n. pl. dy·nas·ties
1. A succession of rulers from the same family or line.
2. A family or group that maintains power for several generations: a political dynasty controlling the state.
[Middle English dynastie, from Old French; from Late Latin dynastîa, lordship; from Greek dunasteia, fromdunastês, lord; see dynast.]
[http://www.thefreedictionary.com/dynasty]
Some social scientists (including political scientists) work on their theoretical constructs and argue that they can make equal cases for political dynasties being a force for social good, even as others make a case for these being social evils.
I think we need to deal with our current realities and our experiences with the phenomenon of Filipino political dynasties.
A number of my friends observed that the bill seems aimed squarely at the Binay clan. I agree with their observation only to the extent that the Binays are one of the obvious targets.
But they are not the sole targets.
Our officially written and approved history, incomplete, and many times inaccurate, records all kinds of socially, economically, and politically influential and powerful families that often got to dictate what should happen.
I remember growing up in the 1950s and hearing that there were in the country “big and powerful families that could make things happen,” and that people were well warned not to cross.
I heard names like the Osmeñas and the Duranos of Cebu; the Arroyos at one time and then the Eugenio and Fernando Lopez brothers of Iloilo; in Negros, the dynasties were more socio-economic rather than political but they, too, were known to support certain politicians.
There were the Romuladezes of Leyte and the Teveses of Negros Oriental. And there were the Muslim overlords in Mindanao -- names like Kiram, Ututalum, Pendatun, and Alonto. In Luzon, we heard of the Crisologos and Singsons of Ilocos Sur; the Montaños of Cavite; the Lazatins of Pampanga; the Cojuangcos of Tarlac; and the Reyeses and the Santoses of Bulacan.
To be fair, many of these families did a lot of good for the people they served initially. A number were known not to abuse their position. Many of those families of my youth are still there but are no longer considered dynasties. They are just “well-situated”.
What made these powerful families remain as powerful as they had?
The shift to the “dynasties-as-evil” phenomenon came with the Marcos-Romualdez reign. Marcos was probably the most intelligent and far-thinking president we ever sat in office. He had parlayed his skills to build political, economic and social capital, and once seated, worked to increase all of those.
Assured of his popularity with a re-election, he then connived with his cabal to consolidate his hold on the country by declaring Martial Law. Within this context, he was able to do what he wanted, but always cloaked in legality. The allies who worked with him were given the chance to develop their own fiefdoms, their own satrapies.
The Marcos-Romualdez alliance developed the first of the deep dynasties -- family members holding appointive positions in many sectors and elective positions at many layers of government. Through various means he managed to hold a nation enthralled, then much later in thrall as his administration’s various means of securing agreement or negating dissent became more widely known. And for a while it seemed that the country would be under this dynasty’s stranglehold for a long while.
Ferdinand’s and Imelda’s dreams, jointly and singly, fell apart as the illusion of prodigious Philippine growth development melting away, at first slowly, then with gathering speed and the lies were revealed.
It took ex-Senator Benigno “Ninoy” S. Aquino Jr.’s murder to catalyze the nation that until that time had been stricken into inaction by fear.
As a taxi driver told me a week after Ninoy’s murder, “Duwag po ako pero noong pinatay nila si Ninoy, para hung sinabi nila na kung nakaya nilang patayin ang isa, kaya nilang pumatay ng marami; Kung nakuha nilang patayin ang magaling at popular, kahit sino kaya nilang patayin.” [I am a coward but when they killed Ninoy, it was as if they were saying they can kill one and they can kill many. If they can kill one of the best, they can kill anybody.] The fellow never read Joseph Conrad’s “Lord Jim”.
We no longer have Marcos in power, though the rest of family are around, unrepentant, even defiant, eager to re-establish themselves. But the family’s resurrection into prominence isn’t what I call “Ferdinand’s Revenge”.
His real revenge is the way he has corrupted the minds of even some of of the best of us, people who spoke the right sentiments when in rebellion against him and his cabal but who were astute students of the cabal’s ways and means.
These people, given the opportunity, did not hesitate to build their own empires. They managed to get either appointed or elected into positions of power and influence from where they built their political, social and economic networks.
Instead of dismantling the mechanisms of abuse, they retained and improved them, drawing more resources than even the Marcos cabal did.
Today we not only hear of the Binays but the Revillas, the Remullas, and the Ejercitos. And there are many more that have chosen to stay regional and provincial but dynastic nonetheless.
Our anti-bribery/anti-extortion laws punish both the extorter and the extorted. If the extorter can plant the seed of seeming willful collusion on the part of the extorted, he or she turns them into bribers instead. Under such conditions, no business owner would risk blowing the whistle. No one will testify that foundational work permits are given only to outfits linked with the mayor; and that on top of that, that the company had to yield a condominium unit per tower.
Last I heard, one powerful political family demand a floor per tower. But that is rumor, of course, because one cannot get anyone to testify. And it will remain rumor until someone is brave enough to risk jail.
Our current cultural norms, rooted in agrarian society and feudal systems, is in confluence with the poverty of our people to ensure a system where powerful politicians can distribute ill gotten largesse, distributing these freely, promising more benefits while keeping people a state of false hopes.
To be sure, the system provides patronage through “KBL” -- kasal, binyag, libing [marriage, baptism, and internment] -- gifts and contributions help the poor, as do helping them get jobs; subsidized basic (substandard) education (assured by beggaring the education budget) and intervening in appointments of teachers and officials; subsidized health services; birthday cakes plus a P1000 gift; free movies for seniors, etc.
But the costs are clear to those who would understand.
We need to change our corrupt system.
A long term solution is improved mass education and continuing information, communication and education programs for our out-of-school and even our employed and supposedly knowledgeable people.
Ours is a steep uphill battle.
But fight it we must, for our self respect and dignity as a people, and more so for our children and grandchildren who will inherit all these. There is a saying that the worst thing that can happen is for our children to spit on our graves. Let us make sure this does not happen.
Mario Antonio G. Lopez teaches at the Asian Institute of Management and consults for business, government and civil society.
maglopez@gmail.com
source: Businessworld
