The last word

I’ve been writing about my indignation over the 2025 budget, the political dynasties that crafted it and our flawed political system for several weeks now. I’ve said my piece. This is the last time I will write about it – at least for the time being. I hope something positive comes out of my unfiltered sharing.

As a parting shot, let me reiterate my point. The domination of dynasties in our political system is the root cause of the country’s flagging economic competitiveness, poor social services and inability to uplift our people’s quality of life in a substantive way. Why? Because dynasties prioritize political survival and personal wealth generation over responsible governance and national development itself.

Unlike better governed countries where the political elite work in tandem with the economic elite to develop competitive industries and a productive agricultural sector (reference to the eco-political model of South Korea), Filipino dynasties use their power to extract wealth from the country’s resources in rent-seeking endeavors.

This is why many dynasties corner lucrative contracts in their respective fiefdoms such as public construction, transport franchises, supply and procurement contracts and even trash collection. Dynasties operating on a national level use their influence to secure franchises in mining, power and water distribution, infrastructure development and gaming, among others. They do so on their own, through dummies or in partnership with their private sector accomplices.

The result? Our political and business elite have become one and the same. Checks and balances for unfair competition and anti-trust laws are virtually non-existent.

Stunted development

The preoccupation on rent-seeking endeavors over industrialization and agricultural development is why we are a nation mired by food insecurity and why our industries are weak and globally uncompetitive. Neither could they provide enough quality jobs to uplift the lives of the majority.

In a nation dominated by rent-seeking dynasties, income inequality is more pronounced, public governance is clumsy and often short sighted and social safety nets are of token value.

About the two predominant dynasties in the country… much has been said about the Marcos and Duterte rivalry. In truth, they are opposite sides of the same coin. Neither is driven by a distinct socio-economic agenda or ideology. Both are dynasties that compete for national dominion. Both operate with the goal of passing power to their next generation.

Both prioritize political survival over all else. Both utilize the national budget to buy political support through pork barrel. Both are populist. Both do not aspire for global or regional excellence nor pioneer status in any realm. Rather, they keep their ambitions and deliverables to the bare minimum. Above all, both are committed to keep the political system in the status quo in terms of not passing the anti-dynasty bill and not instituting electoral reform.

I have come to accept that poor governance and retarded development will continue to fester for as long as dynasties remain the backbone of our political system.

One may ask – if dynasties are so damaging, why do they always win elections?

We are a victim of a rigged system purposely created to keep dynasties in power. Our dynasty-infested government has intentionally failed to pass an anti-dynasty bill for 38 years despite being mandated by the Constitution. The national budget, through pork, is systematically used to fund the electoral campaigns of the incumbents. Spending limits for electoral campaigns are unenforced. Neither is transparency in campaign spending. Laws against vote buying and coercion are ignored. Access to media is exclusive to those who can afford it. Access to political machine is reserved for the incumbent.

An unfinished revolution

In 1986, the Filipino rejected and ousted the Marcos-Romualdez dynasty. Thirty eight years later, we’ve re-installed them to power. Why? Because the 1986 revolt remains an unfinished revolution. It failed to deliver on its promises.

The families that illegally benefitted from Marcos’ dictatorship were left unpunished and even allowed to re-enter the political system. There was no closure nor lesson learned; People Power was not devolved to the people but redistributed to the anti-Marcos politicians, who eventually became the dynasties of today. They became exactly who they fought against. Graft and corruption was not eradicated but institutionalized in all levels of the bureaucracy.

Land reform and the empowerment of farmers failed. Wealth re-distribution failed. The promise of people-centered governance failed. The promise of better social services failed. Industrialization and promise of quality jobs failed. The promise of equal opportunity in electoral exercises failed. The promise of decency in government and absence of power abuse failed.

The lives of the Filipino only marginally improved since 1986. Sure, a sliver of society graduated from poor to middle class, but this is generally because our people were hard-pressed to flee and work abroad.

The unfulfilled promises of the 1986 revolution is why our people flip-flop from one political fence to another – from the forces of the yellows and pinks to the forces of the reds and greens and back again. They are in constant search for that illusive leader to free them from the bondage of lack and need. How sad. How pathetic.

An entire generation has come and gone since 1986 and the same problems fester – high prices (or low incomes), poverty, lack of jobs, poor social services, etc. Our people were betrayed by our political leaders.

The unfortunate reality is that there is no prominent political leader committed to champion political and electoral reforms. Neither is there one with a compelling vision of reform and a plan to back it up. Not yet, anyway.

Until such person emerges, let us remain vigilant not to allow dynasties to usurp and destroy the country more than they already have. We should never forget that we deserve better.

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Email: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @aj_masigan