Third of a four-part series

IN the previous parts of this series, we explored how the Philippine state is not inherently “weak,” but is instead “captured” — its institutions repurposed to serve narrow interests rather than the common good. To understand how this capture is maintained across generations, we must look at the structural DNA of the Philippine ruling class. It is a phenomenon I call “oligopolidyn:” the seamless fusion of the oligarchy (economic control by the few) and political dynasties (political control by the few). In the Philippines, wealth and power are not merely neighbors; they are the same creature, living in the same house, sitting at the same table.

Evolution of the hybrid elite

Historically, political science viewed economic and political elites as distinct entities that balanced one another. In a functional democracy, business interests advocate for infrastructure and the rule of law, while politicians regulate industry to protect labor and the environment.

In the Philippines, this distinction has evaporated. Through the oligopolidyn model, the lawmaker and the conglomerate head are often the same person — or immediate kin. This transcends mere “crony capitalism,” which suggests a transactional friendship between two separate actors. Instead, we see structural integration: The office of governor or congressman has become the political wing of a family enterprise. Governance is no longer a check on private interest; it is its instrument.

The dynasty as a holding company

To understand the modern polidyn, we must stop viewing it through the lens of public service and see it as a holding company. In corporate form, holding companies protect assets, diversify risk and ensure succession. The Philippine political dynasty functions identically:

– Asset protection: A congressional seat ensures that family land, malls, or utility franchises are shielded from competitors or unfavorable taxation.

– Succession planning: Like a CEO grooming an heir, a patriarch prepares a child for the district. It isn’t about merit; it’s about brand continuity.– Risk diversification: Clans split members across executive, legislative, local and national roles. This ensures the family remains relevant regardless of who occupies Malacañang.

When wealth and power merge, both the market and the ballot lose independence. Entering politics becomes as daunting as challenging a utility monopoly. The “startup” candidate is crushed by the capital weight of incumbency.

The travesty of the party-list system

The distortion of the oligopolidyn is nowhere more visible than in the evolution of the party-list system. Conceived by the framers of the 1987 Constitution, this mechanism was intended as a vehicle for genuine democratic representation — a bridge for a planned parliamentary transition. It was designed to ensure that the “voiceless” – laborers, peasants and Indigenous groups — could secure a seat at the legislative table through proportional representation, shifting focus from cults of personality to ideology-driven platforms.

When the parliamentary transition was aborted, the system was awkwardly grafted onto a presidential framework, creating a structural misalignment that invited exploitation. Instead of empowering the marginalized, the party-list has become a “dumping ground” for election losers and a backdoor for powerful families to expand their reach.

Today, many groups are defined by inane acronyms or single-issue gimmicks rather than ideological depth. More distressingly, they function as “family businesses” where dynasts install relatives to occupy the one-fifth of the House reserved for the underrepresented. By co-opting these seats, the elite have neutralized a tool meant to challenge their hegemony. Rather than democratizing Congress, the party-list has become an adjunct to political patronage, ensuring power remains a hereditary commodity.

Ultimately, the “hybrid elite” has transformed Philippine governance into a sophisticated holding company, where the party-list system — once intended for the marginalized — serves as its latest subsidiary. By merging economic muscle with legislative control, these dynasties have effectively privatized democracy, ensuring that power remains a closed-circuit, hereditary commodity.

 The economic cost of political monopolies

The marriage of oligarchy and dynasty — the oligopolidyn — creates a closed-loop system corrosive to economic vitality. When a single family controls both the provincial capitol and the local marketplace, innovation stagnates. Why innovate when you can simply legislate? If a family-owned firm is guaranteed contracts because they are the government, the incentive to improve service vanishes.

This fuels the “rent-seeking trap.” Our economy relies on extracting wealth from controlled resources — land, utilities and licenses — rather than creating value through manufacturing. The oligopolidyn is the ultimate rent-seeking machine, maintaining a veneer of democracy while offering voters only an illusion: a choice between clan A or clan B, both committed to the same extractive model.

Breaking the loop: systems not families

For decades, Filipinos have been told the solution is to “elect better people” or pass a simple anti-dynasty law. This is a category error. We are not suffering from a “family” problem; we are suffering from a system problem. To dismantle the oligopolidyn, we must stop moralizing about personalities and start reengineering the architecture of the state.

The current unitary-presidential system is the primary oxygen supply for this elite capture. By centralizing immense power in a single office and geographic center (Metro Manila), the system creates a “winner-take-all” environment favoring those with the most initial capital. It reduces politics to a popularity contest rather than a policy debate.

To correct this, three fundamental structural shifts are imperatives:

– Transitioning to a parliamentary system: A parliamentary system shifts the focus from the “strongman” to the “strong party.” In a parliament, the executive is not an untouchable monarch but a “first-among-equals” who is daily accountable to the legislature. This negates the unitary-presidential centralization that allows a single family to capture the national direction.

