Politics of Kinship Revolution when the first Republic

Political Dynasties and Alliances of the Philippines was established.

As you can observe, political
dynasties are prevalent
Actually, many Filipino (common, usual) in areas with
voters are shading the names in more severe poverty.
the ballots during elections, not
because they know the Political Dynasties
personality and background of a ★ Characterized as families
specific candidate, but rather the that dominate their local
surname sounds familiar. Another jurisdictions through
instance is, they are satisfied with politically and economically
the “catchy” advertisements of coordinated efforts — have
these candidates. Our country has long been a fixture in
been in a system like this for Philippine politics. Used as a
decades, and it is called the base to gain national
political dynasty. prominence (stand out,
Dynasty is a succession of known) and positions of
rulers in a certain field (let’s say, national political
business or political or any other importance, a family
field you can think of) from the dynasty allows its members
same family. to lead or represent their
During the senatorial campaign areas for successive
and elections last 2013, many generations either
names have been controversial. successively or
Several candidates have been simultaneously.
questioned whether they can be
adequate leaders of the country, Notable Philippine political
in spite of the fact that they lack dynasties include the Marcos,
experience. However, they have Aquino, Binay, Macapagal,
still won the elections because of Duterte, and Roxas families.
their effective advertisements.
There were no legal
Political Dynasties in the documents or laws officially
Philippines defining a political dynasty in the
Political dynasties started Philippines. There have been bills
emerging after the Philippine such as the ANTI - DYNASTY BILL
(law in the making), that
attempts to define a political
dynasty, but the congress did not
pass any of these bills.
Philippine Laws
The 1987 constitution of the
Philippine states in ARTICLE II
SECTION 26:
"The state shall guarantee
equal access to opportunities for
public service and prohibit
political dynasties as may be
defined by law."
The 1987 Constitution bans
political dynasties but is subject to
an enabling law by Congress.
Congress, which is dominated by
political dynasties, has failed to
pass an enabling law defining a
political dynasty since that time.
Republic Act 7160 or the
Local Government code, where
Book I, Title Two, Chapter I,
section 43
The nearest mention of
political dynasties in the Philippine
law and states the term limit of
any local government official but
does not include any limitations in
terms of family relations.
While there were attempts
in the past to define a political
dynasty such as this, the attempts
miscarried and ended in failure.
Kinds of Political Dynasty
★ Thin – successive
★ Thick – simultaneous
A ‘Thin Dynasty’ are those
where a single member of the
family may be in a political
position and is replaced by
another member of the family –
like a father and son – swapping
certain positions, as when a
mayor-father, at the end of his
maximum 3 terms, lets his son
who may also have reached his
3-year term either as vice mayor,
councilor, provincial governor or
vice governor, running for each
other’s positions.
A ‘Thick Dynasty’ - also
known as a fat political dynasty -
monopolizing (take over) power is
an undesirable situation, as
checks and balances among
elected officials in a certain local
government are difficult if they are
all from one family. When there
are several members of a family
holding government positions at
the same time, often their area
suffers from underdevelopment
and poverty.
Factors that contribute to the
persistence of Political Dynasties
in the Philippines
1. Uneducated Citizenry
★ The most obvious
cause would be the
uneducated people in
 the Philippines. The
majority of the
population of the
uneducated do not
know about politics in
the Philippines.
2. Political Patronage
★ The allocation of
favors or rewards
such as public office,
jobs, contracts,
subsidies or other
valued benefits by a
patron (usually an
elected official) to a
client (usually a donor
or campaign
contributor) in return
for the client’s service,
such as voting for the
patron or providing
money for electoral
campaigning.
3. Failure to enact the
Anti-political Dynasty
★ Senator Alfredo Lim
said that “by the time
that the bill is enacted
into law, it will usher in Effects of Political Dynasty
a new social and Positive Effect
political order, which
might in the long run
provide a direction
that will salvage our
sinking ship and
restore our lost glory
in terms of political
maturity and
development”.
4. Wealth and Influence
★ Wealthy families have
the capacity to
control the economy,
because in some
communities, money
can run their lives and
can buy their dignity
to the people so it will
be easy for wealthy
families to build a
dynasty and gain
political power and
also gain influence.
5. Control of Political Power
★ Political Dynasties can
be caused by families
longing for control of
political power and
wealth. This type of
corruption is
becoming rampant
(uncontrolled) and it
has become a system
in the government.
★ The power of politicians will
be kept so they are given a
chance to prove their worth
and fulfill their promises
since in a political dynasty;
the line of thought of the
 politicians is pretty much within the control of their
the same. clans.

Negative Effects POLITICAL ALLIANCE

★ The inherited power of the also referred to as political
recipients might not be conditioner political bloc, is
used responsibly. an agreement for
★ Political dynasties are cooperation between
deemed to have inimical different political parties on
(harmful) effects on the common political agenda
development and welfare of often for purposes of
the populace. contesting an election
★ The concentration of
political and economic A political alliance is a
power that political collaboration of parties to come
families represent makes it together in an attempt to form the
harder for newcomers to government. They can take place
join the playing field of both before the results are announced
business and politics. or even after.
★ They also have an Political parties form
economic base – large alliances on a wide variety of
chunks of industrial and issues including taking part in
agricultural lands and elections jointly or to give external
diverse businesses that fund support to existing governments.
their incursion into electoral
politics. The big clans A coalition government is
possessed a great deal of formed when a political alliance
influence and their political comes to power, or when only a
and business power fed on plurality (not a majority) has been
each other. reached and several parties must
★ Incumbents whose terms work together to govern.
are about to expire evade
them by fielding their
spouses, children and
seemingly endless streams
of other relatives to ensure
profitable posts remain