties and their policies.Democrats vs Nacionalistas– the differences between the two parties and their main policies
by Julia Demonstrado (on the Inquirer)
November 6, 2016
The Democrats' symbol is a blue tamaraw, while the Nacionalistas' is the green eagle.
The Democratic Party, 1946-present
The Democratic party is the more fiscally progressive party, meaning it advocates larger government and higher taxes for higher earners.
The Nacionalista Party, 1907-present
On the following issues, Democrats and Nacionalistas are almost the same as each other:
- Gun control: Both consider gun ownership as a right, but favor gun control measures such as background checks, semi-automatic and automatic assault rifle bans.
- Voting: Ever since the Voting Rights Act (VRA) 1955, both consider voting as both a right and a responsibility. Voting IDs have been rendered moot since the VRA mandated the use of a national database for all voters to determine voter identity, which became much easier with the advent of advanced technology in the 1990s.
- Abortion: Both parties want to maintain the total abortion ban in the country.
- Sex: Both favor traditional marriage, and reject the usage of contraceptives by unmarried people. However, contraception is favor by both parties for married people as part of the nation's family planning program. Homosexuality is believed to be illegal by both parties but any assault against homosexuals is banned, and homosexuals go to treatment centers, but electroshock therapy has been banned since 1973, when all forms of torture were ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court [1].
- Government: Both favor a strong government to ensure a fair economy.
- Death penalty: Both are against the death penalty.
- Health care: Both favor the National Health System (NHS), a government insurance system connected to thousands of health centers across the country, established in 1948. However, the NHS still allows treatment from private providers that are regulated by the government [2].
- Civil rights: Both are avid supporters of civil rights regardless of race, sex, nationality and religion.
- Individual vs. Collective rights and responsibilities: Both favor a balance between the two, reflected in efforts to root out welfare fraud while preventing those who deserve welfare from losing their share.
HISTORY OF THE TWO PARTIES
However, the two parties had different ideologies when the country first became sovereign in 1946. That time, the Democratic Party was actually the more fiscally conservative party, while the Nacionalista Party was the more fiscally progressive party. In fact, Nacionalista Sergio Osmeña, the Fourth President of the Philippines, was the one who passed the National Health Care Act (NHCA) of 1949, and the majority of Nacionalista were in favor of the law. Meanwhile, the majority of Democrats at the time were against the law, a deed unthinkable for most Democrats today.
However, President Sergio Osmeña's failure to combat the Hukbalahap communist rebellion in the early 1950s discredited his brand of Nacionalista progressivism. From 1950, as the Nacionalistas lost power throughout the decade until 1956, moderate conservative Nacionalistas such as Diosdado Macapagal rapidly replaced Nacionalista progressives and finally managed to become a mostly moderately conservative party by the end of the 1950s.
On the Democratic side, Sergio Osmeña's victory in 1948 over the conservative Democrat Elpidio Quirino discredited that wing of the party, and the social democrats under President José Avelino, the Fifth President of the Philippines, took over the party, successfully transforming it into a progressive party from the 1950 midterm elections by successfully mounting primary challenges against conservative Democrats, as the Tamaraw Party won election after election until 1956 on the back of , making the Democrats almost purely progressive by 1956.
Oh well, change can be that rapid. So, that's basically how our country's politics evolved, and the fact is that Democrats are mainly progressive and Nacionalistas are mainly conservative (though not by much). Whichever party you prefer, though, progress would still be achieved in our country.
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[1]. Edit: I've removed the changes to attitudes to homosexuality. Both are vehemently against it.
[2]. Single payer, but since the government is so extensive in building hospitals and health centers, it essentially becomes like the British NHS, though unlike the NHS, there is more freedom to have a private practitioner.
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