Observation visits of the 2022 Philippines Election gave a lot of impressions. Most importantly, that the contestants participated in a very boisterous (and all-out) democratic party. Along the highways in cities, from Manila, Legazpi, Daraga, and continue to Iriga, as well as Sorsogon, public spaces are full of posters of candidates. Other areas in Visayas are the same, the bustle of the streets decorated with campaign cars from Panay Island, Guimaras, to Negros Island. One thing we didn't find in Indonesia, was the very large campaign poster that featured a package of candidates from governor candidate to Councilor or City/Municipality Council candidates.
It is also not difficult to find super large posters of governor and mayor candidates with presidential candidate who are popular in the region, even though they are not from the same party. The phenomenon reminds that the Philippines elections are simultaneous elections, election participants try to get voters to choose candidates from the same party or line, and that governor and mayor candidates hope to get a coattail effect from the electability of presidential candidates in their regions.
Simultaneous election (except the Barangay election) clearly made it difficult for voters to recognize all candidates, even presidential candidates. There are nine presidential candidates. Of all the voters we interviewed, no one could name all the presidential candidates. At best, voters can name six candidates.
Money and popularity of course determine whether the candidates are known. There are only four presidential candidates whose posters found in the Bicol region, namely Leni Robredo (the current vice president of the Philippines), Bongbong Marcos (son of former Philippines president), Isko Moreno (artist and mayor of Manila), and Manny Pacquiao (former boxer and senator). For the senator election, the names of Chiz Escudero, Jinggoy Estrada, Gringgo Honasan, Alex Lacson, Minguita and Robin Padilla, Joel Villanueva, and Mark Villar were the easiest to find.
At Western Visayas, the conditions are not much different. Although the candidates are diverse, the popularity of presidential candidates only revolves between two big names, namely Bongbong Marcos and Leni Robredo. Posters for senator candidates are also decorated with big names such as Villanueva, Padilla, Legarda and Villar (senator election constituency is one, all over the country).
The context of local elections, campaign materials and candidate campaigns from political families in the regions also dominates. In Legazpi, for example, the campaign material for the Rosal and Imperial political families is rampant. So did the Bicharas in Daraga and Ligao, the Villafuertes in Camarines Sur, the Escuderos, Hamor, Lees in Sorsogon.
Philippines politics is full of political dynasties. The phenomenon of political dynasties is as old as feudalism in a country whose name is taken from the Spanish King Philip II (Anderson 1985). In the book “The Spectre of Comparisons: Nationalism, Southeast Asia, and the World”, a well-known political scientist Benedict Anderson describes a map of the power of the oldest and most powerful political dynasties in the Philippines. These old political dynasties were also oligarchs who owned large companies ranging from property, finance, insurance, agriculture, to the mass media. Anderson named the oligarchs the political dynasties of the Conjuanco, Aquino, Cuenco, Tiangco, and Chioco families.
Asia's first female president, Corazon Conjuangco, who later changed her surname after her husband, to Corazon Aquino, was a member of the most powerful and wealthy political dynasty in the Philippines oligarchy, which had benefited from the economic policies of the Spanish and American regimes in the Philippines. After the Philippines' independence, the conglomerate Conjuangco, which previously had no political power, fought for the political power. Likewise with other oligarchic families.
Other wealthy political families emerged after them, such as the Marcos family, which was the military elite since the reign of the America, as well as the Lacsons, who were rich because of sugar plantations in the Negro West. Other local political dynasties also emerged, born of regional strongmen throughout the history of local politics.
The oligarchs and political dynasties, or both, historically, have indeed benefited from, first, America's economic policy of opening markets to entrepreneurs (usually half-bloods); second, the post-independence economic independence policy that opened more space for old conglomerates. This wealth is used to control politics both nationally and locally. The Congress, Senate, and regional legislative councils became an open space for political dynasties in various regions.
Political reforms in the Philippines after the Marcos government in 1986 did not change the Philippines political landscape much. Anderson's observations about reform in Southeast Asia, as well as the world, instead of strengthening people's politics, reform has often become a tool for traditional politicians to guarantee the prospects of middle-class politics. Reform is not aimed at cutting the neck of the oligarchs, namely the law, so that phenomena in various countries, both old and new oligarchs can still exist in the post-reform era. The people are asked to be satisfied with the reform of several corrupt state institutions, the formation of superbody state institutions, and several new laws aimed at expanding public participation in politics and government.
36 years after the fall of the Marcos dictator, with a super controversial wife, reported by YouTube content creators as the world's most hedonistic first lady, the Marcos family is back to the pinnacle of power. Bongbong Marcos (BBM) garnered the most votes in the presidential election. BBM’s older sister is a senator who will serve until 2025. BBM's son is elected to Congress. His first cousin was an influential person in Congress. Other relatives rule politics in the provinces of Ilocos Norte and the City of Tacloban (Mong Palatino, 23 May 2022).
