Dynasties: Good or bad?

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor GUILLERMO TEJIDA III Desk Editor NANETTE L. GUADALQUIVER Busines Editor CEDELF P. TUPAS Sports Editor (On Leave) RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

Musical chairs is a children's party game where the players move around a set of chairs, usually to the beat of music. When the music stops, the players scramble to sit on the chairs. Every election season, members of dominant political clans who have incumbent officials whose term limits have expired, play a version of this game.

The game includes husbands and wives, parents and children, cousins and nephews; where the posts of mayor, vice-mayor, councilor, and occasionally congressman are routinely swapped between the "players". In some cases, the mayor and vice-mayor of a town or city may even end up sharing the same bed.

While these kinds of arrangements may seem irregular and strange, it happens simply because there is no law in the land that explicitly prohibits it. The good news is that since this swapping is only for candidacies, which happens during election season, then in theory it is still the people's will being followed as long as the elections are fair, honest, and orderly. The choice ultimately rests with the voters, and if they allow a political dynasty to continue in their towns or cities, then it is because that's what their ballots say.

Dynasties, on their own, are neither good nor bad. When the ruling family is performing exceptionally well and can honestly claim to be the reason behind the progress of a town, city or province, the people of that area will confirm their belief in the family by continuing to vote for them. When dynasties go wrong and result in the stagnation or worse, regression of the area; or in massive graft and corruption, then elections are the perfect opportunity for the people to exert their will and change the elected leadership.

Whether or not there is a law prohibiting dynasties, the key remains the free, honest, and orderly conduct of elections, especially in the local scene. With free and honest elections, the people's will is truly reflected in the results. Political dynasties that have been proven to benefit the lives of its constituents will be allowed to survive and those administrations whose rules have resulted in more harm than good, will naturally be replaced by better alternatives.*