At least 71 of the 82 provincial governments — or 87 percent — are led by members of political dynasties, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) says.
PCIJ’s report finds that of these dynasties, 18 are considered “obese,” with at least five members running in the 2025 elections. 47 of the governors are seeking reelection, while 19 of them have family members seeking to replace them.
The report goes on to enumerate the kinds of dynasties and their examples in the Philippines.
A dynasty is considered “fat” when the members of the clan hold several positions simultaneously. Included in PCIJ’s examples are the Marcoses of Ilocos Norte — of which President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. and Senator Imee Marcos are part — the Singsons of Ilocos Sur, the Ynareses of Rizal, the Pacquiaos of Sarangani, and the Jalosjoses of Zamboanga del Norte.
Meanwhile, a dynasty is “thin” if the clan controls one position over time. PCIJ illustrates this with the Cuas of the Quirino province, where the father and son of the family have been swapping the governor’s seat since 2007.
De La Salle University political science professor Julio Teehankee says that clans benefit from an incumbency advantage. “If you are elected, you have all the resources of the state,” he says. “You control the budget and you have built-in support because the city hall or capitol staff is under you.”
Teehankee says there are also “dormant” dynasties, “in which one or none is left in active politics, but they can grow fat again in the future.”
Bigger family dynasties are prone to infighting, the report says, citing the case of the Ortegas of La Union, where reelectionist Governor Raphaelle Veronica Ortega-David will be challenged by her own grandfather Vice Governor Mario Ortega in the upcoming elections.
Family in the party-list elections
“In the beginning, progressive party-list groups dominated party-list seats in the House, based on an initial Supreme Court interpretation that party-list groups need to represent marginalized groups,” the report says. But in 2013, the high tribunal ruled that party-list groups “do not need to organize along sectoral lines and do not need to represent any marginalized and underrepresented sector.” Political dynasties have since come to dominate the party-list seats in Congress.
According to PCIJ, 36 of the 54 of party-list groups currently in Congress have at least one nominee belonging to a political family. And at least 78 out of the 156 party-list organizations certified by the Commission on Elections belong to political families. PCIJ reports that as Manny Pacquiao seeks a Senate comeback, his wife Jinkee runs with the party-list Maharlikang Pilipino sa Bagong Lipunan, while his brother runs with the 1-PACMAN party-list.
While the 1987 Constitution prohibits political dynasties, there are still no laws in place to impose term limits and penalties for violations. Currently, an “Anti-Political Dynasty Bill” awaits a second reading in the Senate after Senator Robin Padilla filed it in July 2024. The proposed legislation prohibits incumbent officials’ spouses or relatives within the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity from running for office in the same city or province, or for national positions if the incumbent’s office is national in nature.
Data visualization from PCIJ
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