– Institutionalizing ideologically differentiated parties: Currently, Philippine political parties are “flags of convenience” — empty vessels used by dynasties. We need a system defined by ideology (e.g., labor, green, liberal) rather than surnames. By mandating party-switching bans and providing public financing, we replace the “family holding company” with an “ideological institution.”

– Revising the 1987 Constitution: The current Charter has inadvertently fossilized the monopolies it sought to prevent. Its restrictive economic provisions protect local oligarchs from competition. A comprehensive revision is an act of survival, required to build a decentralized, competitive state that treats the economy as a field for innovation rather than a private pond for the elite.

The soul of the state

The Philippine tragedy is not lack of resources or talent. It is that the gatekeepers of our resources are the same few families. Oligopolidyn has turned our democracy into a private club and our economy into a family estate.

Operating within the 1987 framework is merely rearranging deck chairs on the “Titanic.” An anti-dynasty law under a presidential system — currently contemplated in Congress — will only yield new loopholes. True reform requires changing the rules, so the “dynastic strategy” is no longer the most efficient path to power. By uncoupling the surname from the seat of office, we can finally build a state that serves its citizens rather than its owners. The goal is systemic transformation, not just shifting personalities.

Next week: The dynastic civil war — why the 1987 Constitution is the battlegroundThe soul of the state

The Senate President crowed yesterday that the party he nominally coheads, PDP-Laban, has a “pleasant problem” — too many potential senatorial candidates. Koko Pimentel’s estimate is they have up to 20 possible choices for the 12-person slate for the 2019 senatorial race. But his list includes the five administration-affiliated senatorial incumbents up for reelection next year. This is a group that has made noises that, much as it prefers to remain in the administration camp, it is unhappy with the way PDP-Laban has been designating its local leaders and candidates, and therefore prefers to strike out on its own, perhaps in alliance with the other administration (regional) party, Hugpong ng Pagbabago, headed by the President’s daughter and current Davao City mayor, Sara Duterte.

Setting aside, then, the five-person “Force,” the administration-oriented but not PDP-friendly reelectionists (Nancy Binay, Sonny Angara, Cynthia Villar, Grace Poe, and JV Ejercito), what Koko’s crowing over is a mixed bag. Some of them have been floated by Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez (with whom Mayor Duterte clashed in recent months): six representatives (Gloria Macapagal Arroyo who is in her last term in the House of Representatives; Albee Benitez, Karlo Nograles, Rey Umali, Geraldine Roman, and Zajid Mangudadatu), three Cabinet members (Bong Go, Harry Roque, and Francis Tolentino), and two other officials (Mocha Uson and Ronald dela Rosa), which still only adds up to 11 possible candidates (who are the missing three?).

Of all of these, the “Force” reelectionists are only fair-weather allies of the present dispensation; their setting themselves apart is about much more than the mess PDP-Laban made in, say, San Juan where support for the Zamoras makes it extremely unattractive for JV Ejercito to consider being in the same slate. Their cohesion is about thinking ahead: Creating the nucleus for the main coalition to beat in the 2022 presidential election. The contingent of congressmen and congresswomen who could become candidates for the Senate, however, seems more a means to kick the Speaker’s rivals upstairs (at least in the case of Benitez and Arroyo) and pad the candidates’ list with token but sacrificial candidates, a similar situation to the executive officials being mentioned as possible candidates (of the executive officials, only Go seems viable, but making him run would deprive the President of the man who actually runs the executive department, and would be a clear signal that the administration is shifting to a post-term protection attitude instead of the more ambitious system-change mode it’s been on, so far).

Vice President Leni Robredo has been more circumspect, saying she’s not sure the Liberal Party can even muster a full slate. The party chair, Kiko Pangilinan, denied that a list circulating online (incumbent Bam Aquino, former senators Mar Roxas, Jun Magsaysay, TG Guingona, current and former representatives Jose Christopher Belmonte, Kaka Bag-ao, Edcel Lagman, Raul Daza, Gary Alejano and Erin Tañada, former governor Eddie Panlilio and Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña) had any basis in fact.

What both lists have in common is they could be surveys-on-the-cheap, trial balloons to get the public pulse. Until the 17th Congress reconvenes briefly from May 14 to June 1 for the tail end of its second regular session (only to adjourn sine die until the third regular session begins on July 23), it has nothing much to do. Except, that is, for the barangay elections in May, after a last-ditch effort by the House to postpone them yet again to October failed.

Names can be floated but the real signal will come in July, when the President mounts the rostrum and calls for the big push for a new constitution—or not. Connected to this would be whether the Supreme Court disposes of its own chief, which would spare the Senate—and thus, free up the legislative calendar—to consider Charter change instead of an impeachment trial. In the meantime, what congressmen do seem abuzz over is an unrefusable invitation to the Palace tomorrow — to mark Arroyo’s birthday. An event possibly pregnant with meaning.

