"The politicians think this is a way to make everybody happy—except perhaps the people they are sworn to serve."
The Palawan plebiscite shows that the collective wisdom of Filipino voters can be trusted to make the right and responsible decisions. According to the Commission on Elections, an unofficial count from 18 out of the 23 towns of Palawan indicate that the “No” votes are ahead by several thousands. Although the governor of the province has already conceded defeat, let us hope that the plebiscite results stay that way.
Well-deserved credit should therefore go to the Palawan voters who appear to have rejected the proposal to divide the huge province into three separate and smaller provinces. They showed the country that they know how to safeguard their interests. It is obvious that the voters clearly saw what the division is all about and voted against it. And why not? Even a blind person can see the underlying reasons for the division. This is to be able to establish separate and smaller political kingdoms in order to perpetuate political dynasties which the constitution prohibits. Political dynasties, as we know, allow a political family to continue holding political power indefinitely by simply allowing a wife, son, or daughter to take over the reins of power every time the term limits expire.
One of the biggest reasons given by the politicians why the province should be divided was to be able to provide better services to the people and for economic development to be faster. The people easily saw through their subterfuge and soundly disagreed. The politicians claimed that the biggest beneficiaries will be the people themselves. Actually, in many cases, the beneficiaries would be the politicians themselves — not the people. For one, with three provinces, there would be more representatives in Congress. There would also be three governors with the corresponding increase in board members and bureaucracy. Because the current resources of the province would be split into three, the resources of the three provinces would be much smaller. Economies of scale, which the province currently enjoys, would be distributed to the three small provinces which would only retard economic growth instead of fast-tracking it.
If I recall correctly, there were only about 53 provinces in the early 1950s and 120 representatives in Congress. That was when the country was second to Japan. Those were the glory years of the early republic. Today, we are only about 16th in the whole of Asia. We have 81 provinces and 307 congressional representatives – and the numbers are increasing.
Just a few days ago, a report in the papers stated that the province of Maguindanao might also be divided. Very soon, politicians from big provinces like Cagayan, Isabela, Pangasinan, Bulacan, Cebu, and others might also move to divide these provinces to accommodate political clans so that they can have their own little political kingdoms. That way, very expensive political fights, which could sometimes be draining to the financial resources of these political clans, can be avoided. Everybody can then be happy—except perhaps the people they are sworn to serve. This is part of the reason why the effort to draft a law that would effectively implement the constitutional prohibition of political dynasties never could get to first base. There is really no incentive for politicians to go along that route.
Given the current political culture now in place, I cannot say that I blame them. Although not all provinces and cities are run by political clans, the number is increasing. I have not seen any study made to compare provinces and cities run by the same political family and places whose leaders are regularly replaced by different people. But if we observe the provinces and cities whose leaders are changed regularly, there is a lot more dynamism in them and they are often more progressive. This is because change ushers in new ideas, new approaches, and new leadership styles. The European monarchs of old learned of this the hard way. Some of them lost their heads because they tried to be kings or queens for too long. The monarchs of Europe still reign but they no longer govern. Governance is vested in elected officials who are replaced or re-elected in every election. We also have regular elections and in fact, instituted term limits. As always, though, we Filipinos can always find ways to circumvent the prohibition which I must admit we are good at. Hopefully, in the not-too-distant future, we would find a leader with the vision and the political will to finally put a stop to the scourge of political dynasties.
Public service has always been marketed as a labor of love for the country. Public officials are supposed to serve the people and not become filthy rich. Unfortunately, it does not always work that way.