Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo urged Filipino voters to end the cycle of political dynasties in the country in the upcoming national and local elections in May 2022.
Political dynasties are present at the local and national level, said Pabillo, adding that it is “unconstitutional.”
“Sa ngayon dahil wala pang batas laban sa political dynasties, nandyan pa rin ang mga political dynasties at ginagamit pa nila ang resources ng pamahalaan para sa pangangampanya at para sa kanilang mga pamilya (At present, because there is still no law against political dynasties----political dynasties still exist and they still use government resources for campaigning and for their families),” said the prelate in a Town Hall event on Saturday, July 10.
Voters should be critical in choosing their next leaders, said Pabillo.
“Ang magagawa natin dito ay tayong mga botante tayo ay maging discerning. Kapag alam na natin ang susunod ay kamag-anak---anak, asawa nung nakaupo, ay huwag na natin botohin (Voters need to be discerning. If we know that a relative of the incumbent official is running, either son or the wife, let's not vote for them),” he said.
“Huwag natin sabihin na sila lang ang may alam sa governance dahil hindi iyan nanggagaling sa genes. Hindi iyan nanggagaling sa inheritance. Iyan ay sa galing ng tao (Let's not think that they are the only ones who know about governance because that doesn't come from genes. That doesn’t come from inheritance. It is based on one's capability),” he added.
“Huwag natin sabihin na sila lang ang magaling. Marami pa diyang magagaling, hindi lang natin binibigyan ng chance na maupo at tumakbo sa ating political system (Let’s not think that they’re the only good ones. There are other people far better ---and we are not just giving them a chance in our political system),” he furthered.
Political dynasties also promote lack of accountability, said Pabillo. He also emphasized that “without change,” the country’s political climate “will not improve.”
“Paano maging accountable ang mga politiko na ang kanilang mga successors, ang mga sumusunod sa kanila ay mga kamag-anak din nila? Kaya maganda na magkaroon ng accountability para walang mag abuso ng authority (How can politicians be accountable if their successors are also their relatives? There should be accountability so that there is no abuse of authority),” he said.
“Alam natin na may mga probinsya, may mga cities tayo na ang namamahala sa kanila ay isang pamilya lang. Dahil dito, ayon sa pag-aaral, maraming mga korapsyon ang nangyayari dahil isang pamilya lang ang nagpapatakbo nito (We know that there are provinces, we have cities that are governed by one family only. Because of this, according to a study, a lot of corruption occurs because only one family runs it),” he added.