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BEYOND LOYOLA

An inheritance of power:
Political dynasties in the
Philippines
BY ALDRIN D. PABELLO

JULY 9, 2013

Sources: ANCAlerts, UP sa Halalan 2013, cenpeg.org,

aljazeera.com, Ateneo FactCheck 2013, Asian Institute
of Management Policy Center, abs-cbnnews.com
For centuries, familiar names have become mainstays

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on the ballots of the Filipino people. As the May 2013

national elections results came in, the age-old issue of
inherited political power persisted.
Facts/Statistics:

Incumbent President Benigno Aquino III hails from two political families:
The Aquinos and the Cojuangcos
Former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is a daughter of another former
president, Diosdado Macapagal
250 out of the 15 million Filipino families have dominated the national
and local elections, which translates to only 0.001667%
44% of political families emerged after the 1986 revolution
73 out of 80 or 94% of the provinces in the Philippines have dynasties

FEATURES

5 past presidents will have relatives in the next senate, including

Osmea, Cory Aquino, Estrada, Marcos and Noynoy Aquino
15 of 23 Senators in the 15th Congress had relatives who served electoral
posts
11 of these 15 senators have relatives in the House of Representatives
19 of the 23 senators have relatives currently serving as elected officials or
government employees
7 out of the 12 candidates that won in the 2013 senatorial elections came
from political dynasties
14 out of the top 25 senatorial candidates that ran in the recent senatorial
elections came from political dynasties
In terms of net worth, dynastic legislators are on average P10 million
wealthier than their non-dynastic counterparts.

Forecast:
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Bobby Tuazon, director of the Centre for
People Empowerment in Governance Policy Studies, projected that after
official counting, 21 of the 24 senatorial posts and 80% of the 229 seats in
the House of Representatives will be occupied by politicians from
dynasties.
Whats in a name?
The prevalence of these dynasties is widely disputed in a nation that
boasts of a democratic rule. It is also a major contradiction to Section II,
Article 26 of the 1987 Constitution that guarantees equal access to
opportunities for public service and prohibit[s] political dynasties as may
be defined by law.
However, the Constitution does not state what qualifies as a political
dynasty. This is where the Anti-Political Dynasty bill comes in, aiming to
implement the said constitutional provision and clearly establish the

boundaries of political dynasties.

Whether the bill will be enacted in the future remains vague, especially
as its provisions will affect many people who are currently in power.

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