More than half of House members doing ‘dual roles’

Ramon Durano Sr., patriarch of one of Cebu’s political clans, once said, "No combination can work better for a person than for him to be in politics and business at the same time." Perhaps that is why the proportion of members in the 12th House who divide their time between lawmaking and business concerns remains one in every two, just like in the previous Congress.

In the Ninth House, which was in office from 1992 to 1995, only 15 percent of the 199 members were involved in business while in public office. By the 11th Congress, half of the 220 members described themselves as entrepreneurs.

This trend continues in the current Congress, where 123 lawmakers — actually more than half the 214-member House — admit to holding onto their posts in their various businesses even after they have already taken their legislative seats.

At least 22 members of the House or 10 percent were full-time business executives before they were elected in May, and some may need time to make the transition into the public sector. Political analysts also say these representatives may have legitimate reasons for pursuing "dual roles." But they note as well that the situation only makes it all the more tempting for them to push bills reflecting their own business concerns.

Eric Gutierrez, in his groundbreaking 1994 study, found many lawmakers in the Ninth House authored bills that would benefit their own interest. Twenty-seven Mindanao representatives who were all landowners, for example, filed a bill seeking the suspension of agrarian reform in Mindanao until the year 2020. Ilocos Rep. Eric Singson, meanwhile, filed a bill allowing locally made cigarettes with foreign brand names to be exported, and giving tax rebates for tobacco manufacturers and traders. Both the lawmaker and his wife were — and still are — into tobacco trading. Then there was Zamboanga City Rep. Ma. Clara Lobregat, who proposed a bill ordering the soap and detergent industry to shift to 100-percent use of coconut-based chemicals. At the time, Lobregat was officer of at least seven coconut mills.

These legislators had an ally in Rep. Mariano Yulo, then chairman of the ethics committee, who said that no conflict-of-interest occurs if the bills would benefit not only the congressmen but their constituents as well.

But their detractors included the likes of former Sen. Rene Saguisag, who said legislators must not advocate measures that benefit themselves. According to Saguisag, who co-authored the code of ethics for government officials, lawmakers who engage in a particular business while in public office should at least inform the House.

Yet should the analysts’ fears come true, there may be fewer bills filed concerning agricultural lands in the present House compared to previous Congresses. Or at the very least, fewer members may support such bills, which may not necessarily benefit small-time farmers.

This is because the percentage of agricultural landowners among the legislators has decreased since the 11th House, where 42 percent declared owning agricultural land. In the House, 38 percent or 82 of the representatives declared agricultural landholdings of varying sizes.

For instance, Augusto Syjuco Jr. (Second district, Iloilo), who has a net worth of over P248 million, holds interests in real estate, manufacturing, and financial firms. He was a businessman before he first landed a seat in Congress in 1998.

Vicente Sandoval Jr. (First district, Palawan) and Abdullah Dimaporo (Second district, Lanao del Norte), both of whom have net assets in the range of P100 million to P200 million, are likewise into manufacturing.

Some 16 percent of the current legislators, though, own stocks in various agricultural enterprises. These include Antonio Floirendo Jr. (Second district, Davao del Norte) who has interests in four Davao-based agribusiness firms, and Celso Lobregat (Zamboanga City), who has the same number.

There could be a rise in the number of bills filed regarding real estate and property development, since 21 percent of the present lawmakers have investments in these sectors. This represents a slight increase from the 17 percent posted in the previous House. Cynthia Villar (Las Piñas), the second wealthiest legislator with net assets reaching more than P331 million, listed four real estate firms in her SAL while Francisco Perez II (Second district, Batangas), son of Justice Secretary Hernando Perez, wrote down six.

Lawmakers who are into manufacturing make up another 15 percent, like Juan Pablo Bondoc (Fourth district, Pampanga), who is stockholder in at least nine such firms. Other business sectors where representatives have interests in are hotel and travel (13 percent), communication (seven percent), and banking (six percent).

Richest with no business interest

Surprisingly enough, Mark Jimenez (Sixth district, Manila), whose over P400-million in assets make him the richest among the present representatives, declared no business interest in SAL. So too did 90 percent other congressmen, among them the five poorest in the House, such as Crispin Beltran and Satur Ocampo, both party-list representatives of the leftist organization Bayan Muna. Beltran reported a net worth of P70,000 and Ocampo a little over P700,000.

