The undying dynasties
Midterm elections are scheduled for May 12, 2025. Each voter will select 12 senators, a district representative, a party-list representative, and local officials in each province, city, and municipality. The filing of certificates of candidacy (CoC) by hopeful candidates for the open elective posts was done from Oct. 1 to 8.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) reported that it received a total of 43,033 applications for candidacy for the senatorial, district representation, party-list, and local government positions in next year’s midterm elections (thediplomat.com, Oct. 11).
A total of 18,271 positions are up for grabs in the national and local elections next year, according to the Comelec (newsinfo.inquirer.net, Sept. 2). That means only 42.45% of candidates will win in the midterm elections, and 24,262 or 57.54% of the candidates will lose — so their campaign expenses, time and effort spent were for nothing. Big gamble, high stakes. But the risk must be worth it for the winners.
“It’s not good for democracy. When elections and democracy are influenced so much by money and money politics, voters will have limited choices,” former Comelec commissioner Luie Tito Guia told the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (pcij.org, Oct. 16). Yet that’s the way the game is played, the PCIJ points out.
The Villar family’s campaign expenses for Senatorial seats from 2001 to 2022 were as follows, according to the PCIJ: Manuel Villar, Jr. (2001) P38.5 million; Manuel Villar, Jr. (2007) P84.5 million; Cynthia Villar (2013) P133.9 million; Mark Villar (2022) P131.8 million. Daughter Camille Villar is an early advertising spender among the senatorial aspirants in the May 2025 elections.
These campaign expenditures are based on the Statement of Contributions and Expenses (SOCE), a self-reported accounting of campaign donors and expenses that candidates file after the elections. The SOCEs only cover spending during the official 90-day campaign period, which starts in the month of February. These figures cited above do not yet include advertising and promotional expenses before February, amounts which can reach billions of pesos individually for the candidates.
In the 2022 elections, “former public works secretary and senatorial candidate Mark Villar and re-electionist Senator Joel Villanueva both breached the P2-billion mark, making them the biggest ad spenders on mainstream media so far. On top of their solo ads, Villar and Villanueva also appeared in shared ads” (rappler.com, May 7, 2022).
“A political dynasty that already has four members elected in the Senate are the Estradas. Former President Estrada served as senator from 1987 to 1992 before he was elected vice-president in 1992 and president in 1998. His wife and two sons later became senators, too,” the PCIJ pointed out.
Election campaign expenses: Luisa “Loi” Ejercito (2001) P45.9 million; JV Ejercito (2022) P165.79 million; Jinggoy Estrada (2022) P174.25 million.
The Villars and the Estradas are not the only political dynasties to have at least two members in the Senate at the same time. Incumbent Senators Alan and Pia Cayetano are siblings. Pia is seeking reelection. Two siblings of neophyte senator Raffy Tulfo are also aiming for Senate seats next year. There will be three Tulfos in the Senate at the same time if they both win, the PCIJ warns.
Dr. Cielito Habito, director general of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and concurrently Socio-economic Planning secretary in the Fidel Ramos administration (1992-1998) decried in an opinion piece in the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Aug. 13) that, “almost 80% of our lawmakers now belong to dynasties. Disturbingly, even sectoral representatives are also increasingly dynastic, defying the intended aim of party-list representation to make representation in Congress more inclusive.
“From 62% [dynastic legislators] in the 8th Congress (1987-1992), it rose to 66% by the 12th Congress (1998-2001), and further to 75% in the 14th Congress — jokingly described then as a ‘Montessori Congress’ for the unusually large number of young legislators who were offspring of their predecessors. But even more glaring is the current 19th Congress, where husbands and wives, parents and sons or daughters, and siblings have won seats together,” he wrote.
In local elective positions, data show governors with at least one relative in office having grown from a 41% share in 1988 to 80% in 2019. Vice-governors’ fat dynasty share had risen from 18% to 68% in the same period. For mayors, it grew from 26% to 53%.
To compare: for the same period, wrote Mr. Habito in his Inquirer piece, the dynasties in their legislatures were “6% in the United States, 10% in Argentina and Greece, 22% in Ireland, 24% in India, 33% in Japan, 40% in Mexico, and 42% in Thailand — all far below us.”
