East Asian Studies in the Perspective of Regional Integration by Xinbo Wu

Author:Xinbo Wu [Wu, Xinbo]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Political Science, International Relations, Trade & Tariffs
ISBN: 9781938134968
Google: 5J1-swEACAAJ
Goodreads: 36765334
Publisher: Wcpc
Published: 2018-01-15T08:20:48+00:00

∗Yeawon Kim, Ph.D Candidate in the Department of Political Science at Kyung Hee University, South Korea.

Chapter 9

The Endurance of Political Family in the Philippines: Hereditary Election

Yoko Yoshikawa∗

Introduction

The Philippine has a history of electoral democracy for more than a century. The country is also well known for its restored democracy in 1986 which ushered in a sequence of Asian democratization after 13 years of the authoritarian regime. Subsequently the progressives, civil society and mass democracy emerged against the traditional elite politics. For them elections continue to be central political avenue for desired social changes, where dynasties and clans are the major political actors.

The political dynasties and clans continue to revive and prosper by taking advantage of the existing framework of the electoral system regardless of regime changes ranging from oligarchic democracy, authoritarian regime, or predatory regime (Kasuya and Quimpo 2010:49–53) to restored democracy. This basic trend has not been sufficiently reversed despite of the challenges attempted by the non-clan leaders and civil society, whose impact has remained limited. The significant result is that powerful political families are one of the major non-formal institutions that can influence the official decision making of the President (Brilliantes, Jr. and Amarles Illago 1994:117).

In the 1990s, scholars and journalists began to question the quality of the restored “democracy”, and were motivated to revitalize interest in the “Anarchy of Families” by analyzing the individual political family (McCoy 1994; Mojares 1994; Lacaba ed. 1995; Sidel 1999; Roces 2001; Parreno 2003) and the comprehensive studies on the elected officers (Gutierrez 1994; Coronel et al. 2004; Simbulan 2005; Rivera 2011). The puzzle may not be hard to answer. The Local Government Code of 1991 granted the local government units more authorities and responsibilities in formulating reforms and programs through decentralization and devolution from the national government which has increased local financial resources (Brilliantes, Jr. 1997:84–90). The local governments hitherto, because of their limited resources, were compelled to depend on the national government, essentially the Office of President. The Code renewed the opportunities for political families to vigorously seek local power (Rocamora 1995: xxv). This reasoning is viable after the 1990s but it does not explain the fundamental factors of persistence and prosperity of political family.

Electoral politics introduced in the American colonial era has been the main breeding ground, enabling the provincial land owning families to control the electoral constituencies by mobilizing the voters living within informal hereditary relationships since the members of the House are elected from a single member district. The local and national elections, being held every three years (every two years prior to 1972) grant them with the legitimate mandates of dominating the elective offices. With the same family name and the vast amount of political funds, the political families are capable of providing alternating human resources for the candidates who are equipped with the highest education and profession or business experience.

After 20 years of trial and error, an automated election system was introduced in 2010. Though it considerably curtailed various electoral frauds that prevailed in the

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