2025 could be one of the most consequential election years for us. This year, three elections will be significant for most Filipino-Canadian citizens. For most boomers ( aka seniors), the most important are the midterm elections in the Philippines, the Canadian federal elections, and the Papal elections in the Vatican. Whether you are sectarian or secular, a new Pope is a worldwide momentous event. Of course, this event carried a significant weight as our own Cardinal Tagle has been highly favoured as a front runner for the papacy. More about the cardinal later in this article.
Even though I am not fully engaged in the nuances of Philippine politics, I know enough that the people we elect will often tread the same worn-out trail previous politicians have trampled upon. What’s my proof? I was in the Philippines in April, the height of midterm political campaigning. There, huge banners advertising family members, complete with pictures, ran on the same ticket for different positions in certain provinces.
Clearly, these campaign ads indicate that, contrary to all studies about the evils of dynastical politics, politicians see it as favourable to their candidacy.
In Batangas province, the former Governor Vilma Santos-Recto won the Gubernatorial race. She ran with her son Luis, as vice-governor. Another son, Ryan, won a congressional seat. Vilma’s husband is Ralph Recto, the Finance Minister in the current Marcos administration. Luis lost the vice-governor position— this may have been an averted “potential buyer’s remorse” as the electorate saw a possible abuse of power in the making. A mother and son candidacy’s audacity has not been seen as controversial. Huge tarpaulin ads were touting the (4) “Family Recto” running or incumbent in various government positions. Evidently, our politicians see this as beneficial. Does our electorate understand “checks and balances” and conflict of interests, and how can this arrangement easily lead to abuse of power?
Former President Duterte is back as Mayor of Davao City. Sebastian Duterte, son of FPRRD ( Former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte ), was elected Vice Mayor. Another son, Paolo Duterte, was declared the winner as the first district representative. Rodrigo Duterte II, son of Paolo and grandson of FPRRD, garnered the most votes to be the top councillor in the first district. Sara Duterte, daughter of FPRRD, is the current Vice President of the Philippines.
The above examples are among the many dynasties in the current municipal, regional and national government. In my last year’s BALITA article, “ The Philippines: Dynasty Capital of the World” (https://www.balita.ca/the-philippines-dynasty-capital-of-the-world/), we are beset by a whopping 80% dynastical governance. Thailand is at a distant second among ASEAN countries at 42%. The Dutertes lead these ever-growing political cancers by adding more senatorial cronies. FPRRD himself is back as Mayor, and Isko Moreno is back as Manila’s Mayor after an unsuccessful run as President in 2022. Leni Robredo, former Vice-President won Mayorship in Naga City.
One has to ask: What is it about being Mayor that can bring to a power-hungry politician? According to political observers in the Philippines, this position is the closest to being a feudal lord, looked upon as the source of power to the working class. The Mayor enjoys the reciprocal nature of a close-knit relationship. Even as President, Mr. Duterte had intimated that he prefers being addressed as Mayor. It can be argued that this intimacy could lead to abuse, as may have been the case in the alleged creation of death squads during Mr. Duterte’s 20-year reign as Mayor of Davao City.
“Nearly 250 Political families, labelled as political dynasties in the Philippines”, control the politics of all 82 provinces of the Philippines at all levels” ( source: Wikipedia ). In 2024, the Phil Daily Inquirer in April. 20, 2025 Editorial (https://opinion.inquirer.net/182554/redemption-from-corruption ) estimates that the Philippines’ loss to corruption from the national budget alone is at
1.6 trillion pesos ( 1,600,000,000,000 ), 20% of the annual national budget. Attempting to include all the others at the barangay, municipal, and provincial levels could defy a hypernumerical genius. Rampant corruption also cuts beyond government activities. Dynasties, oligarchies and cronyism are like political “ménage à trois”. A frenzied threesome that goes on and on and has become maniacal in scope. It is now so institutionalized that it has become the norm. The corrupted money continues to be laundered and is now as legitimate as a restaurant next door, a beach resort, a luxury condo, or a dollar account in some Caribbean tax haven.
Nothing in this election tells me that poverty and hunger will decrease in the coming years. Nothing in the results gives me hope that our fifteen-year-olds will be more competitive in the next round of PISA. Most of all, I do not see the return of Duterte, Arroyo, or Vilma Santos-Recto in different capacities as forward-looking.
I struggle to understand why our old, spent politicians can’t sail quietly into the sunset, be elder statesmen, and allow fresh blood to put a new life into the system.
