Even the mightiest political dynasties fall silent and fade away

Some dynasties fade away from politics and public consciousness due to lack of successors, defeats to emerging clans or even “erosion of narrative.”

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Once among the who’s who in Philippine politics for decades, the Laurels are now a “defunct” dynasty. The Aquinos and Osmeñas are dormant but are also close to disappearing. The Enriles are dormant, but are in government.

Since 2001, no member of the Laurel clan has been elected in public office, according to Dr. Julio Teehankee, political science professor at the De La Salle University.

After serving as vice president to President Corazon “Cory” Aquino in her coup-besieged administration, Salvador “Doy” Laurel ran for president but lost to Fidel Ramos in 1992. He died in 2004.

The Laurels’ father, Jose P. Laurel, was president during the Japanese Occupation in the 1940s, and grandfather, Sotero Laurel, was a member of the Malolos Congress in 1898.

“It’s a failure of dynastic succession,” Teehankee told the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, citing his ongoing research, “Dynastic Cycles: The Rise and Fall of Political Families in the Philippines.”

Besides, the Laurels have also focused on running the family-owned Lyceum of the Philippines University, he added.

The Laurels as well as the Aquinos, Osmeñas and the Ortegas fall under the category of durable dynasties that had been active since the Spanish or American colonial period until the post-war period, according to Teehankee.

‘EROSION’ OF AQUINO NARRATIVE

The Aquino dynasty has also turned dormant and is now teetering “dangerously close to becoming defunct,” the political analyst said.

“For the first time since 1986, when Cory Aquino was swept to power in the heady aftermath of the 1986 Edsa people’s revolt, none among the Aquinos is in elective office,” he said.

In 2016, when then President Simeon Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III left Malacañang, his cousin Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV was about to begin the second half of his term in the Senate (2016-2019). Bam lost a reelection bid in 2019.