Rise of ‘mini-dictators’

EDITORIAL

Even with the good economic performance of the country, bringing in inclusive growth is hard to attain and the present political system has something to do with it.

Asian Institute of Management (AIM) Policy Center executive director Dr. Ronald Mendoza pointed this out during discussion in Baguio on “Economic and political equality in the Philippines: Two sides of the same coin” with student leaders.

Mendoza said based on their study, there had been a rise in “mini dictators” or political dynasties wherein based on AIM Policy Center Dataset, the political clans in the Philippines compose  75 percent of the elected officials, the highest compared to other democratic (parliament) countries such as Thailand (42%), Mexico (40%), Japan (29%, India (24%) and Ireland (22%).

He outlined the link of political equality to that of the economy and the attainment of inclusive growth, citing some areas in the country that are controlled by political clans which have high incidence of poverty.

“It plays a very complex role but the point is that politics and economic inequality are linked like for example, if there is high political inequality people will wonder where the power is? If it be in the hands of a few people, is there accountability and are deep reforms have been implemented (to bring in inclusive growth)?” he said.

“Now, if the political inequality is the product of some economic inequality, the people will also begin to question whether these people with economic power will actually change anything dramatically,” he  added.

With the Anti-dynasty bill still pending in Congress, Mendoza called on the people especially the young voters to push for inclusive democracy.

“Despite the growth of the economy, we have to take into account the number of people who actually benefit from this so called growth that is why we should push for inclusive democracy,” he said.

Mendoza also pointedout under the political system, many Filipino voters still vote for politicians who use money during elections. He shared their study on vote-buying in the 2013 election in 17 Metro Manila cities  wherein result shows 18.9%  directly admitted  vote buying, while 38.9% indirectly admitted  (they see others who voted for money) the presence of vote-buying.

Mendoza also outlined some government reforms that are vital in helping change the political landscape in the country such as the push in transparency and participatory governance in local government units and the PantawidPamilyang Pilipino Program that empowers the younger generation through education.

Through transparency and participatory governance, the people will see what their leaders are doing and they will also have a hand in what project or programs they need.

The discussion was a project of the SLU School of Accountancy and Business Management under Dean Reynaldo Bautista. SLU and AIM also have a memorandum of understanding in pushing for researches that can influence policy.