Political Dynasties

With the coming May elections, our bishops have decried the "widening practice of political dynasties" through their pastoral statement released on January 29.

"As monopolies in business, monopolies in politics limit the entry that can bring in new ideas and offer better services. Political dynasties breed corruption and ineptitude. We are aggrieved that lawmakers themselves defy the supreme law of the land by not following the mandate of our Philippine Constitution given 26 years ago to make an enabling law to ban political dynasties," the CBCP stated.

The question of political dynasties was then the top concern following the 1986 EDSA Revolution, that is, to ban the Marcos family from ever returning to power. But power corrupts, and thus, post-Martial Law and Marcos-like leaders conveniently put aside the constitutional prohibition. No wonder the Marcoses are also back in power. Worse, even the present PCGG commissioners have used this as their excuse to quit their mission to recover all ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses.

Sadly, too, "Tuwid na Daan" President Aquino himself has self-servingly brushed aside the issue, particularly when pressed on the question of his very own first cousin among his hand-picked senatorial slate for the May elections.

Truth to tell, we cannot ban political dynasties by the simple stroke of a pen, as it were. No wonder well-entrenched families have utterly ignored the constitutional mandate. Equal opportunity for leadership must be built brick by brick from the ground up.

First, we lay the foundations. Democracy is government of the people, by the people, and for the people. In short, we need everyone to be pro-active, which can be facilitated through grassroots education, information dissemination, and sustained promotion of a mature citizenry. On this note, we stress the crucial importance of the Freedom of Information bill in Congress.

Second, we put up the steel structures. Here we need structural reform of our electoral system. Political dynasties have thrived precisely because of the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few. Yes, despite all our claims of democracy, we remain a country ruled by the elite, by the oligarchy that is the offshoot of centuries of colonization. How do we reverse this? One proven way is campaign financing of political parties in proportion to membership as well as their respective percentage of votes garnered in a previous election, plus a cap on campaign contributions. This is the practice in advanced democracies like the United States and Germany.

Third, we cement every material together to form a new breed of leaders. For this end, we must nurture a value system of solidarity, of working for the common good, that is, the well-being of one and all. Poland's Solidarność is one shining example of what community bonding can bring about.

Of course, we have our People Power. But we must carry it on to topple its very anti-thesis--political dynasties.