Political dynasties are the new social cancers

Can we find a single province, city, or town in the Philippines where there is no political dynasty? I'm afraid the answer is none. Many LGUs have spouses sitting together as mayors and vice mayors, or fathers and sons, or mothers and daughters or brothers and sisters. What do these people think of themselves? Do they think that political leadership can be inherited like a piece of land? Do they understand the meaning of the word "delicadeza"?

If Dr. Jose Rizal, Apolinario Mabini, and Gat Andres Bonifacio were alive today, they would denounce this socio-economic phenomenon just like how Dr. Rizal called the evil politics of Capitan Tiago and the corruption of Padre Damaso as social cancers during those times. Today, we have senators who are a mother and a son, from the same household and the same small city, another set of half-brothers, the good one and the more handsome one from the same father but with different mothers. We have a brother and a sister coming from another tiny city. There is overrepresentation in these three families and in these three tiny cities while the whole Visayan region from Iloilo to Samar, all the provinces of Regions 6, 7, and 8 are without a single representative in the Philippine Senate.

When members of the same family control all the political and financial decision-making in any local government, be it a province, city, municipality, or barangay, there is consolidation of power and thus decisions are monopolized by only one family. That is a virtual monarchy, aristocracy, and dictatorship which are the exact opposites of democracy. Sovereignty does not reside in the people and all authority emanates from one strong scheming, manipulative, and Machiavellian man or woman.

All the other members of the Sanggunian are either subalterns, underlings, cronies, or dummies of the patriarch or matriarch. They are virtual rubber stamps. The truly independent-minded are either cheated in the next elections, shot, or become too exasperated to the extent of leaving politics for their own good health and security.

Family dynasties are usually inclined to use gold, goons, and guns to perpetuate themselves in power. No one could defeat them except perhaps another dynasty with more money, stronger private armies, and better connections with the Palace. Family dynasties are bad because they grasp all the political powers, control all the public works, and amass millions contributed by the business tycoons who want protection from harassment by the government agencies.

These business tycoons are afraid of harassment because some or most of them have destroyed the environment, polluted the seas and rivers, underpaid their workers, and cheated on taxes and Customs duties. The political dynasties would normally protect these dirty entrepreneurs because the businessmen are the financiers of trapos every elections. These are social cancers feeding on other cancers.

As long as Congress refuses to pass a genuine anti-family dynasty law, this country will never move forward. In the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index, the Philippines has gone down to number seven in per-capita income among the 10 ASEAN member nations. From being number one, we have nose-dived into number seven. The reasons include, not only high population and low GDP, but also high level of corruption in a government controlled by family dynasties. There is a family dynasty all the way from the Palace to the Senate, to the House, to the provinces, cities, municipalities, and even the smallest barangays.

Because in family dynasties, only one man or one couple controls every level of the government units, bids and awards can easily be manipulated, public works can easily be cornered by cronies and dummies, public funds can easily be diverted and squandered. Votes can be bought, elections can be rigged, election counting machines can be manipulated and the will of the people twisted. Dr. Jose Rizal, Gat Andres Bonifacio and Apolinario Mabini must be squirming in their graves. Is this the Philippines?

Is this the cradle of noble heroes, the land of our birth and the pearl of the orient seas? My God, what is happening to the Philippines that I am supposed to love?