What political dynasty are we talking about here?

By Al S. Mendoza

FUNNY, but if “proven” that his family is guilty of “dynasty,” Juan Ponce Enrile said he would resign as senator just to save his son, Jack, from getting disqualified.

I say funny, because who said Jack Enrile would be disqualified as a senatorial candidate in the 2013 May polls?

I also say funny, because, of all people, it is Enrile who is hurling the funniest political challenge ever in this politics-crazed country.

Isn’t Enrile, at 88, the most senior politician of all?

Funnier still is the accusation that there is “political dynasty” in this country.

There is none, fellas.

Yes, the Constitution disallows “political dynasty.”

But the fundamental law of the land, funny, is vague on what truly a “political dynasty” is.  It does not give us a categorical, even clear-cut, definition of what “political dynasty” is.

In short, “political dynasty” remains as mysterious as the Kawasaki Disease, the illness whose cure is unknown because what causes it has also remained unknown almost 50 years since it was discovered by a Japanese doctor surnamed Kawasaki.

Thus, because of its vagueness, “political dynasty” continues to baffle the unknowing.

Really, what is dynasty?

Dynasty, as Mr. Thesaurus defines it, is “reign, rule, empire, period or era.”

Actually, dynasties specifically refer to empires in Old China.

In short, a dynasty exists because of succession in an empire or a kingdom.  People do not elect a dynasty.

The dynasties of Old China, or even the kingdoms in olden Europe and even the present for that matter, were not voted upon by the people. They had existed through conquests in wars. In a dynasty, the ruler rules for life; if the ruler dies, either a son or a daughter, or even the espouse, takes over.

Over here, “dynasty” is being used in a wrong, crooked manner.

There is no dynasty here because for a dynasty to exist, no voting is required.

When a relative of a politician, incumbent or not, is voted into office in a political exercise, that is not dynasty.   That is merely an exercise of freedom, if not an expression of the democratic process.

Accusing Enrile of engaging in political dynasty, or Erap (his son JV is running for senator) or even P-Noy (his cousin Bam Aquino is also running for senator), is off-tangent.

The way “dynasty” is being rammed into our throats is the nation’s biggest misnomer thus far.

But the biggest hoax is, Congress will never take this “dynasty” thing seriously since that’d be tantamount to a political suicide.  Suicide, because for Congress to do that would mean losing millions in pork barrels a.k.a. instant wealth for families immersed in politics.

In this tiny corner of the universe, politics has become a lucrative family business.

The people can end this malady by not voting for families with the insatiable greed for political positions.  That simple.

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