The good, the bad and reality

Cebu’s prominent political families – the Duranos, Osmeñas, Garcias and Duranos – were cited as examples of good and bad features of political dynasties during yesterday’s third Inquirer Senate Forum held in Cebu City.

While all eight Senate candidates called for a level playing field to avoid concentrating power in the hands of a few clans, they differed on how to go about doing it.

Most said they would support a pending anti-dynasty bill once elected.

Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teddy Casiño, author of a House bill against political dynasty, and an independent senatorial candidate, called for direct action by voters in the May 13 election to “bury political clans and kill political monopoly” saying the bill would never get past the committee level.

Two Cebuanos – Sen. Serge Osmeña and former senator John H. Osmeña, were singled out by Ang Kapatiran candidate Rizalito David, who said the two cousins would not qualify in the proposed definition of political dynasty which only extends to the second degree of consanguinity which covers spouses, children, parents and siblings.

But the cousins’ impact, he said, was clear when they both supported the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira) Act in the Senate which restructured the energy sector.

“Sila ang nag-approve sa Epira Law on power distribution and generation. That’s why napakataas ng presyo ng ating kuryente,” he said, pointing out that a lawmaker need not be a relative to serve the interest of big business as an ally of the “economic elite”.

(Sonny Osmeña chaired the Senate committee on public services until 2004 when he lost a reelection bid. He is running in May for Toledo city mayor. Serge Osmeña is an incumbent senator serving until 2016.)

David yesterday made a direct appeal to Cebuanos, whose 2.5 million voters make the island the biggest vote-rich province, to “take the the lead in electing leaders who will bring about genuine change.”

“Napakalaki pa naman natin ng utang na loob, kaming mga taga-Maynila at bayan sa Pilipinas sa Cebu. Cebu gave us Christianity. Cebu gave us Catholicism,” he said.

“But Cebu also elected the past two presidents na hindi nagbigay ng pag-unlad sa ating bayan. Pagkakataon niyo na itong muli. Ang Cebu ang dapat manguna sa pag-elect ng mga leader na magdadala ng tunay na pagbabago.”

David said citizens can’t rely on Congress to pass an anti-dynasty law and should instead join Kapatiran’s campaign to gather 5.2 million signatures nationwide to directly enact law under a “people’s initiative” and referendum mechanism in the Constitution.

BETTER CHILDREN

On the other hand, a “positive” example of scions of Cebu political clans was given by former senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, whose father and younger brother serve as governor and congressman of Bukidnon.

He said “in fairness” to them, some children perform better than their parents.

He cited Joseph “Ace” Durano, former 5th district congressman and tourism secretary, whom he described as “hard working” and “the most decent” man who didn’t move around with a bodyguard.

Ace, whose father “Ramonito” is a former congressman running for Danao city mayor, is also seeking a return to the House of Representatives in May.

Zubiri also cited Cebu 3rd district Rep. Pablo John Garcia as an example of children who are “better educated than their fathers” and “better trained” for a role in the national legislature.

Zubiri said political clans in Cebu and other parts of the country “are all my friends” and that the more important imbalance to consider is that out of 33 candidates of senator, only two are from the Visayas and Mindanao.

FAMILY

The two-hour forum at the Cebu Cultural Center tackled the question: “What is the role of the family in the political system?”

Other candidates were Aurora Rep. Juan Eduardo Angara, Bro. Eddie Villanueva, former Movie and Television Review and Classification Board chairman Grace Poe Llamanzares, and independent candidates Ricardo Penson and Samson Alcantara of the Social Justice Society, who all promised to support legislation that would clearly define what is a political dynasty.

“The Constitution is very clear. Political dynasty is prohibited. There is no good or bad dynasty like good cholesterol and bad cholesterol,” said Alcantara, a lawyer and bar reviewer.

Casiño, Alcantara, Villanueva and Zubiri agreed that Congress should amend the provision on political dynasties in the 1987 Philippine Constitution.

Article 2 says “The State shall guarantee equal access to opportunities for public service, and prohibit political dynasties as may be defined by law.”

Brother Eddie called for a “black and white legal definition”.

HB 3413 was authored by Casiño in 2001 and prohibits persons of a single family from occupying multiple government electoral positions at the same time.

Casiño yesterday said it went through two public hearings but will never pass the committee level because most members belong to political dynasties.

Grace Poe, daughter of the late “King of Philippine action movies” Fernando Poe Jr., said voter’s education was important so that people can see beyond the surname whether a candidate deserves to be elected.

She also said children are ‘genetically pre-disposed to have the same talents as their parents.’

“That’s why there are dynasties in showbiz and business. The same can also go for politics,” she said.

Angara said he would not be affected by an anti-dynasty law because his father, Sen. Eduardo Angara, will retire from politics in June.

“I’ve always been in the shadow of my father but I’ve also served as part of the Congress for nine years,” he said.

Brother Eddie said electoral reform is needed to level the playing field through strengthening political parties, supporting an anti-Balimbing law , and cheaper campaign costs especially in television and radio exposure.

“Once you make them irrelevant,” he said about dynasties, ”they will suffer a natural death,” he said.

He called for a “balanced view” about dynasties, noting that a competent scion of a political clan with a passion for public service shouldn’t be disqualified just because of his surname.

The Jesus Is Lord (JIL) church founder said he would push for a ‘black and white definition’ of a political dynasty if elected in the Senate.

Penson called on Cebuanos not to vote for candidates from political dynasties, whose number in Congress he said has increased from 10 percent in post-Edsa 1987 to the present 72 percent.

In his welcome remarks, speech, Comelec Regional Director Temie Lambino challenged voters to “follow their conscience” in selecting leaders in May.

“Exercising your right to suffrage is not a legal obligation but a moral obligation. Open your eyes, listen to them, magnify their words, scrutinize them and at the end, think about who you will vote,” he said.

More than a thousand supporters filled the CCC and cheered for their candidates who were given three minutes to answer questions from social networking sites, hotline numbers and representatives from the different sectors of society.