THE PAPAL CONCLAVE
This process of Papal elections has taken more significance not for the reasons Filipino catholics were hoping for. There has been a lot of anticipation that Filipino Cardinal Antonio Tagle will take the helm from Pope Francis, as the late pontiff took him under his wings during his papacy. He was shortlisted in 2013 following Pope Benedict’s resignation.
So, how is this turn of events significant? In Oct. 2021, in a BALITA article, “ Some Random Thoughts on my 75th Year” (https://www.balita.ca/?s=some+random+thoughts+in+my+75th+year), I wrote: “ If I were Cardinal Tagle, I would resign my cardinalship, run for public office, and put into practice all that he has been preaching.” The presidency of Marcos Jr. ends in June 2028. It is a splendid opportunity to consider seriously casting his red hat aside, don a barong, and prepare to “ ready to rumble” in a presidential ring. The stars may never align this way again, and Cardinal Tagle seems likely to be a shoo-in against Sara Duterte in 2028.
Restoring integrity in public life and living with purpose and character are noble aims not lost in the current political landscape. Sara Duterte’s public threats against the current president were as shocking as her father’s open admission of extrajudicial killings during his administration. The woman’s coarseness leaves me speechless! No other current or emerging politician possesses the credibility needed to halt our descent into an ethical and moral wasteland. The public is ready for leadership that diverges from the status quo, which many Filipinos may regard as “made in heaven.”
As a Humanist, I am not a fan of priests—or anybody who calls on supernaturals to solve human weaknesses ( what has 500 years of collective genuflecting given us? ), but in the Philippines, it is a unique opportunity to convert our legendary religiosity into tangible benefits. A promise of righting decades of political scams and scandals, human rights violations, extrajudicial killings and now an escalating learning crisis. A President Tagle has the potential to be transformational. I would also argue that this is of a higher calling, one that his God will readily give his blessings to.
On a more pragmatic level, Cardinal Tagle may be considered too old to have another chance at the papacy, especially with the seemingly vigorous Leo XIV in power. His dismissal from Caritas Internationalis by Pope Francis may be viewed as a significant drawback in a closely contested conclave. Reports suggest he is no longer seen as one of the “most powerful cardinals in the Vatican.”
Since the consecration of the new pope, I have wondered whether Cardinal Tagle has considered a political future in the Philippines. Following the mid-term elections and anticipating the upcoming presidential vote, the prospects for change appear dim. Our people are leaving in droves, and poverty and hunger continue to loom ominously above, exacerbating widening wealth gaps.
The Cardinal has three years to plan, organize a team, and put the dynasties and klepto-politicians on notice. With 78.8 % Catholics ( 91.5% Christians ), a Filipino Cardinal who came ” in a hair’s breadth” of the papacy has to be a dream candidate—and one could argue, a necessary one, at this juncture of our history. It’s an existential “sine qua non” for a viable future.
THE CANADIAN FEDERAL ELECTIONS
Even if our Canadian Parliamentary system of government is different from the Presidential form of governance in the Philippines, both systems depend on a multi-party structure. Ours was patterned after the US system after WWII in 1946, with some changes in the 1986 constitution. Canada’s system was patterned after the British North America Act in 1867, a parliamentary system similar to the UK’s.
In the recent federal elections, the issues presented were clear. The electorate was engaged in each party’s position on the issues. As in the past, Canadian elections are about issues ( economy, leadership, health care, sovereignty). I couldn’t recall in the recent past where corruption was ever an election issue. The closest one I remember was an alleged bribery by a Quebec construction ( SNC Lavalin ) company paying Libyan officials. This scandal ( 2019 ) resulted in the resignation of several members of Justin Trudeau’s cabinet. The Trudeau government was re-elected because none of the cabinet members pocketed anything other than offering a “deferred prosecution” in exchange for keeping jobs in Quebec, arguably an altruistic motive.
On the other hand, corruption is an ongoing issue in every Philippine election; most often, it is not highlighted because all parties are involved, and it is not directly a “hand in a cookie jar” issue. Conflict of Interest, plunder, money laundering, and abuse of power are all corruption issues, but they are hidden under various rubrics.
Consider these examples: Chief Justice Corona in 2012, impeached and convicted of hiding $2.4 M in ill-gotten wealth; Major General Carlos Garcia in a “pabaon scandal” ( send-off money ) that saw 1.5 billion pesos in a money laundering scheme that saw six retired generals and five others convicted of plunder.
