“In principle, there is nothing wrong with political dynasties. In practice, however, its prevalence exemplifies the exclusionary power structure in the Philippines, where local elites continue to exert considerable influence in our country…….The trend of political dynasties has also served to limit the liberating potential of democratic politics. It undermines the principle of political equality in its most basic form through the principle of one person, one vote. The seeming inheritability of political positions is reminiscent of an oppressive absolutist state, where citizens are mere subjects that have no choice but to affirm the dictates of a ruling family rather than active citizens that are able to shape their political destiny.” -Dr. Nicole Curato, an Assistant Professor in Sociology at University of the Philippines Diliman and the current Associate Editor of Manila Review
It’s funny how political dynasty in the Philippines appeared on the search bar of Google as I try to type in “political d…” I mean, is that how serious how a certain few notable families had taken control of the most powerful positions (and most lands, riches, blah, blah, blah) in this country, that even the search engines can already predict what we have on our minds?
For the past couple of years (decades?) only a few names had been sitting on the senate and the congress. Even the local government positions had been taken by the rich and the famous taking public service as a means to make money or to further strengthen their control over the province they run. Yeah. Politics is being treated as a business more than a way to serve the millions of hungry people.
What happened to Senate Bill-2649 otherwise known as Anti-Political Dynasty Act of the Constitution? Is it just another set of pages to the Philippine Constitution? It’s funny how the Senate is able to pass a bill as raw as the Cyber Crime Law when we can’t even fully implement laws that have been there since God-knows-when.
No comments:
Post a Comment