There are two types of political dynasties, thin and fat, according to the PCIJ: A thin dynasty is one in which a political clan is able to control one elected position over time. A fat dynasty is one in which a political clan holds multiple government positions simultaneously.
According to Prof. Ronald Mendoza, “Clearly, political clans have found a way around term limits, by fielding more family members in power — giving rise to more fat political dynasties” (Mindanews, July 13, 2022). There is significant evidence to suggest that Philippine political dynasties use their political dominance over their respective regions to enrich themselves, using methods such as graft or outright bribery of legislators. These kinds of situations arise as conflicts of interests — political dynasties often hold significant economic power in a province — and their interests are overrepresented due to dynastic politics (GMA News Online, October 2012).
The collective cautiousness about political dynasties came with the wresting from the “Conjugal Dictatorship” of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos (1965-1986) at the EDSA People Power Revolution on Feb. 25, 1986. Article II Section 26 of the 1987 Constitution prohibits political dynasties: “The State shall guarantee equal access to opportunities for public service, and prohibit political dynasties as may be defined by law.”
But Congress has failed to pass an enabling law against dynasties over the past 37 years. “This is not a surprise since both the House of Representatives and the Senate are dominated by political dynasties. It is almost impossible to convince legislators to pass a law that will make many of them ineligible to run for public office, political observers say” (the diplomat.com, July 23).
As at 2021, at least 45 bills passed in the last 17 years, not one has passed third reading. Moreso, majority of these bills are left pending in appropriate committees where they were assigned to (Gacayan, Clyde Ben (2021): repository.wvsu.edu.ph).
In his dissertation, “No time runs against families? Gains and losses in regulating political dynasties in the Philippines,” Gacayan illustrates that the victory of the Marcos-Duterte tandem in the (2022) polls is an epitome of the continuing dominance of political dynasties — where dynasties are not only deeply entrenched but also capable of self-perpetuation amidst good governance reforms (Ibid.)
He echoes what other political scientists claim, that political dynasties themselves are not only electoral concerns but are wicked problems that have undermined the quality of democracy linked to deeper poverty and underdevelopment. Gacayan concludes that while it seems that no time runs against families in the last 35 years, there is a silver lining if one is able to look at the progress made in progressive legislation, judicial activism, and by further educating the electorate (Ibid.).
On March 19 this year, a group of lawyers filed a petition for mandamus with the Supreme Court for it to order the Senate and the House of Representatives to pass a law that will define and prohibit political dynasties. The petitioners cited the testimony of the late Father Joaquin Bernas, S.J., who was among the framers of the 1987 Constitution: “The establishment of political dynasties is an effective way of monopolizing and perpetuating power. Hence, is commanded to prohibit political state dynasties” (rappler.com, March 20).
On July 12, the Manila Times published a headline news report: “The Supreme Court said Thursday it will move to compel Congress to pass a law defining political dynasties, which are prohibited by the Constitution.” This news was false, the Supreme Court said. The high court cannot compel Congress to pass laws as it would violate the principle of separation of powers among the three branches of government (verafiles.org, July 17).
Enter Robinhood for his “hero” moment! True to his name, ex-movie idol Robinhood “Robin” Padilla filed Senate Bill (SB) 2730/Anti-Dynasty Bill on July 15. Under Padilla’s bill, “no spouse or person related within the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity, whether legitimate or illegitimate, full or half blood, to an incumbent elective official seeking re-election, shall be allowed to hold or run for any elective office in the same city and/or province, or any party list in the same election” (inquirer.net/cebudailynews, Oct. 13).
But did not Robinhood just recently endorse Senators Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and Christopher “Bong” Go when they formalized their reelection bids on Oct. 3, as they filed their certificates of candidacy? They were joined by actor Phillip Salvador, who is also seeking a Senate seat. All three (Dela Rosa, Go, and Salvador) are running under the Partido Demokratikong Pilipino (PDP), chaired by former president Rodrigo Duterte. Senator Robinhood Padilla is president of PDP.
All in the family! Like in Mafia organizations, political dynasties are made up of family, friends, and supporters.
Such are the undying dynasties in our captive democracy.
Amelia H. C. Ylagan is a doctor of Business Administration from the University of the Philippines.
