Manila: Filipinos confront a stark political paradox today: rampant corruption intertwined with entrenched political dynasties, forming a multi-headed monster that’s nearly impossible to slay.
Leaders trapped in their own web
The irony stings — the very leaders from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. downward, including lawmakers tasked with enacting anti-dynasty laws, hail from powerful political clans themselves.
Congress remains dominated by family fiefdoms, where the same surnames cycle through power indefinitely, blocking reforms that threaten their grip.
Despite refiled Anti-Dynasty Bills like Senate Bill 2730, progress stalls as dynasts prioritise self-preservation over systemic change.
Vicious cycle of kickbacks and dole outs
Dynasties fuel their dominance through voter dole outs — free hospital rides, medicines, spaghetti feasts + fresh chicken + macaroni, “lemon infrastructure” or ghost projects, and cold cash handouts — sourced directly from massive kickbacks in public contracts.
With the dole outs and election-time cash, roads and bridges end up being lemons. Flood-control infrastructure become “ghosts”, or another bundle of lemons.
Recent flood scams exposed trillions in siphoned pesos, with P16 billion already frozen from contractor-congressmen like Benguet Rep. Eric Yap, linking unfinished DPWH projects to luxury assets.
These illicit gains ensure electoral victories, perpetuating the cycle: corruption begets patronage, patronage begets power, power shields corruption.
Breaking the trillion-peso ‘Hydra’
Emerging probes by the Ombudsman and Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) target senators like Escudero, Villar, Villanueva and Estrada (and ex-senators like Binay, Revilla and Poe) revealing budget insertions, ghost projects, and kickbacks (aka tongpats) amounting to billions.
Will Filipinos sever the hydra’s heads, or will dynasties regenerate stronger?
Four reforms
Following are the 4 key legislative reforms being pushed