Dismantling the oligarchy
Days after the House Committee on Legislative Franchises denied ABS-CBN’s franchise application, President Duterte declared that he has dismantled oligarchy in the Philippines without declaring martial law and vowed that his remaining term in office will be harsh for oligarchs.
There is no doubt Duterte wants to fashion himself as a knight in a shining armor to his constituents who are suffering from the fetters of poverty. As if he has freed the poor from the pit of miseries, he proudly proclaimed a policy of running after families that control the Philippine economy and influence the outcome of politics in the country. Comparing himself to the deposed dictator, he boasts on accomplishing the same thing Marcos did during the dark years in the history of our country sans martial law.
Marcos toppled down the business empires of his political enemies by declaring martial law as an excuse to take over the businesses of his adversaries. But Duterte cannot do the same as his hands are tied by the stringent requirements of the 1987 Constitution that was crafted out of martial law paranoia. Using his political capital that enslaves majority of Congress, he orchestrates a pompous public execution of an oligarch he has sworn to destroy even before he became president. His minions in Congress have given legitimacy to his revenge with the use of an unrestrained prerogative that even the Supreme Court would not dare use its certiorari powers. If the president brandishes the fall of a media empire as his proof of winning the battle against oligarchy, he is wrong. He may have hit the tip of the iceberg, but he has not even touched its base.
Throughout history, the government is the greatest enabler of oligarchy. One writer has correctly pointed out that the nature of the Philippine’s political system is such that vested interests have guided policy favorable to a minority of families. As a result of political and economic exclusion of the majority of the population, there is great wealth inequality and minimal economic growth. The Philippines had a fundamentally weak democracy that allowed policies of patronage and crony capitalism. [Almeida, Teresa (2012). The Philippines: Oligarchipelago. https://bit.ly/2WvT168]
If the President wants to address oligarchy in a wholistic and meaningful way, he must first slay the dragon that breeds an economic system lorded over by kingmakers and politicians who traded campaign support for government projects and other favors. This requires an overhaul of the whole of government, the country’s electoral process, the dismantling of political (and religious) dynasties which perpetuated its existence despite constitutional proscription, and the passage of laws and issuance of policies that level the playing field for all.
For as long as we see a select Filipinos landing in Forbes’ list of billionaires while majority of our brethren suffer in extreme poverty or a politician’s wife flaunting her colorful expensive wares in social media while many Filipino children can barely eat for a day, no president ever has the bragging right to proclaim that he has dismantled the oligarchy. – By ATTY. GREG BORJA AUSTRAL, CPA