Lyceum of the Philippines University-Cavite

“The Nature of Bureaucracy in the Philippine Government. A Study on the ‘Padrino

System’ of Former President Benigno S. Aquino III” by Marjorie Joy D. Maceda

I. Introduction
This paper aims to analyze the nature of bureaucracy in the Philippine government particularly
the “Padrino System” under Former President Benigno Aquino administration.

Bureaucracy, in its political system definition, is a “system of administration based upon

organizations into bureaus, division of labor, hierarchy of authority, designed to dispose of a
large body of work in a routine manner” (Gadiano, 2013).

Bureaucracy in the Philippines has been characterized by many factors. Most of the factors are
negative, such as its vulnerability to nepotism. red tape, and spoil system or padrino system.

In 2010, the Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) rated the Philippines as the third
worst bureaucracies in Asia. According to Professor Romy Neri, (2002) Philippines is an
“oligarchic state that is dominated by an elite that influences appointments to government
institutions and bureaucracies at deeper levels than most other Asian countries.” Up until the
present time, there is still the majority number of oligarchs in the government that President
Duterte wants to “destroy”, because it is one of the factors that institute the Padrino system. The
oligarchy system has been a playing ground for the traditional politicians, who are dominant in
Philippine politics. The dominance of the ‘trapos’ in Philippine politics has resulted to the
notorious Padrino system that “individual voters are compelled to elect their respective patrons
into power in exchange for personal favors that are either provided in the past or promised to be
delivered once elected” (Manacsa&Tan, 2012). Juan Linz, (1975) noted that the voter’s support
for their patrons is largely a function of the latter’s own interests, rewards for loyalty and the fear
of vengeance.
In the Philippines, it has been a custom to choose someone popular or someone well-connected
overseeing a job instead of someone who is more qualified to do it. Thus, promoting mistrust in
the Philippine society.

The previous administration has interpreted the patronage system in various issues. Aquino, is
deemed as the product of the padrino system himself because he was elected through his popular
parents. He himself is a part of an oligarchy. This has led to many people believing that he
himself is a practitioner of the system.

II. Statement of the Problem

In line with the “The Nature of Bureaucracy in the Philippine Government. A Study on the
‘Padrino System’ of Former President Benigno S. Aquino III”, the following question is raised to
be addressed:

1. What are the instances that Aquino had practiced the Padrino system?

III. Analysis
When President Aquino launched his candidacy in 2010, he instituted his platform “daang
matuwid or the “path of righteousness”. But according to some Filipinos, the platform was
locked to Padrino system.

Aquino, the heir of the Yellow Ribbon legacy, has practiced the Padrino system through the
controversies that he has been involved in. Many of the Filipinos, including those who elected
him, sees him as only a ‘symbolic’ leader, rather than a genuine politician. It can be enumerated
in different circumstances. One instance is when he ignored the Ombudsman suspension of order
against his buddy former Philippine National Police Chief Alan Purisima and gave him authority
to oversee a major operation in the famous Mamasapano misencounter that killed 44 Special
Action Force officers. It was known that Purisima and Aquino had a strong binding friendship,
that Purisima was a security aide of Aquino when he was young, and a loyal lieutenant of the
Yellow Ribbon. During the Aquino’s administration, he appointed Purisima as the Philippine
National Police Chief, despite corruption allegations he was facing.

Under Aquino’s administration, there was also the controversy in the PNP department called
‘bata-bata system’ and the mudslinging. This has increased the mistrust of the public in the PNP
department.

Another controversy is the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scandal, which is
considered as the biggest fraud in the country that involved huge amount of public funds. Stolen
by certain members of both the Senate and Congress, Aquino decided to abolish the PDAF, but
due to padrino system, he did not cut the amount of funds held at his discretion. This led
Filipinos to label this patronage-prone reserves as the ‘President’s pork barrel’. Most legislators
use the “pork barrel” to strengthen and further expand their influence and ensure that they remain
in power. And this pork barrel is the tool used in patronage system because it has been used by
the senators to invest in their bailiwicks, provinces, and favored local governments and
institutions, in which their allies are mostly residing. Even though Aquno had abolished the
PDAF, it was reincarnated through the worser Disbursement Acceleration Program or the DAP.
“His Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) and pork barrel system promotes political
patronage and corruption”(CPP, 2013). With the DAP, Aquino has easily influenced legislation
and government policy to favor his political agenda as well as other interests.

Aquino’s political party, the Liberal Party, was propelled by the “Cory charisma” which is
according to critics led to Aquino’s victory in the 2010 elections.

During the strike of the supertyphoon Yolanda in the Philippines, there had been the controversy
of the misused funds. Yolanda survivors stated that “the patronage system of politics rear(s) ugly
head even in the most distressing situation.”

Even the barangay captain of Hacienda Luisita Edgardo Aguas has benefited from the padrino
system of Aquino, he was provided with DAP funds in exchange to his maintenance of Aquino
clan’s control over the vast Hacienda Luisita estate. The Cojuangco-Aquino family allegedly
used him to undermine the peasants’ unity in their struggle to regain the land in Hacienda Luisita.

Aquino was also well known for clinging to his kabarilan (shooting buddies),
kaklase(classmates) and kaibigan (friends), or the KKK system. A friend of him, namely Virgie
Torres, was embroiled in a sugar smuggling scandal, where she allegedly used Aquino’s name to
bring in around 60 shipping containers of sugar from Thailand. But there were no charges that
was filed against her.

The Padrino system even reached the Bureau of Customs that it had successfully projected its
‘tanim-bala’ scam. The KKK of Aquino was said to be behind this controversy.

Directly observed, the Yellow Ribbon pinned in Aquino’s Barong Tagalog is a symbol that he is
into a Padrino system.

Because of the heat of the phenomenal padrino system in the country, with the collaboration of
poverty, many people are forced to sell their votes and beg for patronage from elected officials.
Patronage system has created a culture of dependency.

IV. Conclusion

From this analysis, we can conclude that “Padrino system” of Aquino had been a cancer to the
Philippine government. It was widespread during his time. It had been a factor of Aquino’s low
approval ratings in surveys. And the fact that Aquino himself is a product of an oligarchical clan,
it may not be a surprise if there was a probability that he had practiced it in his administration.

V. References

Presse, A. (2010, June 7). Philippines has third worst bureaucracy in Asia-survey. Retrieved
from news.abs-cbn.com

Cupin, B. (2014, September 24). Aquino, General Purisima and the past that binds them.
Rappler. Retrieved from www.rappler.com

Bacani, L. (2015, July 16). Aquino slams factionalism, patronage system in PNP. PhilStar
Global. Retrieved from www.philstar.com

Anonymous. (2012, August 21). “Pork Barrel,” a tool of the patronage system. Retrieved from
www.philippinerevolution.net
Estrada, G. (2015, November 6). ‘UNTOUCHABLE’ AQUINO FRIENDS BEHIND
YOLANDA, #TANIMBALA & LUISITA MESS [Web Log Post]. Retrieved from
pinoyweekly.org

Anonymous. (2014, October 21). Hacienda Luisita barangay captain benefits from DAP.
Retrieved from www.philippinerevolution.net

National Democratic Front of the Philippines. (2013). Justifying DAP, presidential pork further
isolates Aquino from people.: CPP Information Bureau