Political Dynasties

Of all the fora I’ve attended during our college week, the forum on family dynasties was probably the most entertaining one. It’s the least boring one, that’s for sure (not to mention we had to run from the crowded little theatre to the ESI, the venue of said forum, lest we’d be late and not have anymore seats.) The speakers we’re all very informative and provided various insights on to what exactly are political dynasties and why it is important to ban them. It was obvious that they all have a lot to say and it was such a shame that they were only allotted five minutes each to speak (which they didn’t really follow by the way) because students were sure to ask a lot of questions. A lot was said about the detriments of political dynasties, this coming from Governor Grace Padaca, and how the youth should stand up and desire to change the status quo from Commissioner Gio Tingson and Congresswoman Risa Hontiveros. Through all the various statistics, inspiring stories, words of encouragement and not so subtle thrown jibes at Senator Tito Sotto, three points stood as an answer to the question: ‘What to look for in a leader?’ The first point I would like to discuss is how a leader must be, above all, willing to lead. Commissioner Gio Tingson said that according to the National Youth Assessment Studies 74% – 78% of the youth thinks that political dynasties should be illegal. But a question stands: are political dynasties really bad? He said “some are okay.” This is backed by a few examples like the Aquinos in Tarlac or the Abads in Batanes. But what is really right or wrong in political dynasties? How come despite it being condemned in our country, political dynasties still continue to persevere? Political dynasties, he said, continue to persevere due to the fact that the Philippines have a low pool of leaders. According to statistics, two-thirds of the youth just want to follow rather than actually lead. The problem is not that we are incapable or incapacitated by