BEHIND THE SCENES
Alfred P. Dizon
If this Banana Republic is teeming with
political dynasties most of which are perceived to be just after the perks of
power, money and affluence, blame it on the Senate and the House of
Representatives, according to our drunken neighborhood philosopher during
another of our roadside talks.
There must
be some grain of truth in his statement since no anti-political dynasty bills
have been acted upon in the Senate since the start of regular session in 2013,
according to Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago herself who has filed two
anti-political dynasty bills – Senate Bills 1580 and 55 – while Sen. JV
Ejercito filed Senate Bill 1906.
In her bill,
Santiago described political dynasty as an “anathema in a democracy.” She said
political dynasties have become “invulnerable and constitute an open defiance
of our Constitution… blatantly undermining the rule of law.”
Santiago’s
proposals deal with political dynasty in local and national elective posts.
“Concentration
of political power today is no longer just local, but also national, most
likely because of the greater efficiency and nationalized impact of various
systems of information dissemination,” she said.
Santiago’s
anti-dynasty bills remain pending at the Senate committee on electoral reforms
and peoples’ participation chaired by Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III.
***
In his bill,
Ejercito said the extended family system in the political arena has found its
pernicious effects as public office has become the exclusive domain of
influential families.
“Such
families have become so well-entrenched in Philippine politics they have
monopolized political power and public resources at all levels of government,”
he said.
He noted
that once a politician is elected to public office, he or she immediately
builds a strong political base to ensure not only his or her re-election but
also ensure that such electoral support will extend to his spouse and other
relatives.
Ejercito
cited the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) report by Temario Rivera
which showed that 94 percent or 72 of the 77 provinces have political families.
The UNDP
also reported that the average number of political families per province is at
2.31, meaning there are at least two political clans in most of the provinces.
Rivera said
most political families have succeeded in winning gubernatorial and
congressional elections since the 1987.
Ejercito’s
measure limits the dynasty provision to those running for local posts.
SB 1906
stated that political dynasty relationship exists when a person who is the
spouse or relative up to the second degree of consanguinity of an incumbent
elective official runs simultaneously with the incumbent official within the
same city or province.
In case the
constituency of the incumbent elective official is national in character, the
relatives shall be disqualified from running only within the same province
where the former is a registered voter, Ejercito said
There are
two sets of siblings at the Senate – Alan Peter and Pia Cayetano and Ejercito
and his half-brother, Jinggoy Estrada.
Jinggoy and
Ejercito’s father, former President Joseph Estrada, is mayor of Manila while
Ejercito’s mother, Guia Gomez, is mayor of San Juan.
The
Cayetanos’ younger brother, TV and film director Lino Cayetano, who is
representative of the second district of Taguig City, is reportedly being
groomed for the Senate when Pia finishes her term next year. Alan’s wife, Lani,
is mayor of Taguig.
Now comes
boxing hero Manny Pacquiao who said he may end his historic career in the ring,
while his followers say he may set his eyes on a much bigger prize – president
of the Philippines.
Political
analysts are saying he has started to build his own political dynasty.
The world
champion, who will fight American Floyd Mayweather Jr. today (Sunday) in
boxing’s richest fight, has used the fame and wealth generated by his
remarkable sporting feats to launch a successful political career.
The
36-year-old former street kid is now a second-term congressman, confirmed his
presidential ambitions to AFP in 2013, but has since been coy about
his political plans.
“Yes,” he
said then, when asked if he wanted to be president. “(But) it’s far away...
it’s God’s will.”
In the
run-up to the Mayweather bout, Pacquiao’s American promoter, Bob Arum,
reignited Pac-the-politician talk when he said his client had a strategy
laid-out for a presidential run.
“He is going
to be a president,” Arum told paparazzi website TMZ . “He is going to
run for the Senate of the Philippines in 2016 and then 2022 or maybe later
he’ll run for president.
”***
Although he
is almost unanimously adored in the country for his exploits in the ring and
widely admired for his sportsmanship, there are doubts about whether he has
what it takes to be president.
Pacquiao has
the dubious distinction of having the worst attendance record in Congress last
year, raising questions as to whether he is truly committed to helping his
constituents.
Pacquiao was
present in only four of 70 session days in 2014, according to parliament
attendance records. They also showed he authored only four bills, none of which
passed into law.
“That’s what
you call a zero record,” Ramon Casiple, executive director of the Institute for
Political and Electoral Reform, told AFP.
Many also
believe Pacquiao, has embraced the bruising, big-spending tactics that are
commonly used in the Philippines’ ruthless political ring. “Unfortunately, he
is learning the bad side of politics,” Casiple said.
Casiple
noted that, since losing in his first campaign in 2007, Pacquiao has turned
political rivals into allies, paving the way for his own political dynasty.“He was a
good student of traditional politics after he lost,” he said.
***
One of
Pacquiao’s longtime political mentors is Luis “Chavit” Singson, a
self-confessed former gambling lord who leads his own political dynasty and
whose politician son was jailed for cocaine possession in Hong Kong.
Former
congresswoman Darlene Antonino-Custodio, who gave Pacquiao his first and only
political defeat in 2007, said the boxer could be too gullible in terms of whom
he decided to choose as allies.
“I like
Manny. I think he is a very sincere politician. He just needs to be careful
about who he surrounds himself with,” she said. Still, Pacquiao showed in his
successful campaign for a congressional seat in 2010 elections that he was a
savvy politician, according to political observers.
He
reportedly used his vast wealth to defeat dynasty patriarch Roy Chiongbian in
the poor province of Sarangani.
He spent
enormous amounts to win favor, giving a mayor a firetruck, building a
gymnasium, installing electricity and potable water systems in churches and
mosques, and paying for scholarships and funerals.
Pacquiao
also quickly began laying the groundwork for a political dynasty
.***
Dynasties
are widely blamed for the Philippines’ endemic corruption and weak democracy,
with families using their power in local fiefdoms to control businesses and
perpetuate their rule.
An AFP
report said Pacquiao’s popularity and influence helped his wife Jinkee, a
political-novice housewife who had only previously worked as a shopping mall
beauty consultant, get elected as Sarangani vice governor in 2010.
The Pacquiao
couple’s children maybe too young for politics, but from all indications,
analysts say, they are preparing them for more bigger things ahead – like
politics. The kids are now studying in the most expensive and prestigious
schools.
Not bad for
someone who used to starve and sleep on the streets, as Pacquaio himself
admitted. Give it to the guy – he is the nation’s epitome of overcoming all
odds for a better lease in life. Now he has everything – except being
President. He may get the position, sooner or later -- with the country’s
constituents sick and tired of corruption perpetuated by this Banana Republic’s
political elite.
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