Political Dynasty
Political Dynasty in the Philippines
Political dynasty is very prevalent in our country for a long time now. The 1987 Philippine Constitution, Article II, Section 26 states “The State shall guarantee equal access to opportunities for public service and prohibit political dynasties as may be defined by law”. The provision provides for the prohibition of political dynasty but it did not give a clear definition of what political dynasty is, instead it left this task to the Congress. Many arguments had already been presented as whether to ban political dynasty or not. These are some arguments supporting the prohibition of political dynasties: promote political and personal interests; promote nepotism, favoritism and corruption; political clans are motivated by the preservation of wealth rather than the implementation of basic political ideologies; formation of political kingdoms inhibits democracy in the country; elections have become mere formalities rather that idle legal processes; dynasties are reflections of the prevailing socio-economic inequalities in the nation; the existence of political clans prohibits economically- disadvantaged but efficient candidates; basis for qualifications of public officials are distorted; and people come to accept the existing succession of political clans as a tradition. For the counter arguments: dynasties make up an effective collaboration promoting good governance and there is an increased devolution of power over the localities which empower them.
As seen with the arguments, it is clear that the disadvantages of political dynasty outweigh its advantages. But with the present composition of our government, enacting a law that will prohibit this cannot immediately be done. Thus, it rest in the hands of the voters to choose who will lead and rule our country, and whether to let this political dynasties remain or finally
Political dynasty is very prevalent in our country for a long time now. The 1987 Philippine Constitution, Article II, Section 26 states “The State shall guarantee equal access to opportunities for public service and prohibit political dynasties as may be defined by law”. The provision provides for the prohibition of political dynasty but it did not give a clear definition of what political dynasty is, instead it left this task to the Congress. Many arguments had already been presented as whether to ban political dynasty or not. These are some arguments supporting the prohibition of political dynasties: promote political and personal interests; promote nepotism, favoritism and corruption; political clans are motivated by the preservation of wealth rather than the implementation of basic political ideologies; formation of political kingdoms inhibits democracy in the country; elections have become mere formalities rather that idle legal processes; dynasties are reflections of the prevailing socio-economic inequalities in the nation; the existence of political clans prohibits economically- disadvantaged but efficient candidates; basis for qualifications of public officials are distorted; and people come to accept the existing succession of political clans as a tradition. For the counter arguments: dynasties make up an effective collaboration promoting good governance and there is an increased devolution of power over the localities which empower them.
As seen with the arguments, it is clear that the disadvantages of political dynasty outweigh its advantages. But with the present composition of our government, enacting a law that will prohibit this cannot immediately be done. Thus, it rest in the hands of the voters to choose who will lead and rule our country, and whether to let this political dynasties remain or finally