Senator Jinggoy Estrada, who chaired the Senate hearings on the “pabaon scam,” was himself charged and detained for allegedly embezzling ₱183 million from his discretionary funds in a scandal known as the pork barrel scam. However, he was re-elected in 2022. He was convicted of one direct bribery and two indirect ones in 2024. Forbes ratings of the top 10 corrupt world leaders list two from the Philippines: Marcos Sr. and Erap Estrada.
We all know where former President Duterte is— charged in the extrajudicial killings of 30,000 people ostensibly from his “war on drugs”. He faces the wrath of the ICC at the Hague.
I chose the above to highlight how corruption has infiltrated the Judicial, Legislative, Military, and Executive branches of government. Barangay and Municipal politics have been implicated in various procurement and fiscal irregularities, which is not surprising as patronage politics runs deep at the local level.
Looking back, this quote sums up our proclivity to impropriety: “What are we in power for?” This outburst was attributed to the first postwar Senate President, Jose Avelino, in the legislature in 1949. (Here’s a portion of that speech: “Why did you have to order an investigation, Honourable Mr. President? ( Quirino ) If you cannot permit abuses, you must at least tolerate them. What are we in power for? We are not hypocrites. Why should we pretend to be saints when in reality we are not? And goes on to say, we are all going to hell anyway!” )
Clearly, we have a long history of malfeasance, and it is a cultural birthright that will become increasingly entrenched and have no hope of ever being righted. Antonio Tagle could be our “knight in shining armour,” or should we just wait for a benevolent AI?
Transparency.org in January 30, 2024 released this statement: “Canada had the distinction of being the least corrupt government in the Americas in 2023, as measured by the Corruption Perceptions Index.”
The recent Canadian Federal elections were among the highest voter turnout in 30 years at 68.7%. It is one of the more interesting contests as the issues involved a question of Canadian sovereignty and the tariff issue, both from President Trump’s MAGA manifesto. It was also a test of the new Liberal leader, Mark Carney. Mid-term elections in the Philippines generally do not attract as much voter turnout as the presidential vote, but they still had a high turnout of 82.2%. Filipinos are usually very passionate about elections, which unfortunately leads to violence.
On the other hand, Canadians tend to find elections boring and predictable, except when they are related to pocketbook issues or sovereignty. However, as we look back at our historical results, we see that citizen participation does not guarantee outcomes that serve the national interest.
FILIPINO PARTICIPATION
We might be passionate about elections, but not necessarily as candidates. Here’s a glimpse of how we compare with our closest ethnic brothers in the recent Federal and Provincial ( ON.) elections: In the just concluded Federal vote, there were 72 South Asian ( this collective term includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Shri-Lanka) candidates. 22 were elected to the House. (These are primarily of Indian ethnicity.) Filipinos: (maybe) 2 candidates and one elected. Provincial: (maybe) 3 ran and zero elected. The so-called “Little Manila”, York Centre riding with 18,000 Filipinos has not elected any Filipino ever. The latest ON Provincial election added 5 Indo-Canadians and has 11 South Asian members. A turbaned Sheikh heads a major federal party ( NDP ).
Our only Filipino-elected MP, Rechie Valdez, has won a re-election and has been appointed to the Cabinet again. The last time this happened was 20 years ago, when Ray Pagtakhan ( Winnipeg) was elected. He was also the only Filipino MP and was appointed to the Cabinet. It’s noteworthy to mention the late Senator Tobias Enverga as the only Filipino senator appointed to the Canadian Senate ( representing ON).
Filipinos are a primary source of immigrants to Canada, coming in a close second after the Indians ( followed by the Chinese ). However, our political representation has remained low to non-existent. We have gotten used to being referred to as “the only” or “the first” in politics. Our experience in Canada is similar to that in the U.S.; the proportion of our people holding government positions, whether in politics or civil service, is well below the expected numbers given our population.
The rise of dynasties in the Philippines is a consequence of the lack of participation from the people. Filipinos are notoriously thin-skinned in the rigours of the dog-eat-dog, rough-and-tumble arena of legislative jungle. As I have written in many articles, our hesitant participation is rooted in our culturo-religious tradition of subservience and docility. This kind of temperament is incongruous in a ready-to-rumble world of politics.
My generic friend Joe disagrees. He says Filipinos are too busy Line Dancing and singing Karaoke. We are all wrapped up in “Marites,” “Intriga “ is a national pastime, and “crab mentality” is alive and well. We are too culture-bound to find fun in politics.
Well said bro! ****