Politicians’ loyalty, an oxymoron

With the Philippines 2025 mid-term elections just eight months away, billboards of possible candidates are already sprouting all over the cities and provinces, after the court ruled that these are not considered early campaigning. Most of these posters do not carry their party or group affiliations as the alignments and alliances are still secretly formed among politicians, regardless of their previous affiliations.

In the Philippines, loyalty to party or ideology is uncommon, or even loyalty to previous allies or individuals. Political loyalties change before, after, and even during elections.

In a recent Senate hearing on the budget of the Office of the Vice President, VP Sara Duterte Carpio was complaining of the ingratitude/disloyalty of Senator Risa Hontiveros, who she helped in the 2019 elections. In a subsequent budget hearing in Congress, the congressmen who had kowtowed to her unseating of a speaker, were disloyally no longer defending her.

Then, in another event she apologized to the followers of Quiboloy for asking them to vote for BBM, who is now disloyal to her. These are some examples of political disloyalty which Sara knows well, as she and her family had done these with local and national politicians.

In Cebu politics, the situation of suspended Mayor Michael Rama with his previous party mates/allies in 2022 and now is illustrative. They are all disloyal to each other. The groupings and regroupings of the Cebu congressmen, board members and mayors in the Cebu Province have even shifted loyalties between and among relatives. Some family relations have been broken and forsaken and some are rekindling.

The controlling factor in political loyalty is staying in power with the perks and the money that goes with it. It is the self-interest of politicians and their immediate family that drives their loyalty to the patron who can provide for them. This makes political dynasties the cause and effect of shifting loyalties and the lack of principles of our politicians. While political dynasties are always a feature in governments, whether democratic or autocratic, it is imperative that limitations are in place to prevent abuses and their perpetration in power, which usually leads to revolutions. These have been historically demonstrated in many countries in the world and an unnecessary step backward in governance and development.

Compared to other moral/ethical transgressions, many people consider disloyalty as a forgivable sin of which they would rather not pass judgment on, but leave it to the person’s conscience, or let divine justice eventually prevail. In politics, it becomes a bigger issue with larger implications, as it involves more people the bigger the country is. It will eventually erode the moral fiber of the people and the country with disastrous implications.

In a democratic society with real elections, the people should elect officials with better morals and ethics. There should also be corrective measures and limitations of family political dynasties to disperse loyalties. Respect for the rule of law and its applicability to all, enhances loyalties to institutions and to principles. These are all very hard to do with an autocratic government, as loyalties are mandated in all dictatorial forms of government.

An oxymoron is a figure of speech where/when two words should not be together as they contradict each other, like politicians’ loyalty.