BEHIND the facade of Philippine democracy lies a deeply entrenched oligarchy created during the Spanish and American colonial eras.
An elite group of powerful families now rules the country after consolidating their influence through their control of Congress and mainstream media. Political power rests not in winning the popular vote, but on influential families that can buy as many votes as they wish using government funds that are usually disguised as allocations for “humanitarian and social projects.”
While the Philippines is rich in natural resources and is a large economy, about 250 to 300 super wealthy families own vast properties and corporations. They control the politics and economy in 82 provinces where the greatest poverty is widespread.
The richest people in the Philippines, Enrique Razon Jr. and the Sy siblings, have a combined wealth of $31 billion.
Historically, these families form a network that has cleverly dominated government through relatives in high positions and got control of state budgets for their own use, disguised as “projects for the people.”
For example, of those 300 families, about 40 to 50 of these secured nearly 50 percent of the total loanable funds and foreign loan guarantees managed by government institutions. This is the extent of cronyism, wherein they work together to maintain control.
These powerful families, as recorded and researched, have deep roots in the Spanish colonial period. There are the Chinese-Filipino (the “taipans”) and mestizo elites (among them the Ayalas, Razons and Lopezes), as well as the Villar, Ang, Consunji, and Gokongwei clans. They completely dominate major sectors of the economy, including banking, utilities, telecommunications, infrastructure, real estate and agriculture.
Forty years ago, the 1987 Constitution explicitly ordered Congress to ban political dynasties, but since the legislature is dominated by these families, they understandably refused. Why commit political suicide?
Their political power and connections give them easy access to legal permits and lucrative contracts to expand their power and wealth, as well as protect their massive holdings and block competition.
Approximately 76 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) is controlled by 40 elite families — the highest in all of Asia. Their corporations are responsible for exploiting the ancestral lands of Indigenous peoples and destroying the environment with massive mining projects for raw minerals that are exported unprocessed. Few, if any, ordinary Filipinos benefit.
This is why poverty continues in a very unequal society such as ours. Filipinos see this great inequality and suffer generations of poverty, and their children are forced to migrate to support their families.
Others stay and try to resist the social injustice and take to the streets to demand justice. But again, the government is run by the relatives and the cronies of powerful families, and after such protests — which the media regularly reports — government officials make concessions or promises that are seldom implemented. They allow their elite “masters” to do what they want.
According to data from the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) and various academic studies, dynasties control roughly 80 to 83 percent of the Senate, about 75 to 80 percent of members of the House of Representatives, and 87 percent of provincial governors. (To be continued)/PN
