Why political families are more brazen today
By Randy David
Philippine Daily Inquirer
8:36 pm | Wednesday, April 10th, 2013
There’s no hard evidence to confirm it. But the growing perception is that at no other time in our nation’s political history have political families become more brazen in promoting their interests than in this year’s elections. One quickly notes this in the senatorial slates of the two dominant coalitions. The opposition United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) slate is led by the children of the three key figures who formed the coalition, namely the son of former President Joseph Estrada, the daughter of Vice President Jejomar Binay, and the son of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile. The administration’s Team PNoy is not any different. Two-thirds of its 12 candidates belong to political families.
It is worse at the local level. The “Movement Against Dynasties” (MAD) claims that 73 political clans control the country’s 80 provinces. That is true as well at the level of congressional districts, cities, and municipalities, where it is not unusual to see rival families running against one another for the same key positions. In some instances, as in Pampanga, a mother and her son have teamed up to vie for the positions of governor and vice governor. This has no precedent in the province. Where the same family has ruled in every election, as in the city of Danao in Cebu, it is almost inevitable that members of the same family will be challenging one another for the same positions.
The question we must ask is why. Why is the family taking on the function of leadership recruitment that belongs to political parties? Why have we regressed from that era when political parties took center stage, and party conventions were conscientiously held to choose the nation’s candidates? We must draw from history and sociology to find the answers.
Our modern political system did not evolve from the premodern conditions of our society. Instead, we took all the formal institutions of modern politics from the United States, and grafted them onto our basically feudal society. The lack of fit between the modernity of these borrowed institutions and the traditional structures of Philippine society has been the major cause of the dysfunctions of our political system.
The dysfunctions were not obvious in the beginning. Modern politics was a novelty to our people. They were in awe of the individuals who came forward to lead a nation that was determined to show the world it was capable of self-rule. Indeed, most of our early leaders were brilliant politicians who were conscious of the requirements of modern governance. They formed durable political parties to consolidate their influence. They debated the key issues that were crucial to the future of the new nation-state. More than that, they were conscious that they were building a modern nation, and not merely seeking to advance the fortunes of their families.
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These are today's Suertres/Swertres Lotto tips; Yesterday's results are at the bottom
004*
013
224*
247**
249**
047**
469*
479**
459*
677
789
079
379
279
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015*
017*
035**
136
137
138
139
Yesterday's Philippine PCSO Draw Results
For April 10, 2013 Wednesday
EZ2 Lotto
Morning 11am: 31-14
Afternoon 4pm: 27-08
Evening 9pm: 11-06
Winning numbers in exact order
Php 4,000.00 per 10 peso play
Suertres Lotto Luzon Vis-Min
Morning 11:00 am: 2-2-4
Afternoon 4:00 pm: 1-7-6
Evening 9:00 pm: 4-2-6
Winning numbers in exact order
Php: 4,500 per 10 peso play
4Digit Luzon & Vismin
9pm: 6-8-5-6
Winning numbers in exact order
Mega 6/45 National Lottery
45-36-35-22-39-03
Current Jackpot: Php 6,562,000.80
(0)winner
Winning numbers in any order
Grand 6/55 Lotto
29-02-48-52-22-31
Current Jackpot: P92,702,109.60
(0)winner
Winning numbers in any order
For best results, it is suggested to always employ rumble on the tips above.
* = Hot Numbers
** = Very Hot Numbers
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