PASS AN ANTI-DYNASTY LAW
‘INACCURATE’
TO LIKEN ABS-CBN FRANCHISE DENIAL TO ‘DISMANTLING OLIGARCHY’ — Villanueva
By:
Christia Marie Ramos - Reporter / @CMRamosINQ
INQUIRER.net
/ 08:03 PM July 14, 2020
MANILA,
Philippines — Senator Joel Villanueva on Tuesday said it is “inaccurate” to
liken the rejection of ABS-CBN’s franchise bid to the “dismantling of
oligarchy.”
In
a message to reporters, Villanueva said the House legislative franchises
committee’s decision to junk the franchise application of the country’s biggest
broadcast network, which have been cleared of violations, sends a signal “that
politicians can stop a business operation on a whim.”
“To
some people who want to equate the non-renewal of [ABS-CBN] to dismantling of
oligarchy is inaccurate. It has more negative effects to the economy and the
business climate,” he said.
“To
deny the franchise of a company which has no clear violations of our laws sends
a signal that politicians can stop a business operation on a whim,” he added.
“This
is not a conducive climate for investment and therefore contrary to public
welfare,” he further said.
Non-renewal
of ABS-CBN franchise is simply BAD
GOVERNANCE because it is capricious, based on Duterte’s personal vendetta
and not on the rule of law.
One
of the most straightforward and effective ways to begin dismantling oligarchic
rule in the Philippines is to PASS AN
ANTI-DYNASTY LAW.
DRILON
TO DUTERTE: PUSH ANTI-DYNASTY LAW TO DISMANTLE “REAL OLIGARCHY”
Posted
July 19, 2020 at 12:05 pm by Manila Standard
Senate
Minority Leader Franklin Drilon has urged President Rodrigo Duterte to ban
political dynasties to finally put an end to the “real oligarchy” in the
country.
In
an online media forum on Wednesday, Drilon stressed that political dynasties are the real oligarchs who should be the first
to be dismantled in the country.
“We
must review the whole structure, because the structure may in fact or make
oligarchy easy to achieve… The lack of an anti-dynasty system or provision in
our system allows oligarchy to continue,” said Drilon.
“[Political
dynasties] wield power for their own benefit. It has gone so bad that these
dynasties now hold simultaneous national and local positions,” added the
senator.
According
to Drilon, oligarchy is a form of power
structure in which power rests with a
small number of people who use their power to seek personal gain or benefit
their business interests.
“You cannot equate rich and oligarch, meaning it does not mean that if you are rich, you
are on oligarch. An oligarch is the one that influences the decision of the
government or the one using their political power, their wealth in order that
the policy that they want to protect their interest will be pursued,” he added.
Drilon
made the statement after the President said in a speech to soldiers in Jolo,
Sulu that he put an end to oligarchy in the country without declaring martial
law.
https://www.manilastandard.net/news/national/329024/drilon-to-duterte-push-anti-dynasty-law-to-dismantle-real-oligarchy-.html
https://www.manilastandard.net/news/national/329024/drilon-to-duterte-push-anti-dynasty-law-to-dismantle-real-oligarchy-.html
See
also “Political dynasties the real oligarchs in PH” on ANC News:
What
I have said earlier in my blog:
Two
types of laws must be passed and implemented:
-
ANTI-DYNASTY LAW
We
need this law. We do not need more Ampatuan fiefdoms. An anti-dynasty law is
like antitrust regulation in the private sector. The anti-dynasty law seeks to
open public office to equal opportunity and to fair competition. A more
competitive political environment promotes products and services of better
quality (read: better government services) and lower prices (read: less
corruption).
-
ANTI-POLITICAL TURNCOATISM LAW
See,
for example: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2015/04/11/senators-want-end-turncoatism-ph-politics-402027
Persons
and groups who are pushing for a federal or parliamentary structure are elites
who want to maintain their own fiefdoms and not subject themselves to term
limits in the legislature. They do not have the interest of the polity in mind.
