Enough of Oligarchical Control: A Call for Equity and Social Justice
In his encyclical Laudato Si, His Holiness the late Pope Francis asked a piercing question: “In a world full of food, why are so many still going hungry?” This is not just a philosophical question—it’s backed by harsh realities. Today, over 821 million people around the world—mostly in Asia—live in extreme poverty. Their children are malnourished. In a world of abundance, we must ask: Who controls this abundance? Who profits from it? Who makes the decisions?
The answer is disturbing: Just 1% of the world’s population holds more wealth than the 99%—roughly 8 billion people—combined. In the United States alone, the eight richest families have the same amount of wealth as 3.6 billion people worldwide, according to an Oxfam study. This obscene level of inequality is the direct result of the dominant global economic system: Neo-liberal Capitalism, powered by corporate globalization.
This system, which glorifies profit above all else, has captured the mindset of governments, institutions, universities, the mainstream media, and even religious groups. It has buried humanity under a culture of unchecked materialism and consumerism. This mindset has become a monstrous parasite—one that, if left unchallenged, will destroy all life on the planet. For in this paradigm, both Mother Earth and humanity are sacrificed at the altar of greed and profit.
Did you know that 1,000 hectares of Arctic and Antarctic ice melt every day? These glaciers—some over 386 meters thick—are rapidly disappearing, causing global sea levels to rise. Studies predict that in just 20 years, sea levels in the Philippine archipelago could rise by 16 meters, leaving only 3,000 islands intact and displacing around 41 million Filipinos. Even the Mekong Delta, Asia’s so-called “Third Pole,” may vanish—threatening the irrigation of millions of hectares of rice fields, including those that supply the Philippines’ annual 2.5 million metric tons of rice imports.
Mother Earth—Gaia—is dying. We are now facing what scientists call the Sixth Mass Extinction, the first since an asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. But this time, the cause is not natural. It is human-made. It is said that Homo sapiens may be the most flawed of all God’s creation, having caused the deaths of over 150 million people in the 20th century alone through world wars and violence. Thousands of scientists are sounding the alarm: the Earth is standing on the edge of a cliff—just one minute before midnight.
Before it’s too late, we must critically examine the current development paradigm. Neo-liberal Capitalism, a growth-at-all-costs model, is like a giant running off-balance. To keep from collapsing, it must keep running—and in doing so, it tramples everything in its path: communities, forests, rivers, oceans, farmland, the ozone layer, glaciers—even people.
This system is like a disease—an AIDS-like virus attacking the Earth’s vital organs. It promotes a culture of ruthless materialism and selfish accumulation, where money isn’t used to improve life but only to generate more money. In the Philippines, this is seen in the form of block capitalism, where the economy is dominated by cartels and oligarchs—controlled by just 400 families. Globally, 8 billionaires hold more wealth than half of humanity. Again, this is not opinion—it’s based on Oxfam’s research.
Our country has become a dumping ground for finished products and a source of cheap raw materials, trapped in an extractive economic model. One must ask: where have all our forests and mineral resources gone? They have been exploited and shipped off to highly industrialized countries. This continues because our country remains in a neo-colonial state, having been a colony of imperial powers for centuries.
Given this reality, change is not only necessary—it is urgent. Many people now demand change, but the question remains: how? What we need is economic transformation—one that rejects the flawed development paradigm we currently follow. One powerful alternative is cooperativism. But why cooperativism?
Cooperatives, by nature, nurture, and law, are designed to promote inclusive prosperity. They are members-owned, value-driven, and focused on sustainability. At a time when development is often for mere economic growth, cooperatives prioritize human development—unlocking human potential and putting people at the center of progress.
This commitment is reflected in how cooperatives use their surplus. Around 10% goes to the Cooperative Education and Training Fund (CETF), 3% to the Community Development Fund (CDF), and another 3% for direct community needs. These funds are used to feed malnourished children, rehabilitate damaged ecosystems, and provide essential medical services to Indigenous Peoples, the poor, and other vulnerable groups.
Cooperatives operate from a mindset that values the human being not just as a body but as an embodied spirit—where service, democracy, compassion, wisdom, and spiritual values are cultivated for the good of all, not for individual gain. As sustainable entities, cooperatives represent a crucial shift in a world plagued by unsustainable systems—both ecological and economic. Experts warn that without fundamental change, our global system may collapse within a century due to global warming, melting ice caps, rising sea levels, and mass extinction—all while economic power remains in the hands of a few.
Recognizing this, the United Nations, through its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—such as ending hunger and poverty, advancing social justice, protecting the environment, and promoting peace—has identified cooperatives as key agents of transformation for people, planet, prosperity, and peace.
The 1987 Constitution unequivocally declares that “the State shall promote social justice in all phases of national development.” Yet, decades later, this declaration remains largely rhetorical in a society dominated by oligarchs, cartels, and conglomerates who wield both economic and political power—because economic dominance inevitably breeds political control. Enough is enough. The time has come to end the rampant inequality and deep social injustices. The poor and the marginalized must now unite and assert their collective strength to bring those excluded into the center of national development. Only through genuine people empowerment can we dismantle the rule of the oligarchs and give real meaning to the constitutional principle that “sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them.”
To the oligarchs: stop disguising yourselves as ELECTRIC COOPERATIVES. Electricity is a basic necessity—essential to life itself—and must remain under the democratic control of the people, the member-consumer-owners (MCOs), not manipulated for your massive profits. If you truly desire a better world, then be the change—one that serves people, protects the planet, promotes shared prosperity, and fosters peace.
