Political dynasties breed on pork barrel

One of the major issues that permeated the Filipino mind while I was out in Rome is the issue on political dynasties. History has taught us that people from all over the world have long wanted political dynasties to disappear from the face of the earth, especially dynasties that contribute nothing to their nation. The long line of Chinese dynasties from the Qin, the Han, the Ming, Shun etc. contributed nothing to the people in their time. You want to talk about Egyptian dynasties? Nah, we’ll run out of space!

So the first question is: “Should we get rid of our political dynasties? If so, how do we get rid of these dynasties?” If dynasties are truly bad for our country, why is it that the Filipino people are tolerating them for so long? Many Chinese dynasties were overthrown by the people for they were no longer of any consequence to people’s lives. But on the other hand, the people followed new leaders to overthrow their old and bad ones, only to realize that they were mere instruments in installing the next dynasty.

Perhaps what is needed today is a comprehensive study on Philippine political dynasties and their advantages or disadvantages to nation building. There are many places in this country that have been ruled only by one family for many generations… and the people in these respective localities just have no other choice but to vote for the present political family. But when the family grows… like what we saw in Danao City, 30 kilometers north of Cebu City, the Durano political dynasty has broken into several pieces… the opposition is a Durano and the present rulers are Duranos.

In an effort to rid this nation of political dynasties, I learned that a week ago, anti-crime crusader Dante Jimenez of Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption, and Atty. Leonardo de Vera have filed a petition to the Supreme Court (SC) seeking a writ of mandamus against the Senate and the House of Representatives to “force” them to enact a law prohibiting and defining political dynasties as mandated by Article 11, Section 26 of the Constitution. With the current lineup of Justices in the Supreme Court that hasn’t shown any independence from the Executive Branch since the ouster of SC Chief Justice Renato Corona, this petition is akin to a wolf howling at the moon at the height of the full moon! It is a quixotic albeit useless quest!

In all honesty, this particular provision in the 1987 Constitution was one of the major reasons why I was totally against this Constitution and even up to this day… I’m still seeking Charter changes in the hope that we would truly come up with a Constitution that would work for the benefit of the Filipino people… and not the benefit of the current elite political class.

At this point, I would rather suggest to Atty. Dante Jimenez or Atty. De Vera to use that provision in the 1987 Constitution against itself, that provision called the People’s Initiative. But then, this was shot down way back in 1997 when the SC decided that this provision doesn’t have an enabling law to make it work. That’s strike two against the 1987 Constitution! So this brings us back to square one!

Perhaps the better part for us Filipinos to do is to seek the removal of the hated pork barrel which is, in my book, the principal motivation which breeds political dynasties in the first place, for it literally is the so-called “goose that lays the golden egg!” But how? Short of a revolution, I have no particular answers or suggestions. Perhaps we should vote for Senators who sign a petition to stop the pork barrel? That could be one and we are at the best time to have this petition made. But will they really remove it?

Finally… here’s some food for thought…what if we the people held our own Constitutional Convention (Concon)? Our forefathers in the Katipunan did this in the Malolos Convention under the noses of our Spanish colonizers; I believe we can do this under the noses of Imperial Manila, which is ruled by our political elite! But there will be some risks!

Meanwhile back to the question… on dynasties. What’s more important for the Filipino voter? Should we take away their right to choose their candidates by putting term limits on our politicians to prevent political dynasties… or is it more important for the Filipino voter to be assured of a clean and honest election? I believe the latter is more important to us!

While we still have political dynasties seeking our votes, it is imperative for the Comelec to assure us of a clean, honest and speedy election. But reading Chit Pedrosa’s columns while I was in Rome I was alarmed about Smartmatic’s losing its technical supplier to the PCOS machines, which means, they will be forced to use “pirated” IT technology, which is a very dangerous thing. Let me say it here again, I don’t trust the Comelec to give us a clean and honest elections. If the Comelec officials can’t even show their SALNs to the nation, why should we trust them? More so that Comelec Chairman seem to be totally beholden to Pres. Benigno “PNoy” Aquino, III.

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