Shadows of Power: A History of Corruption in the Philippines: Power, Betrayal, and Reform Through Five Centuries
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Shadows of Power: A History of Corruption in the Philippines: Power, Betrayal, and Reform Through Five Centuries
Sale price
$24.99
Regular price $29.99
From empire to populism, a gripping story of power, betrayal, and reform in the Philippines — told through five centuries of corruption and conscience.
Across the span of Philippine history, from the Spanish friars to the digital halls of Malacañang, corruption has never simply been a crime — it has been a culture. In Shadows of Power: A History of Corruption in the Philippines, architect and writer Luzviminda Santos traces how greed and power have shaped every chapter of the nation’s past — and how ordinary citizens continue to resist it.
Written in a vivid, modern narrative style, Shadows of Power reveals the continuity of political deceit beneath the surface of changing regimes. Santos examines the friar estates of the colonial period, the comprador elites of the American occupation, the crony capitalism of the Marcos dictatorship, and the populist theatrics of the 21st century — culminating in the ongoing corruption scandals under the Duterte and Marcos Jr. administrations.
Yet amid this long shadow, the book also finds light: reformers, whistleblowers, journalists, and citizens who have dared to challenge the system.
Deeply researched and powerfully told, Shadows of Power is both a history and a mirror — asking how a nation built on revolution continues to wrestle with its own moral inheritance.
Ideal for readers of:
Across the span of Philippine history, from the Spanish friars to the digital halls of Malacañang, corruption has never simply been a crime — it has been a culture. In Shadows of Power: A History of Corruption in the Philippines, architect and writer Luzviminda Santos traces how greed and power have shaped every chapter of the nation’s past — and how ordinary citizens continue to resist it.
Written in a vivid, modern narrative style, Shadows of Power reveals the continuity of political deceit beneath the surface of changing regimes. Santos examines the friar estates of the colonial period, the comprador elites of the American occupation, the crony capitalism of the Marcos dictatorship, and the populist theatrics of the 21st century — culminating in the ongoing corruption scandals under the Duterte and Marcos Jr. administrations.
Yet amid this long shadow, the book also finds light: reformers, whistleblowers, journalists, and citizens who have dared to challenge the system.
Deeply researched and powerfully told, Shadows of Power is both a history and a mirror — asking how a nation built on revolution continues to wrestle with its own moral inheritance.
Ideal for readers of:
- The Marcos Dynasty: The Dark Legacy by Carmen Navarro Pedrosa
- Blood, Sweat, and Chrome by Edward Gross & Mark A. Altman
- Greed & Betrayal: The Sequel to the 1986 EDSA Revolution by Cecilio T. Arillo
- The MARCOS Dynasty: The Corruption of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos by Sterling Seagrave
- Debunked: Uncovering hard truths about EDSA, Martial Law, Marcos, Aquino, with a special section on the Duterte Presidency by Rigoberto D. Tiglao
- Scholars, journalists, and Filipinos everywhere seeking to understand why corruption endures — and what must change for it to finally end.