Discard political dynasties

It is very difficult to engage in a running debate even over a common topic if you are not prepared with your array of sound arguments. That was what happened to me these past few days. Soon after I wrote two articles on political dynasties where in one write up I sighed “how pathetic have we become” and in another column I said political dynasties “undermine the quality of democracy xxx (and their) persistence could be linked to deeper poverty” a friend called up to ask me what is the relation between political dynasties and our state of national underdevelopment. If that question were asked of me on a debate stage, I would probably be unable to defend my position.

Given a few day’s time to reflect on the topic, I had to begin my approach with writing again an Internet definition of political dynasties being “families in which multiple members, often several generations or multiple siblings, are involved in electoral politics. Members may be related by blood or marriage.” As I relate that definition to the economic profile of certain provinces dominated by political dynasties I hope to show an obvious fact even if i grudgingly admit that this presentation is not exactly scientific.

The internet recorded a study released by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) almost a decade ago. The said study revealed that political dynasties are pervasive in the 10 poorest provinces of our country as they are “afflicted by low levels of human development, bad governance, violence and poor business climates. Apart from a direct link to poverty incidence, political dynasties also tend to weaken checks and balances in the government and the political system. It perpetuates 'personality-based politics' that focus on a candidate's name rather than his or her credentials.”

The present. Not much is known about Tawi tawi, the southernmost province of the country. Records show though that the provincial governor is Yshmael “Mang” Sali, and his son, Al-Syed Sali, is the vice governor. The congressman of the province’s lone district is Dimszar Matba Sali. Perhaps the decade-old PIDS study is correct because this Tawi tawi dominated by the Sali’s has a reported revenue of just more than P500 million and is accordingly ranked number 74.

An Ateneo study pointed to the stranglehold of the Tan family in Samar. The political dynasty profile of that province should include Milagrosa Tan being a governor followed by Reynold Michael Tan for the 2019-2022 term and Sharee Ann Tan, 2022 to present. Sharee’s uncle Arnold Tan, is the vice governor. Reynolds Michael Tan now serves as Member of the Philippine House of Representatives for the 2nd District of Samar. With a revenue of only P600 million plus (compared to the P7 billion plus income of Cebu province) Samar is ranked 73rd of 82 provinces in the country.

Not far from Samar is the province of Southern Leyte, the home province of my late father Napoleon. The Mercado family is, for decades, the unchallenged political dynasty of the province. The provincial governor is Damian Mercado and his sister Rosa Emilia Mercado is the vice governor. Southern Leyte’s first district congresswoman is Luz Mercado, the sister in law of the governor. The capital of the province is Maasin City and the mayor there is Nacional Mercado, the son of the governor, while the mayor’s sibling, Mikhael Leonardo Mercado, is a city councilor. However the Mercado dynasty administered the province, the income of Southern Leyte is just a little over P600 million and it is ranked number 55.

If these data are unchallenged, then in the 2025 elections, we need to start discarding political dynasties wherever they now reign.