Our broken system leads to perennial under-achievement

Traditional politicians often say that the real enemies of the state are poverty, income inequality and deteriorating standard of living. This is a lie. All these are mere symptoms of a broken system.

The country is broken because the system is broken – and it is poor leadership that has caused the wreckage. Poor leadership, in all levels of the bureaucracy, is the reason for our perennial underachievement.

How does the broken system manifest itself?

A flawed political system. In our political system, the political and business elite have become one and the same. Here, it is common for stakeholders of large    conglomerates to hold public office to defend and forward their interest. Other taipans simply “own” legislators by backing them financially.

In the Upper House, there are senators who belong to families owning conglomerates and those who hold national franchises. In Congress, numerous representatives own large companies involved in property development, shipping, trading and media. In local governments, it is common for governors and mayors, through their proxies, to hold the local franchises for mining, power, water distribution and transport services.

Conflict of interests is the reason why vital reforms do not see the light of day. It is why the Land Use Law is blocked in the Senate. It is why the outdated Cabotage Law remains in force. It is why the Full Disclosure Policy Bill cannot gain traction, just to name a few. The absence of these laws has made the Philippines uncompetitive. But it serves the interests of the political and business elite.

Laws were written to benefit the elite. Our laws are set up to serve the interest of the elite, not the greater majority. To illustrate, the Local Government Code created political dynasties and fiefdoms for them to rule. The EPIRA Law handed over control of the energy sector to private corporations. The Agrarian Reform Law earns political favor for politicians but relegates the agricultural sector to underachievement. The list goes on.

Proliferation of political dynasties. Political dynasties monopolize political and economic power in both the local and national spheres. Politics has become a family business.

In the Senate, 17 out of the 24 members belong to dynasties. Seventy percent of Congress belong to political clans. Meanwhile, 73 out of 81 governors belong to dynasties, as do 53 percent of all mayors. Make no mistake, dynasties will continue to monopolize power unless there is an enabling law to prevent them from doing so.

An Oxford Study concluded that LGUs governed by dynasties register higher poverty rates, lower human development indices and lower competitiveness as compared to independently governed LGUs. This is because the mechanisms for horizontal accountability (where one office checks and balances the other) are virtually non-existent. Dynasties override institutions and weaken them over time.

The study further reveals that the centralization of power to one clan leads to poor policy formation. This is because the preservation of power becomes the priority at the expense of necessary but unpopular reforms. Adoption of populist policies becomes the norm and this leads to stunted development.

Inherent corruption. The Philippine bureaucracy is considered the most corrupt among the ASEAN-6. A 2019 study shows that a whopping P734 billion, or 20 percent of the national budget, goes to corruption every year.

The absence of check and balance in national governance. The executive, legislative and judicial branches have ceased to serve as a check and balance of the other. Rather, the executive branch has subsumed the judiciary and the legislative branches to bend to its will.

The executive branch has distorted the system of check and balance by appointing its own ombudsman and members of the Supreme Court. It controls senators and congressmen by having the last say on their budget insertions. Legislators who refuse to cooperate are left out of the money train and chain of influence.

Partisan politics have dominion over principles when deliberating laws. The majority of legislators vote in accordance with the preferences of the President simply because there, their bread is buttered.

Legislators of generally low caliber. The abysmally low qualifications required to qualify for an elected position is why Philippine leadership is of poor quality. Unlike progressive nations like Singapore whose main qualification to be prime minister is to have at least five years experience as CEO of a company with SG$500 in revenues, in the Philippines, all you need to be is 40 years old, a Filipino who is able to read and write. The same abysmal qualifications are true for senators, congressmen and local government officials. Thus, our leaders do not represent the best and brightest among us but only the most popular.

Thwarted values. The philosopher Plato wrote: “A country cultivates what it honors.” The majority of our leaders prioritize family over nation. They pursue self gain over   collective gain. They succumb to expediency rather than the unprejudiced implementation of the law. They fall into   entitlement at the expense of equality. They give in to impunity over delicadeza.

So as you can see, the cause of the country’s under-achievement (and cause of our people’s suffering) is poor leadership. The political elite has created a legal and political environment that serves its purposes. Their self-serving agenda, over many decades, has caused us to plummet from regional leader to laggard.

Political reform is the only solution. Reforms include the enactment of the Anti-Political Dynasty Bill; an amendment of the Constitution to impose stiff educational, experiential and moral qualifications for those seeking elected positions; enactment of the Freedom of Information Act; a genuine move to strictly implement the Fair Elections Act, among many others.

Will we see it in our lifetime? President Marcos can fix the broken system if he wants to. As Chief Executive, he can either perpetuate the status quo or become the transformative president we desperately need. It really is all up to him.

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Email: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @aj_masigan