Clientelism is a political or social system is one in which a client supports a patron

financially or politically in return for some special privilege or reward. Power (2012)
asserts that it is a culture fostered by clientelist politics that encourages citizens to use
their vote for private gain rather than for the common good. In addition, it grants favors
to its provincial counterparts in exchange for the assurance of their blocs of votes, and
these counterparts distribute a portion of the favors to their intermediaries, who pay it
back by "delivering the vote" for the governing clique's candidate. It is clientelist in the
sense that each actor in the game depends on a certain number of clients, and those
clients in turn depend on other clients, and so on, until the electorate level is achieved
(Finer, 1975).
Any democracy must have money in order for people to participate in politics, run for
office, and be represented. According to the International Institute for Democracy and
Electoral Assistance (n.d.), it can compromise the credibility of political institutions and
processes and imperil the quality of democracy if it is not well regulated. Politicians in a
democracy are expected to represent all citizens fairly, regardless of their financial
situation. A corrupt political system might make it difficult for a democracy to function.
Money can be used to corrupt democratic actors and institutions so that they favor
particular groups and their interests. Elections may be unfair due to candidates' and
political parties' unrestrained usage of funds. Public services may become ineffective or
hindered as a result of illicit money from organized crime.
Clientelist vote mobilization is used in many democracies and authoritarian regimes. It
happens in the US. According to Gisselquist (2021), on October 12, the New York
Times reported that federal payments to US farmers were expected to reach $46 billion
this year, a high since 2005, but that there were concerns about how they had been
allocated, with disproportionate amounts going to big farms and southern states and
concerns that they had been distributed based on politics. The Office of the Special
Counsel also determined that Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue violated the Hatch
Act by encouraging visitors at an August Farmers to Families Food Box Program event
to endorse Donald Trump. Moreover, in Mexico, the article "Hidden Money" indicates
that for every peso disclosed as a campaign spending, $1.30 were funded through illicit
backchannels from unidentified sources, as stated by Global Americans (2018). The
average amount spent by governor candidates exceeds the legal limit by ten times, so if
the legal cap is $2.5 million, the average amount spent on governmental campaigns
could reach $24 million, depending on the size of the state and electoral competition.
In fact, authoritarian governance has been in place in the Philippines since 1972.
Clientelist relationships have taken the place of political parties, the legislature, and
other formal institutions of government because they are frail. Clientelism still greatly
influences how party politics are organized in the Philippines. In search of funds
distributed through clientelist networks, an average of 33.5 percent of all lower house
MPs elected to Congress since 1987 have switched parties. Other than that, the most
recent instance of clientelism occurred in October 2021, when Senator Panfilo (Ping)
Lacson questioned differences in funding and distribution of the Philippine government's
Social Amelioration Program (SAP) during a Department of Social Welfare and
Development (DSWD) budget hearing. When its financial records showed that just 80%
of the budget had been dispersed, the DSWD claimed to have distributed 94% of the
SAP help (Eadie, 2022).
Money politics are supported in the Philippines by the pervasive patronage system,
especially during elections. Some candidates buy votes rather than promoting their
policies, while others employ public service delivery for political gain rather than more
general development goals. This patron-client relationship ultimately puts short-term
personal rewards ahead of the long-term aims of the country's growth for both leaders
and their constituents. Due to poverty and a global pandemic, vote buying and selling—
which is prohibited—remains widespread for the 2022 elections, which is why many
Filipinos became victims due to material requirements. Given the increasingly
sophisticated methods of money transmission available today, such as GCash and
online banking, vote buying may become more difficult to control (Tan, 2022). At a
campaign outing in Santa Rosa, Nueva Ecija, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos
and his Vice President Sara Duterte were accused of vote-buying due to the
presentation of white envelopes containing P500 dollars to attendees. Marcos is
currently the president of the Philippines. Being elected made it simple for them to now
have access to money. Because of the lax legislation, they can simply pass the
legislation they want. At the moment, they have the proposed Maharlika fund, which
would collect P275 billion from government pension funds and banks for the purpose of
investing in expensive national development projects and other assets (Yu, 2022), the
proposed DepEd confidential fund, which is P150 million, and the proposed P141.2
million for the National Intelligence Coordination Agency's (NICA's) confidential and
intelligence fund.
Everyone is impacted by corruption. It endangers the rule of law, ethical principles, and
reasonable economic progress. It also disrupts our society. It undercuts our
democracy's values and institutions. The poor are more prone to corruption since it
slows down service delivery because they are dependent on the government for
housing, healthcare, education, security, and welfare. Many corrupt practices deprive
our residents of their human and constitutional rights. It takes time and effort to fight
corruption in the Philippines. Since the Philippines is democratic, voters will determine
its future. People should vote for character and background, not popularity and charm.
Vote-buying must also be prohibited. The government and the Commission on Elections
(COMELEC) can also reform campaign finance, increase public scrutiny, overhaul
budget procedures, and strengthen corruption sanctions to keep the public sector
honest, open, and accountable. Understanding politics is essential for anti-corruption
because social responsibility is essential. Citizens who pay taxes should get what they
deserve.
References:
clientelism. (n.d.). In The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. https://www.merriam-

webster.com/dictionary/clientelism

International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. (n.d.). MONEY IN POLITICS.

https://www.idea.int/our-work/what-we-do/money-politics

International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. (n.d.-b). Money in politics: the

good, the bad and the what could become ugly.

https://www.idea.int/news-media/news/money-politics-good-bad-and-what-could-

become-ugly

Global Americans. (2018, June 4). Dirty money: Illegal campaign finance and clientelism in

Mexico. https://theglobalamericans.org/2018/06/dirty-money-illegal-campaign-finance-

and-clientelism-in-mexico/

Gisselquist, R. M. (2021, January). Clientelism – another reason to worry about US democracy.

United Nations University (UNU-WIDER).

https://www.wider.unu.edu/publication/clientelism-%E2%80%93-another-reason-worry-

about-us-democracy

Eadie, P. (2022, January 21). COVID-19, palakasan and the culture of clientelism in the

Philippines. New Mandala. https://www.newmandala.org/covid19-palakasan-and-the-

culture-of-clientelism-in-the-philippines/

Teehankee, Julio. (2012). Clientelism and Party Politics in the Philippines.

10.1057/9781137277206_11.

Tan, A. N. O. (2022, February 14). Filipinos start taking the money as campaign period begins

amid a pandemic. BusinessWorld.

 https://www.bworldonline.com/top-stories/2022/02/14/429707/filipinos-start-taking-the-

money-as-campaign-period-begins-amid-a-pandemic/

Comelec to ‘wait for proper complaint’ after alleged vote-buying at Marcos rally. (2022, March

17). Rappler. https://www.rappler.com/nation/elections/comelec-wait-proper-complaint-

alleged-vote-buying-marcos-rally-nueva-ecija/

Yu, L. S. (2022, December 5). FAST FACTS: What is the Maharlika Wealth Fund? Rappler.

https://www.rappler.com/business/things-to-know-maharlika-wealth-fund/