Jimenez, who is wanted by US authorities for such charges as mail fraud and is thought by many to have been involved in the biggest business scams done during the Estrada administration, has made eyebrows go even higher by filing a bill addressing the activities of racketeers and syndicates in the country.

As touched with irony is a bill filed by Ted Failon (First district, Leyte). The ex-ABS-CBN radio and TV news anchor who once moonlighted as an endorser for a local alcoholic drink is now seeking the regulation of liquor and cigarette advertisements.

As party-list representatives, the likes of Beltran and Ocampo are expected to fight for legislation on issues that would otherwise have very slim chances of being put on the table. Already, Beltran has filed a bill granting a P125-salary increase for workers. Ocampo, meanwhile, wants to prohibit the entry, sale and processing in the country of food products with genetically engineered organisms.

Observers say Beltran, Ocampo and Liza Maza, another party-list representative of Bayan Muna, would do well to follow the example of Loretta Ann Rosales (Akbayan) and not Benjamin Cruz (Butil). Both Rosales and Cruz are now in their second terms in the House.

Rosales was perhaps the most productive among the 11th House party-list representatives, having filed 18 bills of national significance. Most of her proposals sought electoral reforms, such as absentee voting for overseas workers and election modernization schemes. Rosales also filed bills related to human rights issues such as unjust detention, as well as a magna carta for teachers and a national land and water use policy.

Cruz, in contrast, filed only one bill in the previous House, seeking to establish a comprehensive irrigation policy and the condonation of unpaid irrigation service fees.

Voices drowned out?

As it is, this House has only five party-list representatives in all, and it is all too easy for their voices to be drowned out by the traditional politicians who seem in control of Congress once more.

It was in the previous House, where these trapos were smaller in number, that some of the country’s more progressive pieces of legislation were passed. These included the Clean Air Act, which bans incinerators and legislates fuel standards and the Solid Waste Management Act that calls for waste minimalization and segregation.

It was also the 11th House that impeached a president.

But at least the rich families of the current Congress’ "traditional" legislators thought it wise to invest in education, resulting in a House in which the members have educational qualifications that are equally impressive as those of their predecessors.

It is no shock, of course, to learn that the biggest proportion of lawmakers are graduates of business courses, with a number of them pursuing further studies in business and economics overseas. Thirty-five or some 16 percent are graduates of political science, the second top undergraduate course of the current members.

Like in the 11th House, the University of the Philippines has the most number of alumni, 34, among the current legislators. Ateneo de Manila University has 20 graduates, De La Salle University, 16, and University of Santo Tomas, 13.

One-fourth of all members hold at least one master’s degree, some from overseas universities. Six have doctorates, while 21 had enrolled in advanced or specialized studies.

A significant number — 94, or about 44 percent — trained in law. In the three previous Congresses, the proportion of representatives who had attended law school averaged 45 percent.

The youngest lawyers in this House — Rolando Andaya Jr., Francis Escudero and Joseph Ace Barbers — come from some of the country’s most enduring political clans. Two of the more veteran lawyers — Emilio Espinosa Jr. and Carlos Imperial — come from a long line of politician-layers in their families as well. Imperial’s uncle, Carlos A. Imperial, was a member of the First Philippine Assembly in 1907 who later became associate justice of the Supreme Court. His father, Domingo, was a senator in 1934 and was also once an associate justice of the Court of Appeals. Emilio, meanwhile, has a lawyer-brother, Tito, who was a Masbate representative for two terms from 1987.

These politicians may or may not have read An Anarchy of Families, in which author Alfred McCoy observed that legal skills seem to stand out in "the ability of politicians to capitalize upon the opportunities of office." McCoy pointed in particular to Ramon Durano Sr., whose legal education "allowed him to translate his political influence into private wealth."

But it was also the business empire built by Ramon Sr. that made it possible for the Durano clan to hold onto power and to use the acquired resources for its younger generation of politicians.

Today, Joseph Ace Durano (Fifth district, Cebu) is on his second term in the House. His father, Ramon Durano III, is mayor of Danao City, an uncle, Ramon Jr., is vice mayor in the same city; a brother, Thomas Mark, and a cousin Oscar, are city councilors; another uncle is vice mayor of Sogod; and an aunt is a provincial board member.