ABELLANOSA

looding in social media once again are reports of political clans poising for the 2019 elections. Apparently the issue is not new. In fact, Philippine politics has been family-based or clannish since time immemorial. A major issue that refuses to go away especially during election season is the increasing number of political dynasties.

The term political dynasty has been defined in various literature. But for the purpose of this write-up, let us define it as the domination of a family or a clan in a certain geopolitical set-up. Such domination encompasses a vast network of power relations including but not limited to the governmental structure, businesses, industries, and other formal and informal spheres of relationships that are in one way or another under the jurisdiction of the state.

Political dynasties are established mainly for a reason: perpetuation in power. Competence and service are not really the main concerns. After all, anyone who has the drive to competence can always pursue such a goal in other fields in life. In fact it would be tempting to conclude that the term competent politician is a polite oxymoron. All the more, service is apparently a ridiculous reason for staying long in power. The perfect examples of service are the founders of the major religious traditions, the saints, and martyrs. All of them ended their lives in sobriety, contemplation, and charity.

So our country is in a situation where we know that we are fooled but that we seem not to know as to what must be done. On second thought though, it is not that people do not know as to what to do with the issue. The sad truth is that they know that