As a person fighting for constitutional reform, I looked at this video by Orion Perez Dumdum. Some people are still relying on the allegations made by a certain fat lady on Facebook. I even got blocked by a certain fat man with glasses. I feel victorious after that fat guy blocked me. I watched this video and thought, "Are political dynasties the problem?" People fuzz over political dynasties. Some people even go as far as to blame political dynasties, not the ridiculous 60-40 equity restriction, as to why FDIs have chosen Vietnam. Yes, Communist Vietnam which is a one-party state.
The "next best solution" is what? Ban political dynasties altogether. Whether we like to admit it or not, every family has bad eggs and good eggs. A good king can sire bad sons. A bad king can sire good sons. It's all about upbringing that determines the direction of one's offspring. This would also play a double stnadard. Why did people clamor the late Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" A. Aquino Jr. (who died in 2021) to run for president? Maria Corazon Cojuangco-Aquino died in 2009 and the clamor for Noynoy to run for president was there in 2010. It could be hypocritical when people praise the Aquinos then condemn the Marcoses and Dutertes... because dynasty? Why not focus on the lack of merit rather than because... dynasty?
The problem isn't dynasties but dynasties born out of name recall
The presidential system, whether we want to admit it or not, is usually a result of name recall. I would go back to Noynoy again. Noynoy for all his pros and cons, is from a political dynasty. Why were people clamoring for Noynoy to run because of his mother's death? Isn't it really a name recall then? Some people may even be wishing Maria Kristine Bernadette "Kris" C. Aquino would recover so she could run. Is it because of her brother's death last 2021?
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| Vera Files |
The Aquinos were all part of a political family. Servilliano Aquino was one of Emilio Aguinaldo's men. Benigno Simeon Aquino Sr. was a politician. Benigno Simeon "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. was a senator. The last in the lineage, who died a bachelor, was also a politician. Whether we want to admit it or not, certain traits do pass down. Maybe, Noynoy never got his father's or great-grandfather's military gene. Ninoy actually played a part in the surrender of the rebel Luis Taruc. Yes, the Aquinos are a political dynasty. That's what makes Atty. Teodoro A. Casiño's statement on Paolo Benigno "Bam" A. Aquino questionable. It's because Bam is still a great-grandson of Servilliano Aquino and a grandson of Benigno Sr.!
Basically, it wouldn't be wrong to vote for an Aquino, a Marcos, a Duterte, etc. by default. What becomes wrong is that the presidential system is all about name recall. In Tagalog, we call that pasikatan sa pangalan. Pasikatan is all about popularity. For example, some people may have voted for Bam because he was a first cousin of Noynoy instead of being an outstanding entrepreneur. With Noynoy's death, I hope that his nephews Joshua Aquino or James Aquino Yap Jr. will not be urged to run, simply because of their relation to him!
The political dynasties born out of name recall are bad. It's because it could care less if the member was a good egg or a rotten egg. It becomes effortless to run because all it needs is a degree of sympathy. It can take form of a politician's widow or orphaned children. The trend followed with the Aquinos. Mrs. Aquino was urged to run as president because her hsuband Ninoy died. That wouldn't be a problem if Mrs. Aquino was to remain as a symbolic Head of State. Mrs. Aquino should've been the symbolic head while the late Fidel V. Ramos could've been the prime minister. Mrs. Aquino would represent the Filipino people, accept credentials, open the doors, and Ramos makes the important decisions for the country!
Let's talk about Atty. Maria Leonor "Leni" Gerona-Robredo's three daughters. Their names are Jessica Marie "Aika' Robredo (management engineering), Janine Patricia "Tricia" Gerona Robredo (a doctor in medicine), and Jillian Therese "Jill" Gerona Robredo (double degree in economics and mathematics). Should the Robredos be exempt from the political dynasty ban? If that ban happens, let's say that all three daughters prove capable of running for office. Looking at their degrees, I don't think it's far fetched if ever Mrs. Robredo's three daughters will ever run for office while their mother lives!
