The Philippine Online Chronicles

The 1987 Philippine Constitution bans political dynasties and yet, under the present government, the phrase has been redefined into something that may be deemed worse than before.

In the Philippines, it is common for persons with the same civil relationship, including legal or common-law partners, to succeed an incumbent position of the other. The Arroyos were different. They occupied several positions at the same time. Thus, the meaning of "political dynasty" has never been more appropriate: “the concentration, consolidation, or perpetuation, of public office and political powers by persons related to one another.”

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo assumed presidency in 2001 after the ouster of President Joseph Estrada through a peaceful uprising known today as People Power II. In 2004, Arroyo was declared the winner in a presidential race marred by massive fraud and violence.

Afterwards, Arroyo's sons and relatives ran for Congress and got four posts.

The First Gentleman's brother Ignacio "Iggy" Arroyo represents the fifth district of Negros Occidental. Presidential sons Juan Miguel "Mikey" Arroyo and Diosdado "Dato" Arroyo represent the second district of Pampanga and the first district of Camarines Sur, respectively.

After a Supreme Court decision changing the formula in the allocation of party list seats, Ma. Lourdes “Marilou” Tuason-Arroyo, younger sister of First Gentleman Jose Miguel  "Mike" Arroyo, joined her three relatives in the House as the representative of party-list Kasangga, which represents small-scale entrepreneurs. Her place in the House was contentious, however. Rep. Liza Maza of Gabriela Womens' Party said there would be a violation of the party-list law if it would be found that Marilou is not from the marginalized sector. The Tuason and Arroyo clans, from which Marilou hails, are haciendero clans.

In the lap of luxury

The First Family has been accused of living a luxurious lifestyle, which posed a problem for the President ratings-wise in the past. Media reports evidencing a rise in Arroyo's wealth have only served to aggravate people's grievances against her, perhaps contributing to an even lower rating in a recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.

According to a report by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, “official records show Arroyo's declared wealth as growing faster, and by amounts much bigger, than the combined growth in the declared wealth of three presidents before her.”

The late President Corazon Aquino’s declared net worth grew by only 4.8 percent from 1989 to 1992. By comparison, Fidel Ramos’s rose by  34.2 percent from 1992 to 1998, and Joseph Estrada’s by 7.2 percent from 1998 to 1999. Arroyo's declared net worth, on the other hand, grew by 144 percent or from P66.8 million in 2001 to P143.54 million in 2008.

“Since she got into Malacanang in 2001, Arroyo added P10.97 million to her net worth year on year on average, or 20 times more than her lawful gross salary as president of only P45,000 a month,” PCIJ revealed.

In another report, the PCIJ listed the scandals involving the First Family, which include the $470-million IMPSA deal, San Francisco properties, close links with jueteng lord Bong Pineda, the overpriced President Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard, the Piatco bribery scandal, Mikey’s horses, the Jose Pidal account, and the P728-million fertilizer fund scam, among others.

These incidents have served to raise suspicion regarding Arroyo and her family's motives for seeking public office - a report by Vera Files on the Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Networth (SALN) of presidential sons Mikey and Dato Arroyo show them both acquiring houses in the U.S., not to mention local business interests, after winning seats in Congress.

Mikey failed to declare in his SALN a beachfront property worth US$1.32 million (P63.7 million) in the San Francisco Bay Area in California, which he bought and then transferred to his wife Angela in 2006.

Dato and his wife Victoria Celina Manotok purchased a P26.7 million-worth property in San Francisco barely a year after he won his congressional seat in 2007. Unlike Mikey, though, Dato declared ownership of the property in his SALN for 2008.

In fact, Mikey faces an illegal wealth complaint filed before the Ombudsman. The complaint states that Mikey’s net worth increased from the equivalent of US$1.2 million in 2007 to close to US$2 million in 2008, which allegedly violated the anti-graft law as well as the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees. The complaint was filed by Ferdinand Gaite, chairperson of Courage, an organization of government employees.

Gaite asked Mikey to explain satisfactorily how his net worth grew by more than 1,600 percent in the seven years that he was an elected public official. According to a Newsbreak report, Mikey disclosed in the SALN he had submitted in 1993 that he had no properties and no liabilities but only a net worth of US$1,000, which was in cash.

Mike Arroyo used a US$20,000-a-night suite at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada during the boxing match between Manny Pacquiao and  Mexico’s Erick Morales in March 2005. Considering his declared earnings, critics questioned where he got the money for the suite.

The public was also enraged when stories came out that Mrs. Arroyo and her entourage reportedly spent US$20,000 on dinner at the posh New York restaurant Le Cirque during a diplomatic trip to the U.S., which the administration denied. Mrs. Arroyo and her entourage also ate at Bobby Van’s Steakhouse in Washington DC, where they were said to have spent US$15,000, plus a generous tip. Administration allies have since taken credit for the spending.

Abuse of power?

Mikey and Iggy are accused of using their positions in public office to advance their personal interests. Journalist Ellen Tordesillas, in her column in August 2007, cited Bayan Muna Rep. Teodoro Casiño's criticism of the two Arroyos for cornering energy-related committees.

Casiño has questioned the appointment of Mikey as chair of the committee on energy and his uncle Iggy as chair of the committee on natural resources. Casiño said the Arroyos’ chairing of the two “juicy” and “strategic” panels “would prevent the House from fully exercising its duty of checking the executive from abuses and wrongdoings in governance.”

“The Arroyo bloc is the most powerful bloc in the House. No other political clan has so much power and influence. Nothing compares to it,” Casiño said.

Despite her consistent poor approval ratings, Arroyo's desire to stay in office has manifested when she announced her desire to run for congress in the 2nd district of Pampanga. In her statement, she said, "I am not ready to step down completely from public service."

Arroyo has gone to the province's second district at least 50 times in 2009 alone where she allegedly spent P459 million in pork barrel allocations for infrastructure projects. The amount is more than six times the P70-million annual pork barrel allocation per congressman.

Pampanga’s second district has six towns: Sta. Rita, Guagua, Sasmuan, Porac, Floridablanca and Lubao, the President’s hometown where most of the projects were built.

Critics opine that once Arroyo is elected into office as a member of the House, her colleagues in Congress would push for a shift into a parliamentary system of government and subsequently elect her as prime minister.

People Power

There are also speculations that the 2010 automated elections will fail.

Another recent SWS survey survey is telling. According to SWS conducted from October 24 to 27, 2009, nearly half – or 49 percent – of Filipino adults see a repeat of the 1986 People Power uprising if the country's first nationwide automated elections this May will fail.

"Majority (58 percent) in Balance Luzon (Luzon minus Metro Manila) and over half (54 percent) in Metro Manila sense people power uprising or massive street protests in case of election failure. Plurality (40 percent) in Mindanao shares this anxiety," the SWS said on its website.

Photo by Maui Hermitanio. Some rights reserved.