Angela Justine C.

Arugay
11338962

GREATWK C39
March 19, 2015

The Philippine society is facing a lot of issues and difficulties at present, both national
and international. Issues such as the Mamasapano Massacre, scandals involving government
officials, the never ending corruption in the government, the incapacity of our incumbent
President and the appeal for our incumbent president to resign, and the territorial dispute and the
incapability of our military forces to defend our country from China and other threats. All of
these serve as hindrance in alleviating the current condition of our country.
According to Machiavelli in chapter 18, a prince must be a fox to spot the snares and a
lion to fend off the wolves. A prince must be wise and cunning enough to perceive threats and a
brave and strong enough to defend himself and his state from those threats. I believe that our
present government officials do not have these traits because if they have these traits, the issues
concerning our country should have already been solved or should already have a proposed
solution. Being able to foresee threats would become a valuable trait for a leader and because he
can prevent it from becoming bigger threats and that he is wise enough not to depend on other
people for decisions concerning his state. While being able to foresee threats is a valuable trait,
being able to defend oneself and ones state is important as well. In modern times, these are the
military forces of ones country which, unfortunately, our country lacks and is dependent to other
countries, particularly the United States. Machiavelli stated in chapter that it is far better to be
feared than loved although it would be preferable to be both. But too much fear can cause the
people to hate the prince and this hatred leaves an opportunity for conspirators to overthrow the
current prince as was stated in chapter 19. An example is the former president Ferdinand Marcos.
During his regime, which lasted for 20 years, he instilled too much fear by letting the military do
as they wish, imprisoning and killing people who would bad mouth him and his administration.
The people hated him and in turn started the EDSA People Power Revolution I which ended the
Marcos regime. Another example is President Benigno Aquino III (PNoy). People loved and
adored him because of his parents who were heroes of the Philippines and his promises to
eradicate poverty and corruption. After the Mamasapano Massacre, people started to hate him
because they believe that he is not capable of leading our country anymore and that they feel that
their security is threatened.
Machiavelli says that it is better for a prince to be loved and feared, but in the course that
being both is not possible, being feared is better than being loved. But a leader must be careful of
being feared too much because if this fear turns to hate, then this could cause his downfall. A
leader should be loved by his subjects and his people but feared enough and not seen as easily
overthrown so that the few who do conspire against him would not dare to dethrone him. If a
leader does not have these qualities, he must appear to have them for the majority of people
believe in what they see and only a few believe in what they feel. A leader should also choose his
advisers carefully because having an adviser that can damage ones reputation would ruin ones
reign. A leader must provide security to his subjects and his people because people would hate
their leader once they feel that security is lost. A Machiavellian leader establishes a resilient
relationship with his subjects and his people because his power comes from them. I believe our
country needs a Machiavellian leader that would alleviate our countrys current situation and the
future problems that we would face and would help our country progress. He needs to be feared
and loved in order for the people to believe in him. He must be respected by his subjects and his
countrymen. I believe that these traits should manifest in the next leader of our country.