[OPINION] Kamag-Anak Inc.: The good, the bad, and the ugly
Actress-turned-politician Vilma Santos-Recto danced her way again into the political stage to file her certificate of candidacy (COC) for governor of Batangas. She was a three-term mayor of Lipa. In her heels were her sons, Luis Manzano, acclaimed actor, running as her running-mate, and Ryan Recto, who is seeking a House seat for Batangas' sixth district, the former position of his mother.
I guess it’s all in a day’s work for this Batangueno family.
Political dynasties are a dime a dozen in the Philippines. Like swarms of mosquitoes, they have been suspected of sucking the constituency dry of their life blood.
And this is not without proof as several studies have shown.
Ateneo de Manila University Dean Ronald Mendoza could not have been any more succinct: The fatter the dynasty, the poorer the community. This was the conclusion of a study he and others conducted titled Political Dynasties and Poverty: Resolving the Chicken or the Egg Question.
His other study, Political Dynasties in the Philippine Congress, said that “fat dynasties” derail democratic checks and balances, raising issue about inequality in the allocation of resources.
“Resources,” it said, “are directed to the dynasty’s bailiwick cities and towns where more relatives are in power.”
However, in the Chicken and Egg study, the research had struck a raw counterintuitive nerve: “Poverty entrenches political dynasties […] There is less evidence that political dynasties bring about poverty.”
How crazy is that?
By whatever condiments political families use as their excuse to propagate power within the dynastic bloodline, one thing is certain: No dynasty can eat all that fat without popping a vein.
One way of looking at this is through the lens of legislation. In Article II, Section 26, of the 1987 Constitution, the prohibition against political dynasties had been hammered out clearly: “The State shall guarantee equal access to opportunities for public service, and prohibit political dynasties as may be defined by law.”
As may be defined by law.
While such a phrase may be understandable, given the nature of the legislative trust, it also helped foster an apathetic attitude towards the said prohibition. Why is that? Because our own lawmakers are deeply entrenched in the practice of dynastic rule which the Constitution says is prohibited.
Let’s not kid ourselves any more than we have to. No lawmaker “in his right mind” would abolish the very political framework which could preserve his seat of power. This brings me to a question I have always wanted to ask the framers of the 1987 Constitution for so long: Why didn’t they nip the problem in the bud?
I guess the only sane thing to do is to be vigilant, a clarion call that refused to age well in a country too engrossed with its private chatrooms. I suggest you all go out and smell the forest fire.
Wasn’t the martial law empire more than enough to convince them of the debilitating consequences of political dynasties? We don’t need to make a wild guess to know the answer to my query.
But then again, hypothesizing on the dips and slumps resulting from political dynasties is one thing, getting someone who can fundamentally do the work of government service is another.
Allow me to throw a monkey wrench in the middle of it all: What if—and I mean what if—a particular family bloodline has shown tremendous potential in public service? They’re good leaders, intelligent, thinking individuals with a heartfelt commitment to the people’s welfare. It’s a fairly good and logical hypothesis, if you ask me.
Do you know any powerful family who falls into this category? Depending on who you’re talking to, numerous names come to mind. Aquino. Marcos. Estrada. Arroyo. Even the Dutertes. Most every Filipino have his or her own little fairy story to tell, you know.
For example, it is nearly certain that Santos-Recto (with her sons Luis and Ryan, including hubby Sen. Ralph Recto) may have done some good things to elevate the lives of the people around them.
Being the 17th Most Trusted Filipino in a survey conducted by Reader’s Digest Asia in 2010 and having been conferred the Gawad Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino - Parangal sa Natatanging Kababaihan in 2012, among others, how do these recognitions given to Santos-Recto affect our choices for the coming mid-terms? Could accusations of oversized billboards change any of this?
On the other hand, could her popularity as an award-winning actress, which spans over 50 years, be considered an unfair advantage? Filipinos oftentimes conflate fiction with reality.
With the way Congress and the Senate are turning a blind eye to calls to abolish political dynasties, I think it would be safe to assume that Kamag-Anak Inc. will be here to stay for several more decades.
I guess the only sane thing to do is to be vigilant, a clarion call that refused to age well in a country too engrossed with its private chatrooms. I suggest you all go out and smell the forest fire.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the opinions of PhilSTAR L!fe, its parent company and affiliates, or its staff.