Philippines Palace Declines to Specify Which Families the New Anti-Dynasty Guidelines Apply To
Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat
Marcos Administration Warns Against Political Dynasty, Is Reminded of Something
MANILA — A Palace official speaking at a governance forum this week delivered a pointed warning about the dangers of entrenched political dynasties, noting that concentrated family power undermines democratic institutions, reduces accountability, and creates self-reinforcing systems of patronage that ordinary citizens struggle to penetrate. The speech was well-received. The applause lasted approximately forty-five seconds, after which someone in the third row appears to have thought of something and the applause became slightly complicated.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., whose father ruled the Philippines for twenty-one years under martial law, whose mother served in Congress and ran for president, and who himself represents the third generation of Marcos family political power in Ilocos Norte, was not at the forum. A spokesperson said the President “strongly supports measures to strengthen democratic participation at all levels.”
The Dynasty Problem, Acknowledged in Theory
The Philippines’ 1987 Constitution explicitly prohibits political dynasties but simultaneously failed to define what a political dynasty is, a legislative omission that has aged with the grace of something deliberately left vague. Rappler has documented the proliferation of political families across the archipelago with the thoroughness of people who have been counting since 1987 and have not finished yet.
A proposed Anti-Dynasty Act has been pending in Congress for several decades. Congressional leadership has consistently prioritized other legislation. Congressional leadership is, predominantly, composed of members of families that have held the same congressional districts for multiple generations. This is noted without editorial comment, as the people who would comment editorially are running for office in congressional districts currently held by their relatives.
The Duterte Dimension
The Marcos-Duterte rivalry, which has consumed Philippine political oxygen for the better part of two years, features two political dynasties competing for the support of voters who have been told by both dynasties that the other dynasty is the problem. Much as New York’s fiscal creativity involves borrowing from everyone’s future, Philippine political creativity involves each dynasty borrowing from the other’s electoral base while pretending the concept of dynasties applies only to the opponent. Voters are expected to resolve this in 2028. The candidates will be announced shortly. Their surnames are already known.