Charles Teves
President Rodrigo Duterte deemed his mission of dismantling the oligarchs, whom he says have screwed the Filipino people for far too long, a success.
In a speech before troops in Jolo, Duterte said he can already die happily now that he has “dismantled the oligarchy that controlled the economy of the Filipino people.”
“Sinira ko ‘yung mga tao na humahawak sa ekonomiya at umiipit. At hindi nagbabayad,” he added.
After ABS-CBN’s bid for a franchise renewal was denied, Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano said that Congress “simply put an end to the privilege of one family in using a public resource to protect and promote their private interests.
Oligarchy is defined as “A small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution” by Lexico, a website that provides a collection of dictionaries of English and Spanish produced by Oxford University Press (OUP).
Many think it’s ironic that the president would go after ‘oligarchs’ when his family has a dynasty of their own in Davao City.
His daughter Sarah is the mayor and his youngest son Sebastian serves as the vice mayor. His oldest child Paolo is a congressman and a deputy speaker who as rumored, teamed up with the Iglesia ni Cristo church to “persuade” lawmakers to vote against granting ABS-CBN a congressional franchise.
Cayetano is part of a dynasty as well. His younger brother Lino is the mayor of Taguig City, older sister Pia serves as a senator and his wife is a fellow congressman.
Veteran actor Jaime Fábregas thinks that political dynasties are the reason why Filipinos are still struggling to this day. He urged the public to wake up and not to vote for them again.
“Ang political dynasties ang dahilan kung bakit patuloy na naghihirap ang maraming Pilipino. Gising na mga kababayan!!! Huwag ng ibotong muli ang mga yan!!” he tweeted Sunday.
Ang political dynasties ang dahilan kung bakit patuloy na naghihirap ang maraming Pilipino. Gising na mga kababayan!!! Huwag ng ibotong muli ang mga yan!!
— Jaime Fábregas (@fabre_jaime) July 19, 2020
Despite being 70 years of age with a relatively increased risk of contracting COVID-19, Fábregas attended last Saturday’s rally against ABS-CBN’s shutdown, showing his unquestionable support for the network along with many other Kapamilya stars.
Political science professor Julio Teehankee, who assisted in drafting Duterte’s proposed federal constitution wants to see him go after political dynasties if he truly is honed in on ‘dismantling oligarchies.’
“If you just target 1 or 2 families and then you ignore the others, or if you don’t totally consider changing fundamentally what is wrong with the structure and the system, then that is not reform–that is simply partisan politics,” Teehankee said on the “ANC Matters of Fact” podcast.
“If, truly, President Duterte is sincere in trying to dismantle oligarchy in this country, he should start by passing a genuine anti-political dynasty law,” he added.
The professor’s challenge was aimed towards Cayetano as well.
“This is our chance na baguhin ang sistema, baguhin ang oligarchic system. Anyway, ilang henerasyon na din naman nakinabang yung mga pamilyang ito,” Cayetano said last week.
Teehankee also said that Cayetano should “be the change you want to be” as he paraphrased Mahatma Gandhi.
“I think he should start in his own backyard, the House, and start really pushing seriously for the dismantling of political dynasties,” he added.
Teehankee was a huge advocate for a self-executing provision against political dynasties during discussions on political and electoral reforms at the consultative committee formed by Duterte to propose changes to the 1987 constitution.
Unfortunately, the committee’s anti-political dynasty provision was rejected in Congress, and instead, a limit was imposed for them in their respective proposed federal charter.
Congress has constantly failed for 33 years straight in passing an enabling law that would completely forbid political dynasties.
Teehankee notes that 70 percent of Congress consists of lawmakers who are part of political dynasties.
“He is a dynast himself. He belongs to a political dynasty, a fat dynasty at that because they occupy practically all the elected positions in their constituency,” Teehankee said referring to Duterte.
Teehankee doesn’t expect the president to place a ban on these families.
“I don’t think so. It will not happen. It will not happen in this Congress, it might not happen in the next Congress, really,” he said.
“So, that’s the sad reality. It is what it is. Our politicians are self-interested utility maximizers. As much as possible they will maximize their advantage,” the professor added.