Passing the anti-political dynasty would throw away the baby with the bathwater. It would mean throwing away the fresh fruit with the rotten fruit. The problem of dynasties that carry their rotten egg is because of name recall. Let's just say that one day, the anti-political dynasty law will be passed. Let's say that Aika, Tricia, and Jill would be more qualified than people who don't belong to political dynasties. According to the political dynasty law, because their father Jesse Robredo (who died last 2012) was a mayor of Naga City in Bicol, their mother had been a legislator and vice president, the three shall therefore, "Thou must not run because thou belongest to a political dynasty!" will hit them. What's next? Apply a double standard and "exempt" them? Pass laws to ban the Marcoses and Dutertes or only specific families from having a political dynasty? That's a whole lot of a mess!
However, political dynasties should never matter if they were in the parliamentary system
There are times when a political dynasty has a good father that raises good children. That's why I used Mrs. Robredo's daughters to be an example. Would it be so wrong if these children all enter politics via meritocracy? It's because if Mrs. Robredo's three daughters all prove themselves as good workers, why can't all three become good public servants? Some Filipinos say (and most of them are boomers by the way, who keep quoting the same old broken records such as Raissa Robles, CBCP, Atty. Hilario Davide Jr., etc.) that parliamentary system will immediately worsen the political dynasties. Some say get rid of political dynasties first. That's why I raise Mrs. Robredo's three daughters that what if, one day, these three are all qualified to be part of the government. It's because such people are already treating Mrs. Robredo like she's some miracle worker, when she isn't!
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| The Straits Times |
Now we need to look into Singapore. I'm afraid some people are too overly sentimental over poor Flor Contemplacion. Please, it's already going 30 years since Flor died! Plus, Flor herself was really guilty! However, some people may just tell me to go watch The Flor Contemplacion Story instead of get real evidence of her innocence! The same people may still be believing that Hubert Jeffry Webb wasn't framed, even if proof says he was truly in the US, when the Vizconde Massacre happened! Back on topic, I bought Third World to First because I wanted to get the writings firsthand, from the hand of the great statesman. Why should I listen to people who gossip about this and that, when I can get what LKY had written down based on experience? It's from reading that book that I discovered people who say Singapore only opened to FDI, after it became a first world country, are lying.
Going down, LKY recalled in chapter 42 of From Third World to First. LKY also pointed out that while he did appoint LSH as junior minister, the latter still had to take orders from the senior minister. In short, LSH was given a job and received no special treatment. Not to mention, LSH was already studying hard. It's a stark contrast to President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.'s growing up years in that fake parliamentary system. The big difference was there. LSH was already an outstanding student. LSH would already have the credentials to make him a junior minister. LSH wasn't giving orders to the senior minister. LSH was taking orders from his father's minister! I wonder if Raissa Espinosa-Robles even bothered to read that contrast?
LSH was a Member of the Parliament while LKY was alive. If the Singaporeans operated with an anti-political dynasty ban, all competent people belonging to political dynasties would be banned. They would be banned because they're part of a dynasty. It would be stupid to let someone incompetent sit because "he or she is not part of a political dynasty" and let the competent person out because "he or she is part of a political dynasty". The dynasty would be broken if LSH proves incompetent. However, LSH had to prove himself. Family members or not, the parliamentary system cares more about how one performs and not if one came from a political dynasty.
In a parliamentary system, it would be all about meritocracy. That means nobody will become prime minister solely because of necropolitics. A grieving widow who proves herself capable of being prime minister (because of her outstanding performance as a member of parliament), can become prime minister. It wouldn't be voting for a grieving widow out of sympathy. If a grieving widow has three daughters who have studied hard to become members of parliament, why not let all three of them sit? It would only be wrong if the widow won out of sympathy and her daughters all won because of the popular name recall, even if the widow and her daughters are incompetent.
The political dynasty would actually be lessed. It's because nobody in the family will be voted solely because of pasikatan. That means every Aquino, every Marcos, every Robredo, every Cayetano, every Ejercito, etc. wouldn't be the focus. Party-centric politics means that even if older brother and older sister are in it, they're not the focus. Instead, the party's platform is the agenda. If a family can prove beneficial to the party, the family stays. If not, the family has remove its bad eggs to save the party's reputation.