Dynastic politics hurts Philippine progress

The recent Philippine election results reflect the continuing dominance of family dynasties in the nation’s political arena, despite a constitutional anti-dynasty mandate.

Of the 12 elected senators, nine belong to President Benigno Aquino III’s Liberal Party-led coalition, and three from the opposition. At least nine of the new senators come from well-entrenched political dynasties.

Benigno "Bam" Aquino IV is the president’s first cousin. This is not surprising as the Aquino dynasty has been around for 100 years spanning four generations.

Their great-grandfather, Servillano Aquino, was elected representative in the first Philippine legislature in the late 19th century. His son, Benigno Sr., was elected to the American colonial legislature in 1919. Benigno Sr.’s son, Benigno "Ninoy" Jr., the current president’s father, was elected Philippine senator in 1969 and was favored as the next president until then-President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law in 1972. Ninoy was assassinated in 1986 upon returning to Manila after three years of U.S. exile.

His widow, Corazon, was installed president by the 1986 "People Power Revolution" that ousted and exiled Marcos to Hawaii.

Another fourth-generation Aquino, Kris, a media icon and sister to the president, has indicated she might go into politics.

Senatorial winner from the opposition, J.V. Ejercito, is a son of former President Joseph Estrada, who was impeached by Congress and ousted as president in 2001, only to re-surface as mayor of Manila in the last election.

Another opposition senator, Nancy Binay, is the daughter of current Vice President Jejomar Binay, a frontrunner in the 2016 presidential election.

The congressional and local elections nationwide show an even-more intense pattern of dynastic power.

The Marcos dynasty, despite its record of monumental plunder, easily won with Imelda, widow of Ferdinand, re-elected as Ilocos Norte congresswoman, and their daughter, Imee, as governor. Imelda’s son "Bongbong" Marcos is a Philippine senator.

In Ilocos Sur province, 14 of the Singson clan led by kingpin Luis Singson won various provincial and municipal seats.

Why the persistence of dynastic power in the Philippines?

A 2007 study, led by political scientist Sheila Coronel at the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, identified "Seven Ms of Philippine Dynasty Building," namely: 1) Money; 2) Machine; 3) Media and/or Movies; 4) Marriage; 5) Murder and Mayhem; 6) Myth Making; and 7) Mergers (Alliances).

These are interlocking patterns that mobilize enormous resources for violence, intimidation, vote- buying, patronage, corruption, alliances, private armies and other practices to ensure the dominance of elite rule.

Ironically, the Philippines has been touted as a "showcase of democracy in Asia" because of its experience with democratic institutions under American colonial rule. A National Assembly election was held in 1907, followed by the Philippine Senate. And Philippine independence was regained peacefully when U.S. rule ended.

Regular elections were held since 1946 except during Marcos’ regime in 1972 through 1986. Various military coup attempts after the Marcos overthrow failed, indicating the Filipino people’s commitment to democracy.

But the country’s "democratic system" has been unable to fix its structural weaknesses like the economic and social institutions that perpetuate cycles of poverty, illiteracy, corruption, inequality and resistance to progressive change.

The economy has vastly improved in recent years, but meaningful social equality, economic security and political stability have not been achieved. Real democracy is, at best, an illusion.

Even when old dynasties die, new ones are born. A classic example is world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao, who beat a well-entrenched dynasty in Mindanao in the 2010 elections. He could have used his newfound power to democratize his province’s dynastic politics. Instead, he fielded his wife, Jinkee, who had no political experience, as vice governor of Saran-gani Province. She won.

The Philippines is now the world’s 12th-largest country. Its major challenge is to become a much stronger social, economic and political democracy.