Binay on dynasties: Why bar qualified bets?

Vice President Jejomar Binay on Friday joined critics of pending bills and a people’s initiative to bar members of political dynasties from running for public office.

“I don’t believe in prohibiting dynasties. Why should there be a law to prohibit someone who is qualified [from running] when the people want him [elected]? The real spirit of democracy is the will of the people—vox populi,” he told reporters in an interview at Makati City Hall where he attended a mass to mark his birthday on Nov. 11.

Binay, who is being criticized for building a political dynasty, asserted that the antidynasty proposals were “only being pushed by people who are perennial losers” in elections.

The United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), which Binay leads, is fielding his daughter Nancy in next year’s midterm senate race.  Binay’s wife served as mayor of Makati City after his term expired and the current mayor is his son.

“Let us uphold and not frustrate the will of our countrymen. I repeat, if the candidates are honorable and the elections clean, anybody can run. If they ban dynasties, what next, prohibit the noninfluential and the uneducated from becoming candidates? Everybody should have equal opportunity,” he said.

“The issue of the dynasties is only cropping up because some people are not getting votes [to win]. They just want to eliminate their rivals,” he added.

According to Binay, what gives political dynasties a bad image is the use of violence and overspending just to ensure that a family member wins an elective post.

He also said that political parties also act like dynasties because some parties and party bosses “want to serve for life.”

The 1987 Constitution calls on Congress to enact a law prohibiting political dynasties. Over a quarter of a century since the Constitution was ratified, however, Congress has yet to pass the implementing law.

There are currently two pending bills at the Congress that seek to prohibit dynasties. Two political parties, Kapatiran and the Social Justice Society, has launched a people’s initiative for the passage of a national law prohibiting dynasties.