There
is very good empirical evidence that political dynasties have negative economic
effects, notably Ronald Mendoza’s study:
STUDY
SAYS ‘FAT’ DYNASTIES BEHIND WORSENING POVERTY
By:
Philip C. Tubeza - @inquirerdotnet
Philippine
Daily Inquirer / 07:00 AM February 16, 2018
For
the Philippines to get a real shot at having an antidynasty law, Congress
should ban “fat” political dynasties but allow “thin” political clans, the dean
of Ateneo School of Government said on Thursday.
Fat
political dynasties have more than two family members occupying government
offices, according to Dean Ronald Mendoza.
On
the other hand, thin political dynasties are content with having members
succeed each other in office, he said.
Mendoza
said Ateneo School of Government had conducted a study that showed fat political dynasties were behind the
worsening poverty in the poorest areas of the country.
The
study was published in the Oxford Development Studies journal.
Also:
Studies
worldwide show this relationship is not limited to the Philippines, for
example:
Passing
an anti-political dynasty law is mandated by the 1987 Constitution, Article II,
Section 26:
Efforts
to pass an anti-political dynasty law have not been lacking but have been
always obstructed by the House, for reasons I suppose should be obvious:
Cielito
Habito has written a good opinion piece on this subject of political dynasties:
DO
DYNASTIES DETER DEVELOPMENT?
By:
Cielito F. Habito - @inquirerdotnet
Philippine
Daily Inquirer / 12:58 AM August 11, 2015
Have
political dynasties impeded inclusive growth and sustainable development in our
country? Evidence points to a direct association between the presence of
political dynasties, on the one hand, and higher levels of poverty and
deprivation in the Philippine context, on the other. The implication is that
either poverty paves the way for political dynasties, or political dynasties fail to reduce, if not actually worsen, poverty.
…That
the Philippine record in poverty reduction and human development lags behind in
the region is well known. Asia has generally been more successful than the rest
of the world in translating economic growth into reduced poverty. The Asian
Development Bank found that developing countries worldwide saw poverty decline
by an average of 1.5 percent for every 1-percent growth in gross domestic
product in the past years. Within Asia, the corresponding average poverty
reduction was actually faster, at 2.0 percent. Strangely, the Philippines has a
perverse experience, especially in the past decade: Poverty incidence actually
went up, even in years when the economy’s growth speeded up. As such, we will
not achieve key poverty reduction targets under the United Nations’ Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) that were set for this year.
Do
political dynasties have something to do with all this? Arsenio Balisacan and
Nobohiko Fuwa, in a 2003 study, explored the linkage between dynastic concentration
and the standard of living in Philippine provinces between 1988 and 1997. They
found dynastic concentration to have a significantly negative effect on the
upliftment of local living standards, noting that lack of real political
competition had led to flawed policies.
A
2004 study by University of the Philippines economists on provincial MDG
performance found that highly dynastic provinces lagged in MDG targets relative
to others. The authors saw dynastic politics to have damaged the quality and
provision of public services, and the proper functioning of local markets. An
AIM study on the 15th Congress found that dynastic jurisdictions are associated
with lower standards of living, lower human development, and higher levels of
deprivation.
Democracy,
international research upholds, helps improve the prospects for inclusive
economic growth by fostering better education and provision of other public
services, broadening access to opportunities, and creating disincentives for
corruption. Factors that weaken democracies and restrict political
participation can thus be expected to impede broad-based economic development.
Dynastic Philippines could well be Exhibit Number One.
Just a reminder that Zaldy Ampatuan, mastermind of the Ampatuan massacre that killed 58 people of which 32 were journalists, was granted furlough TO ATTEND A WEDDING back in 2018. Was he cuffed and heavily guarded by a company of police like 23-year-old Reina Nasino? No.
ReplyDeleteAdrian P., @AltMAdrianPuse
Philippine Daily Inquirer (October 16, 2020)
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Public domain photo
ReplyDeletePhoto link:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:President_Rodrigo_Roa_Duterte_performs_a_duet_with_Sara_Duterte-Carpio.jpg
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