Here’s a striking statement about love shared with me by an English college mentor. “Love knows no grammar. How it works can’t be measured by any parts or figures of speech. It goes beyond the literate and illiterate. The sad reality is that, even a fool who has got no philosophy is not spared of its harsh reality.” After almost three decades, I reminded him through a private message of his words. Here’s what he said. “Thank you, Jord. This statement about love is searing to the heart. And, yes, fools do fall for it too. But I thought that we as well speak of the beauty that it gives and not so much focus on the harsh realities. After all, our country has had enough of the negativities.” Thank you, dearest Sir Eugene.

In these decisive times when our nation trembles under the weight of corruption, inequality, and disillusionment, it is you―the youth, burning with idealism, courage, and an unyielding sense of right―who must stand at the forefront of CHANGE. The future of the Philippines hangs in the balance, calling not for silence or apathy, but for unity, conviction, and action. Let your dreams be the spark that ignites renewal; let your voices thunder against injustice; let your hands build the nation our forebears envisioned but never fulfilled. Now is the hour to awaken, to rise, and to lead the march toward a just and transformed Philippines.

Remember, the pages of our history resound with the triumphs of youth who dared to dream and act. From the Propagandists who wielded the pen against tyranny to the Katipuneros who took up arms for freedom, it was always the young who ignited revolutions and rebuilt nations. As Dr. Jose Rizal declared, “The youth is the hope of our motherland,” but that hope is not a gift to be passively claimed; it is a duty to be earned through courage and purpose.

Today’s generation must transform awareness into action―to confront corruption with integrity, to challenge inequality with empathy, and to counter apathy with participation. The time for mere commentary has passed. What the nation demands now is commitment, creativity, and collective resolve. When the youth stand united in conscience and conviction, no obstacle is insurmountable, no reform impossible. The power to redeem the nation’s promise lies not in the hands of the few, but in the awakened spirit of the many. Rise, therefore, as one generation with one objective―to forge a Philippines worthy of its people’s deepest hopes. And to those who were once the torchbearers of youth but have since laid down their fire―hear this call.

The nation does not forget its veterans of hope, those who once believed that change was possible but have since grown weary in the long twilight of disappointment. Thus far history grants no sanctuary to resignation. It demands of every generation the same unrelenting duty―to defend what is right, to confront what is wrong, and to labor still for what remains unfinished.

Now is the moment to rise again. Let not caution disguise itself as wisdom, nor comfort as peace. The courage that once stirred your youth still flickers within; rekindle it, and let it burn anew for the sake of those who follow. Your experience, tempered by time, must now join hands with the fervor of the young - to guide, to mentor, to strengthen.

Together, let the wisdom of the seasoned and the passion of the rising coalesce into a single, indomitable force for renewal. For the task of nation-building is not bound by age, but by conviction. The call of the motherland resounds to all who still believe that the story of the Filipino is not yet complete―and that redemption, though delayed, is still within our grasp if only we choose to act once more. And to those whose hands have long gripped the levers of power―hardened by privilege, dulled by entitlement―hear this with clarity: the era of self-preservation must yield to the dawn of selfless service.

The nation can no longer afford leaders who mistake possession for stewardship, nor governance for dominion. The time has come to relinquish the throne of complacency and make way for the custodians of vision, courage, and renewal.

To step aside is not to surrender, but to honor the sacred rhythm of nationhood―to allow new voices, new hearts, and new minds to breathe life into institutions that have grown stale from neglect. True leadership is an act of stewardship, and stewardship demands humility―to know when to lead, and when to pass the torch. Those who have ruled long enough must now become mentors, not masters; guides, not gatekeepers.

To the youth who will inherit this burden and blessing alike, the call is equally profound. Lead not with arrogance, but with awareness; not with impulse, but with integrity. Let optimism be your discipline―a conscious act of faith in the nation’s capacity to rise again. Lead with inclusivity that unites rather than divides, with courage that reforms rather than destroys, and with resilience that endures when hope seems frail.

For the measure of a new generation’s greatness lies not in its defiance alone, but in its wisdom to build where others have failed. Let your leadership become the living testament that the Philippines, once disillusioned, has learned at last to believe again―through you.

Now, the Filipino youth stand at a defining crossroad of history. The echoes of the past and the murmurs of the future converge upon this moment, and in your hands rests the fragile, however formidable promise of a nation reborn. You are the inheritors of unfinished dreams and the architects of what is yet to be. United in thought and deed, strengthened by the wisdom of history and the fire of conviction, you possess the power to shape a Philippines anchored in justice, animated by democracy, and sustained by the collective flourishing of its people.

The mantle of responsibility has passed to you. Do not falter beneath its weight; bear it with courage, for it is through your resolve that the nation will rise from the ruins of complacency. Let your unity transcend boundaries of region, class, and creed. Let your integrity redefine leadership, and your compassion restore faith in the Filipino spirit.

This is your hour. Let this narrative be not merely a call to awaken, but a solemn commitment―to the country that nurtures you, to the people who believe in you, and to the generations who will follow your example. Stand firm, for you are the heartbeat of a nation yearning to live with dignity once more. Speak right and shine!

Rise, Filipino youth, and let history remember that when your time came ―you stood unwavering, and the nation moved forward.