Kingdoms, Filipino-style

By Marifi Jara

NAMPULA, Mozambique– Over dinner with a Filipina from Mindanao (living here for many years now, first as a volunteer worker then for a private company) and a couple of friends from Europe (well-travelled though never been to the Philippines but they do have friends who have done work in the Philippines, particularly in Mindanao), conversation got around to Davao City and how the current mayor there is the daughter of the former mayor (who is now actually the vice mayor, but we were not sure about it at that time).

Wow, they reacted, finding it rather interesting. I suppose that their surprise is partly due to a mindset about kings and queens and princes and princesses. Several countries in Europe, with its long history of monarchies, still have their royal families who are well respected but the king or queen’s role in government is largely ceremonial. And royal love affairs of course always make for juicy news.

It’s nothing unusual really, we told them. Happens in many parts of the country. Well, most parts if you come to think of it. I did not run out of examples from Pangasinan alone. And, we added, it’s true not just in local government but also at the national level.

Eyes go wider in amazement.  “And they are legal, er, elected?” was the next question as they perhaps try to process and relate it to knowledge that the Philippines is a democratic country.

Well, yes, we reply tentatively. Then we quickly continued, the elections are by and large credible, that there is a vigilant civil society, but yes surely there is also rampant vote-buying and harassment, and yes there would be cheating. And then talk drifted briefly to the example of the Ampatuans in Maguindanao.

Then we got into explaining how under the law there are limits to the number of times that a person can run for a position in public office and (get ready for this mouthful:) how so many of our politicians go around that rule by simply shifting to another position — never mind if it’s a lower position, there is no shame in that, power is power — or some do go into a pseudo political hibernation while somebody else in the family tries out for the vacated position then after one term of two, the same person would be running for his or her previous position while the other/s become a candidate for the other position/s. Round and round, like the game of musical chairs, within the same blood line. In fact, we pointed out, our previous president, that would be the highest elected position in the land, is now a district representative in Congress, joining her sons and a brother-in-law! There is amused laughter all around.

But to be fair, we did note that this whole Filipino-style family kingdoms, while it more often breeds and maintains corruption, do work in some areas judging from the economic progress of the localities.

And to give due credit to our maturing electorate, we also said that there are several examples of places where people have put a stop to family dynasties by using their power to vote for an alternative candidate.

In conclusion, we did say democracy, an immature kind as it is, does work over there in the PH, notwithstanding the little monarchies.

Now, politics aside, as for travelling around the Philippines, let me tell you about the roads and the airports and the boats, the food and the fruits, the fiestas, the mountains and the seas…

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