Davao Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio is seeking re-election in the 2019 midterm elections, the Mayor’s younger brother Sebastian would be her running-mate as vice mayor, while their eldest, Paolo, is seeking a congressional seat for Davao’s first district representative.
“Dynastic succession to political office, or dominance of political families in both national and local offices, has been more pronounced than ever under the present Duterte administration.” De Lima said.
“The prevalence of impunity and lack of accountability enabled by Duterte has further engendered the culture on which political dynasties thrive, including the thirst for monopoly of power and dominance in patronage politics,” by De Lima in a statement.
“It is therefore no wonder why other political families would follow suit in this showcase of avarice for political power,” De Lima said.
De Lima added, “The situation, obviously, ran contrary to Duterte’s earlier pronouncement of his support to the anti-political dynasty bill which has failed to be passed in the Congress.”
De Lima also said that there is no doubt that Duterte and his family treat Davao as their kingdom, saying that “it takes a special kind of lack of delicadeza for a family to surmise that public office is a birthright and a personal entitlement.”
“So now, we see spouses running for different congressional districts and siblings offering the voters of the country’s premier city no other choice but themselves,” she said.
“Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. There is no clearer manifestation of this phenomenon than in the Philippines’ political dynasties spread over every region and every province,” she added.
De Lima said she found it “unfortunate that the Filipino people who voted for Mr. Duterte as President in hopes that he can put an end to the corruption of entrenched dynasties ended up being manipulated by another power-hungry political family.”