Corruption has become one of the major problems in the Philippines, the government is still fighting the increasing level of corruption, but the problem is, corrupt people is in the public office; to local government up to national government. As a matter of fact, those corrupt politicians also belong to an oligarch. Political dynasty stops the emerging politicians who have an exceptional vision for the country, and it continues the corruption which worsen everything. According to one professor, political dynasty is the cancer of history. The Philippine Government ranked 113th of 180 countries in 2019, this study shows that corruption only worsened. It may take time to find a solution but removing political dynasty will be the best solution to reduce corruption in the Philippines.
Dynastic culture in politics is not a surprise here, a member of a family will succeed to the position left by the other family member, it is not unusual in election when two family clans to fight over a certain position example mayoral, governorate and senatorial. It left the voters with no other choice but to vote which of the candidates that both belong to different political dynasty. Another problem is, if that political clan is corrupt and has been in different government positions for a long period of time, then the corruption perpetuates. Example of families that has been in a different government position for a long time up to present are the Aquino family, Cojuangco family, Binay family, Marcos family and Duterte family. First reason why the congress needs to consider to pass a bill that will limit the influence of powerful families in politics is that, it compounded the ubiquitouness of corruption in government and corrupt the check and balances, example is the former Vice President Binay who had been under investigation of Senate Blue Committee for alleged corruption, many will question the investigation because two daughter of former Vice President Binay were members of the congress, this question the effectiveness of the investigation. Second reason, it widens the gap between the poor from the rich, to privileged to the unprivileged. Corruption just lowers the economic growth and increases the poverty, some political clan put the money or funds of government to their own business, or in government projects that is irrelevant, pointless and useless to society and economy. Third reason, even they face criminal charges they can still have the power by having spouses and children reign on their seats, to make sure that the power will remain in their family. For the last reason, the emerging politicians who have good intentions are dissuade because of continues success of some political families despite corruption charges, it leaves the position open to those who just want more wealth and power. I believe, a change in political culture will help to lessen the corruption which hinders development in our economy and society. On the other hand, many still believe in those family of politicians who has a track record, good governance, and good name that is why the legacy of the family remains. One of the advantages of political dynasty according to the article by Professor Jensen Mañebog, it continues the implementation of institutional and government projects, if the dynasty is pro-service.
A consideration in removal of political dynasty in the system will help to improve our country, because it will also lessen the problems about corruption which rooted from the rule of few rich families. Others might think that it is not necessary if the other family of politicians have good governance and clean intention, but we need to look on different aspects. We need to evaluate what is good and what is bad for our country, because it can affect the economy and society. Some knowledge about politics doesn’t make us less human, in fact it helps us to vote wisely and to become a good citizen in our country.
P.S, this is the position paper I wrote for my EAPP subject noong first semester namin, hindi ako magaling sa ingles HAHAHAHA pero gusto ko ishare dito so don’t mind the grammars, wrong punctuation marks etc. kasi sabi ko nga di ako magaling sa english. Opinion ko lamang ito at ang ibang detalye ay kinuha ko sa Araling Panlipunan ko na libro noong grade 10 ako. If you want to share your thoughts you can comment naman and kung may makita kayong mali paki-comment na rin hehehe (I’m open to constructive criticism) :)
