The last word

THE CORNER ORACLE

- ANDREW J. MASIGAN

I’ve been writing about my indignation over the 2025 budget, the political dynasties that crafted it and our flawed political system for several weeks now. I’ve said my piece. This is the last time I will write about it — at least for the time being. I hope something positive comes out of my unfiltered sharing.

As a parting shot, let me reiterate my point. The domination of dynasties in our political system is the root cause of the country’s flagging economic competitiveness, poor social services and inability to uplift our people’s quality of life in a substantive way. Why? Because dynasties prioritize political survival and personal wealth generation over responsible governance and national development itself.

Unlike better governed countries where the political elite work in tandem with the economic elite to develop competitive industries and a productive agricultural sector (reference to the eco-political model of South Korea), Filipino dynasties use their power to extract wealth from the country’s resources in rent-seeking endeavors.

This is why many dynasties corner lucrative contracts in their respective fiefdoms such as public construction, transport franchises, supply and procurement contracts and even trash collection. Dynasties operating on a national level use their influence to secure franchises in mining, power and water distribution, infrastructure development and gaming, among others. They do so on their own, through dummies or in partnership with their private sector accomplices.

The result? Our political and business elite have become one and the same. Checks and balances for unfair competition and anti-trust laws are virtually non-existent.