273 Southeast Asian Studies, Vol. 1, No. 2, August 2012, pp. 273–299 © Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University Hidden Transcripts from “Below” in Rural Politics of the Philippines: Interpreting the Janus-facedness of Patron-Client Ties and Tulong (Help) Soon Chuan Yean* This paper argues that ordinary people often contest rather than submit to the powerful elites to gain material interests and political favoritism. Ordinary people are both shrewd and critical in making judgments and evaluations on politicians as well as the (unequal) relation of powers. Based on fieldwork interviews in the Philippines, this paper identifies the perception of (local) politics from ordinary people’s point of view in a seemingly mundane political environment. If the political economic imperative of tulong, or help, is decoded to include its social meanings, functions, and cultural connotation, it reveals the Janus-facedness of patron-client ties that allows for a negotiation of power relations between clients and patrons. Keywords: Janus-facedness, local politics, ordinary people, patron-client ties, Tanauan City, tulong Introduction A review of Philippine political studies reveals the researchers’ emphasis on the role of the powerful gentry—political and economic elites—and silencing of the powerless people’s voices to understand the structure of Philippine politics. The bases of the arguments emanate from facets of Philippine political culture such as kinship relations, compadre (godparents)-ism, utang na loob (debt of gratitude), hiya (shame), and walang hiya (shameless), functioning under the rubric of patron-client ties (Agpalo 1969; Lande 1965; Hollnsteiner 1963), which allows for a hierarchical arrangement between the elites and the masses. 1) According to traditional arguments, elites retain control over political offices and the economy, while the masses are passive, submissive, and dependent on their patrons. Hence, the elites dominate political change and development while the masses—either susceptible to material inducement or subscribing to guns, goons, and gold—are mere followers, inarticulate in political contestation. * 孫傳煙, School of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia e-mail: chuanyean@usm.my 1) “Ordinary people,” “masses,” “the poor,” and “subordinates” will be used interchangeably in this paper.