Turncoatism or Butterflyism has been with us since as far back as we can remember.  In local parlance, one who does this is called “balimbing,” in reference to a fruit with many sides.

Turncoatism happens when a politician who runs for public office changes parties at a drop of a hat whatever seems most convenient at the moment. More often than not, these so-called public servants switch parties whichever the incumbent President or padrino of a political party is affiliated.

Senate Bill No. 3214 – also known as the Anti-Balimbing Bill – seeks “to punish political turncoats and provide a state subsidy for political parties” according to an article by Christian Esguerra. Esguerra writes that the bill defines political turncoatism as ‘the change of political party affiliation by any candidate within eight months prior to an election – whether or not elected –from the time he was first nominated.’ It adds that ‘no violation shall exist if a member’s party has been abolished or coalesced with another group or if he or she has been expelled in writing,’ the bill states.

Section 13 states that “an incumbent official who switches parties shall be ‘deemed to have forfeited’ the office; and that politician will also be disqualified from running in the next election and from being appointed to public office ‘for three years after the expiration of his/her term.’

What people don’t understand is how damaging this could be to our political system/life and our life as a people. The leaders of a party must have many punishments and rewards at their disposal – nomination of various offices, support in passing favoured legislation, and so on.

For truly democratic political parties to flourish, and if they are to be independent of grantees of big donations, the state will have to provide subsidies. This will ensure that parties would be independent of grantees of big donations (a.k.a. “padrinos”), be able to field qualified leaders and organize continuous dialogue between the citizens and their elected representatives.

Turncoatism should be curtailed. The amount of donations for the work of political parties should be limited to PhP1 million per natural person and PhP10 million per juridical person (company).