What? The Aquinos Aren't Part of a Political Dynasty?!

 

I was looking at the Mahal Ko Ang Pilipinas (I Love the Philippines) Facebook page, which made me laugh. This is what they wrote on their post saying that the Aquino Family isn't a political dynasty:

THE AQUINO FAMILY IS NOT A POLITICAL DYNASTY 🇵🇭🎗

Pro-Duterte blogger Tio Moreno says that Bam Aquino is part of a political dynasty because the Aquino family is a political dynasty. But to me, this is not true.

Why is it not true that the Aquino family is a political dynasty? 🤔

1. When Ninoy Aquino entered politics, none of his children joined him in his endeavors, and even his wife Cory did not join him in politics.

2. When Ninoy was assassinated in 1983, none of his children succeeded him in politics, not even his wife. But when the opposition and his supporters were looking to be the opposition's candidate for the presidency in the snap election called by Ferdie Marcos for 1986, his housewife Cory Cojuangco-Aquino was approached, encouraged or convinced by people thirsty for democracy and change to be the opposition's candidate; and so that Cory could continue his remaining fights. Cory was forced to run for the presidency because she was listening to the widespread call, and also because of the dictator's challenge.

3. Cory is a short-politician or short-term in politics, so when her term ended and she stepped down as president in 1992, she immediately resigned from politics, but she still attended other political activities, gatherings and occasions until she got sick with cancer. At the time of her resignation from politics, none of her children succeeded her in politics, but after a few years, her only son, Noynoy Aquino, also entered politics and ran for congressman of the second district of Tarlac in the 1998 Elections.

4. When Noynoy passed away due to diabetes in 2021, his sisters Ballsy, Pinky, Viel and especially Kris did not enter politics, and just lived a quiet and peaceful life.

There are also speculations that Viel Aquino-Dee's son Kiko Dee plans to enter politics because he is now active in political and social issues in the Philippines. But there is no news or information that Kiko will enter politics because he has no plans for this or will run for any elective position in the government.

Bam Aquino is not the son of Ninoy and Cory Aquino, but rather the nephew of the late senator. He is the only Aquino entering national politics today.

The Dilawans, KakamPinks and KakamPinoys are against and do not like political dynasties, because other relatives have made serving the people a business, and we believe that this is the root of the various corruptions that occur in the government, which is the reason why we Filipinos are suffering.

 

Tracing the lineage and we see the Aquinos are part of a dynasty, by common sense

However, we need to realize that despite the Aquinos not riding all at once, they would fit under the thin dynasty as of recent. We need to consider the Aquino Dynasty based on this diagram I found on Facebook:

The lineage goes that Servilliano Aquino (top) had been married thrice in his life. Servilliano married Guadalupe Quiambao. After Guadalupe died, Servillano married his widowed sister-in-law Petronila Quiambao-Estrada, and became stepfather to his nephew and niece, and even had a child with her named Fortuna in 1905. The last marriage that Servilliano had was Belen Sanchez. The family treehere reveals the two branches that created the Aquino Dynasty, which again, while not bloated, is still a dynasty.

Paolo Benigno "Bam" A. Aquino's parents aren't politicians. However, Bam's parents are still down the tube through:

• Paul Aquino (father)
• Benigno Aquino Sr. (grandfather)
  
• Servilliano Aquino (great-grandfather)

Which means that Bam is still part of a dynasty, even if his father Paul Aquino, wasn't into politics!

Vera Files

In the case of the late Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" C. Aquino Jr., the dynasty can be seen through this:

• Servillano Aquino was part of the Malolos Congress (great-grandfather)
• Benigno Aquino Sr. was a politician during the Commonwealth Period (and a divisive figure during the Second World War)
• Benigno Simeon "Ninoy" A. Aquino Jr. was a governor and senator (father)

Basically, if you think about it, a basic definition of a political dynasty would be a political lineage. You can never say, "It's not a political dynasty until the whole family sits in power." I don't need to have a degree in political science from Ateneo De Manila, De La Salle University, or the University of the Philippines to know the simple definition of a dynasty! As long as there's some form of succession, it's still a dynasty! 

It would be crazy to hate political dynasties while loving Noynoy, who is part of a political dynasty. Where's the consistency, because last I realized, Noynoy and his first cousin Bam were both occupying seats. Sure, it wasn't a fat dynasty, but it doesn't change the fact that they are both share a great-grandfather (Servilliano) and a grandfather (Benigno Sr.). In short, the dynasty may have skipped Bam's father, but he became part of the dynasty by becoming a senator!

This post isn't to discredit anything good that Bam, Noynoy, or Ninoy has done. Instead, it's to address the fact that the real problem wasn't the existence of political dynasties per se. The real problem was that presidentialism's name recall creates the fat dynasties that the page Mahal Ko Ang Pilipinas claims to hate. It's not just term limits but also the name recall. 

That's why I became an advocate for shift to parliamentary system. I don't care too much about whether or not a family is political or not. In fact, one must think that Lee Hsien Loong served in the Parliament while his late father Lee Kuan Yew was still the prime minister. LSH became the next prime minister of Singapore. 

This is also to call Filipinos to stop thinking that dynasties aren't dynasties unless they're fat. As long as there's more than one member in the family, who gets into politics, even if it's not simultaneously, it's still a political dynasty.