Three of the country’s wealthiest families are behind the country’s three biggest political parties, accounting for a full third of the current Congress, an international poll observers’ mission reported.
The International Observers’ Mission (IOM) of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines pointed out to billionaires Manny Villar of the Nacionalista Party (NP), Ramon Ang of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), and Enrique Razon of the National Unity Party (NUP) as ever-present fixtures in presidential candidacies and governance, directly and indirectly.
A fourth political faction is currently led by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who presides over the Marcos-Romualdez dynasty, also known as the Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas in the current mid-term elections, the group said.
The IOM said the ongoing election period is plagued by traditional candidates who rely heavily on patronage politics to maintain their influence and maintain their influence on a largely poor electorate who rely on them for services.
“These groups have historically relied heavily on patronage politics to maintain their influence. The domination of specific families at the local, provincial and national level resembles a caste system, where only the feudal ‘princes and princesses’ born into privilege can find a door to enter the political system,” the Mission said in a report.
Despite efforts by progressive groups such as the Makabayan Coalition that has consistently filed anti-political dynasty bill and a clear ban by 1987 Constitutional, political power has further concentrated into the hands of billionaires.
In the Senate, Cynthia Villar and her son Mark are one of three family tandems in the Senate. In the 2022 elections, the Villar-controlled NP included Senators Imee Marcos and Allan Peter Cayetano in its slate. The Villars, currently the country’s richest family, is being accused of using their political clout to benefit their water distribution and real estate empires.
Ang meanwhile inherited the NPC from his late San Miguel Corporation boss Eduardo Cojuangco and now heads the party that includes several members of the current Senate. They are Senate President Francis Escudero, Win Gatchalian, Loren Legarda and JV Ejercito. Trying to make a comeback in the current elections are Tito Sotto, Ping Lacson and Lito Lapid. Makati political dynasty member Abby Binay is also a candidate under the political party controlled by the billionaire who is now into controlling the country’s transportation system through airports and expressways.
While the NUP does not have an organic member in the Senate, it has 37 members in the House of Representatives, now mostly allied with the Ferdinand Martin Romualdez leadership. The party, made up of many political turncoats endorsed both President Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte in the last presidential elections but its member-representatives have cast their lot with the Marcos-Romualdez dynasty. Their party principal Razon is into ports management, water and power generation and distribution, as well as resorts and casinos.
The three parties have a shared history in not only allying with the Marcoses but with every political dynasty in power since their creation. Their members however are not beyond leaving their parties whenever they feel that moving is advantageous to them. Rep. Camille Villar, seeking to take the seat to be vacated by her mother at the Senate is not being seen to have chosen to be identified more with the Dutertes. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
