Elections and Political Dynasties: Lack of Context, Wrong Focus

JEERS TO ABS-CBN News for a report that relied mainly on one politician as its source, and which failed to locate the story in the context of dynastic politics in Cavite province and its impact on democratic elections.

On February 9, ABS-CBN 2’s “Kampanyaserye (Campaign Series)” ran “Cavite and Pangasinan: Clan unity or clan survival?” which reported on the political climate in both provinces. It reported the possibility of Cavite’s no longer being an election hotspot because several political families are said to have agreed not to run against the Remullas, one of the most powerful political clans in the province.

The story’s focus also missed out on an even more crucial issue: the fact that the dominance of political dynasties in Philippine elections and governance provides the electorate with extremely limited choices.

Incumbent Governor Juanito Victor “Jonvic” Remulla was quoted as saying that this is the first time that elections in Cavite will be peaceful as a result, and that people should welcome the new image of the province, which is perceived to be violent and a haven of political goons. His brother, former congressman Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla, will run for governor this coming election without any opponent from other Cavite political clans, although he will be facing three independent candidates.

“The situation has eased what would have been a tense political season caused by rivalry among families,” the report said. But to support the claim that a more peaceful election is likely this year compared to previous years, the report could have cited statistics from the Philippine National Police (PNP) or the Department of the Interior and Local Government. The report could also have compared the situation in Cavite today and during past election years in terms of the number of politically- related instances of violence then and now.  The numbers would have established whether Cavite is no longer an election hotspot.

Last December 2015, the PNP identified the top six “election watchlist areas” for the coming elections. While Cavite is not included in the list, it set the parameters for identifying so-called hotspots. These include the histories of intense partisan political rivalry and politically motivated and election-related incidents, the presence of threat groups like private armies, and the increase in the number of loose firearms (“PNP identifies 6 election watch-list areas,” Dec. 8, 2015).

ABS-CBN News could have reviewed the situation in Cavite, particularly in light of Governor Remulla’s claims, using these parameters for the sake of a clearer and more contextualized picture of the situation in Cavite.

There is the even more important question of whether the “peace pact” supposedly forged in Cavite would be positive for democracy in terms of providing the electorate a wider field of choice. Phillip Mallari, a political analyst at De La Salle Dasmariñas, said in the report that this agreement among Cavite politicians still “leaves Cavite voters with very limited choices.”

This seemed apparent in the list of Cavite officials who appeared to have merely swapped positions for this year’s elections. Among those mentioned in the report were:

• Bacoor City Mayor Strike Revilla and his sister-in-law, Congresswoman Lani Mercado (2^nd District).
• Congressman Elpidio Barzaga (4^th District) and his wife Dasmariñas City Mayor Jenny Bargaza.

ABS-CBN News could have given Mallari more time in which to further explain his point about limited choices—one of the worst consequences, other than the violence that usually attends local elections,  of the dominance of political dynasties in many areas of the Philippines.

The report erred by not delving deeper into  whether the peace that would result from the drop in political rivalries is the peace  everybody wants and whether it is good for democracy. Anticipating a peaceful election period because of an uncontested race shifts the focus away from the more pressing issue of politics as a family affair and as a main cause of violence during elections.