Another political family, the Duterte, reigns in Davao and has fangs at the national level. Sara Duterte, daughter of President Rodrigo Duterte, got the most votes as a BBM tandem in the vice presidential race. Sara's brother was re-elected in Congress, and another was elected mayor of Davao, a post hereditary held by the Duterte family clan.
In the Senate, 9 of the 12 candidates elected were from deep-rooted political families (mostly crazy rich), namely two members of the Estrada family, Escudero, Villar, Cayetano, Zubiri, Gatchalian, Tulfo, and Villanueva. Meanwhile, Robin Padilla is another story. An actor and popular on Tiktok, he won the senator's election with the most votes, over 26 million votes.
Husband, wife, and husband's cousin won the election for governor of Albay province, mayor and member of Legazpi city council. The son of the governor of Albay, Albert Bichara, was elected to the Ligao city council at the age of 22. In Daraga, Awin Baldo won the mayoral election. Awin Baldo is a politician and mining entrepreneur called by the perpetrator of the murder of politician Rodel Batocabe, as the mastermind of the murder case. Other political family clans, Salceda, Gonzales, Zigas, Lagman, Dioneda, Ecudero, Lee, Kho, also won the local elections and the Congress elections.
The problem of political dynasties also occurred in local elections in several cities in Western Visayas. For example, the Nava family on Guimaras Island, which is connected to the Ilonggo-speaking regional power network. Usually, regional political families are connected to each other through business and political affairs. The network is usually also connected to several political families at the national level such as the Marcos and Aquino. In addition, several local political families have also extended their power to the national level, such as the President Duterte family which controls Davao City.
In fact, Constitution of the Philippines has tried to reduce political dynasties by limiting the term of office. A person may not be a senator for two consecutive terms (one six-year term). Members of Congress, regional heads, and members of local legislatures cannot serve for more than three consecutive terms (a period of three years). The president cannot run for a second term. However, there is a pause (one period) that still allows someone to run again, giving the political dynasty time to reproduce its political power. The rest period was also used by other family members to replace the seat of power. Moreover, there is no prohibition against running for another position immediately after the completion of the term of office in a position.
For example, in Mandaluyong, the Abalos political dynasty alternately with the Gonzales dynasty ruled as mayor and member of the Congress of the Mandaluyong constituency. Benjamin Abalos was the mayor of Mandaluyong from 1995-2004, then was replaced by Neptali Gonzales II, who had served three terms as a member of Congress. Neptali's congressman seat was replaced by Benjamin Abalos Jr.
Three years later, Benjamin Abalos Jr. replaced his father's power as mayor of Mandaluyong for three terms (2007-2016). Neptali returns to the seat of Congress. After three terms as mayor, Benjamin Abalos Jr.'s wife, Carmelita Aguilar Abalos, will succeed the mayoral throne (2016-2022). The chair of Congress Neptali Gonzales was also replaced by his wife, Alexandria Gonzales (2016-2019). After 21 years, Benjamin Abalos Sr. back again in the 2022 election, winning as the mayor of Mandaluyong until 2025. The tandem of the Abalos and Gonzales political dynasties in the 2022 election carried the hashtag "Abalos Gonzales Forever".
What makes people choose members of the political family in elections? Perhaps we all ask. Money politics or high amount vote buying could be the answer. In Legazpi City, one of the cities where the author monitored, vote buying was given by the husband and wife of the Rosal family to voters. After three terms as mayor of Legazpi, Noel Rosal, who gave vote buying of 500 pesos to voters, won the Albay governor election. Noel's wife, Geraldine, by giving 2000 pesos, succeeded in succeeding her husband's throne as mayor of Legazpi. Voters who chose this husband-and-wife pair seemed to evaluate the performance of governor Francis Al Bichara, who was widely judged to be unable to develop tourism in Albay, and not much to develop underdeveloped areas.
Amid the many tasks and functions of the Philippine election commission, voter education seems not an utmost concern. There is no critical public spotlight in the villages, even in small towns on political dynasties, although some have become aware of the presence of oligarchs in politics. Political dynasties are understood as something normal and not disturbing. It is unknown how many people understand that political dynasties, many of whom are also oligarchs at the national and local levels, have bad impacts.
While political dynasties lead to the concentration of political power in the hands of a certain families, the advantage of wielding the hammer of economic policy turns political families into oligarchs who rule over wealth. Others became conglomerates because of the government's economic policies, then pursue the political power, turned into oligarchs and formed political dynasty. Political dynasty, oligarch, exacerbate socio-economic-political inequality, and encourage massive corruption, collusion and nepotism. []
AMALIA SALABI & KAHFI ADLAN HAFIZ
This article translated by Catherine Natalia and Amalia Salabi.
