For political clans that dominate local politics, the tactics to keep the capitol, the seat of power for local political kingpins, are almost the same nationwide.

Sitting governors seek reelection and max out the allowable three terms for a total of nine years. If they are not seeking reelection, they are swapping positions with their relatives or are running for higher or lower positions.

In Sulu, Gov. Abdusakur Tan has been moving in and out of the provincial chief executive’s office since 1996. Yusop Jikiri and Benjamin Tupay Loong each served one term from 2001 to 2007, after which Tan returned and has maintained his control of the capitol ever since.

Tan’s son and namesake Abdusakur II served two terms as governor from 2013 to 2019, while he held the position of vice governor for one term. In 2016 he ran for governor of the now-defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao but lost to former Gov. Mujiv Hataman of Basilan.

In 2019 he returned to the Sulu capitol as governor. In next year’s elections, after serving two terms, the younger Tan will again run for governor, while his father will aim for the vice governorship.

Family ‘rigodon’

Spouses, father and child, mother and child, siblings, and cousins regularly swap posts.

Former Elections Commissioner Luie Guia offered an explanation: politicians understand that it can be difficult to return to power once they lose it to other politicians or political clans. Clans, he said,  will hold on to these positions for as long as they can.

“The next in line is the child or the spouse, even if they’re just placeholders. Because you don’t want to lose that kind of power, you pass it on to your family. And if the brother, sister, or nephew enjoys the position, you’ll find them another post as well,” Guia said.

In Pampanga, mother and son will seek to switch posts. Vice Gov. Lilia Pineda wants to reclaim the post of governor while her son, Gov. Dennis G. Pineda, runs for vice governor.

In Marinduque, father and son are bidding to switch seats. Gov. Presbitero J. Velasco is running for the lone congressional seat currently held by his son Lord Allan Velasco. The son is running for governor.

Masbate Gov. Antonio Tero Kho is running for representative of the first district, a position held by his son, Richard Kho, who is now eyeing his father’s current post.

In Laguna, a husband and wife will attempt to swap positions in government. Gov. Ramil Hernandez will run for the second district seat while his wife, Rep. Ruth Mariano-Hernandez, aims for the gubernatorial position. 

In Guimaras, Gov. JC Rahman Nava and his wife, Rep.  Maria Lucille Nava, are also seeking to switch seats.

Cousins Gov. Edwin Marino Ongchuan and Rep. Harris Christopher Ongchuan (second district) in Northern Samar; Gov. Rosalina G. Jalosjos and her nephew, Dapitan Mayor Seth Frederick Jalosjos in Zamboanga del Norte; and brothers Rep. Johnny T. Pimentel and Gov. Alexander Pimentel in Surigao del Sur are planning similar swaps.

Who defeats political dynasties

When the dynasties grow too big, relatives start fighting each other for political positions. 

In La Union, where the Ortegas have ruled for over a century, reelectionist Gov. Raphaelle Veronica Ortega-David will be challenged by her grandfather, Vice Gov. Mario Ortega.

Infighting among dynasty members is not new, Teehankee said, citing the cases of the Binays of Makati City, Cayetanos of Taguig City, and Duranos of Cebu, among others.

When the clan has no opponent, members turn against each other, he said.

Some clans rule longer than others. Often, it is a political dynasty that dislodges another political dynasty.

In Bukidnon, the political clan of former Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri lost the capitol in 2022 after a decade of rule in the province.

The son and namesake of the family matriarch, former Rep. Manuel Zubiri, lost to Gov. Oneil Roque by a margin of less than 5,000 votes. Roque won with 365,999 votes compared to Zubiri’s 361,426. 

Roque’s wife Laarni also won the House seat vacated by Zubiri.

Senator Zubiri is completing his second term next year. He is not seeking another position.

Sometimes, political events and shifts in voter preferences can elevate leaders outside of political families to highly competitive positions.

In Maguindanao del Norte, Gov. Abdulraof Macacua was appointed in 2023 to lead the newly created province. He is the chief of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, the armed unit of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front which now governs the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

Macacua will not run for governor next year but for a district seat in the BARMM parliament amid efforts to postpone the parliamentary elections next year.

The entrenched Mangudadatu and Mastura political dynasties are set to battle for control of the new province in the upcoming elections.

In Nueva Vizcaya, the death of Gov. Carlos Padilla in 2023 catapulted Vice Gov. Jose “Jing” Gambito to the top post in the capitol. Gambito will seek his first term next year.

There are instances where leaders without ties to political dynasties have successfully prevailed over entrenched clans.

In Batangas, Gov. Hermilando Mandanas defeated the Mendoza and Leviste clans in 2016. Similarly, in Davao del Norte, Gov. Edwin Jubahib ended the Del Rosario family’s long dominance in the province in 2019.

Celebrity power

Who else can defeat political dynasties? On a few occasions, popular celebrities have managed to unseat them. 

Bulacan Gov. Daniel Fernando was a critically acclaimed actor, famous for a range of movies, such as the 1985 controversial erotic thriller Scorpio Nights, directed by Peque Gallaga.

His political and entertainment careers intertwined. He was elected vice governor of the province in 2010, but he did not disappear from TV screens. He took on small and big roles in shows like Col. Billy Bibit, RAM in 1994, Ang Pagbabalik Ng Probinsyano in 1998, Totoy Bato in 2009, and My Life Is Murder in 2019.

After serving three terms as vice governor, he was elected governor in 2019, succeeding his then ally Gov. Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado.

Fernando is not exactly seen as a “dynasty buster.” But when Sy-Alvarado ran to regain the capitol in 2022, Fernando defeated him by a wide margin. He is seeking his third term next year.

Lito Lapid defeated former Pampanga Gov. Bren Guiao in 1995. Vilma Santos defeated former Batangas Gov. Armand Sanchez in 2007. E.R. Ejercito defeated former Laguna Gov. Teresita “Ningning” Lazaro in 2010.

Eyes are again on movie and TV star Vilma Santos, who is aiming to return to the Batangas capitol next year. She became the province’s first female governor in 2007 after making a name for herself as a promising politician when she served three terms as Lipa City mayor from 1998 to 2007. 

In 2016 she ran to represent the then newly created sixth district and won. After two terms, she took a hiatus from politics to give way to her husband Ralph Recto’s run for her congressional seat.

The sudden move of Santos’s sons to join politics next year disappointed even her former supporters, however. Her son, actor and TV host Luis Manzano, is running to be her vice governor, while another son, Ryan Recto, wants her old House seat.

“For the longest time, [Vilma] was one of the celebrity politicians who excelled and managed Lipa well as mayor; she also performed well as a congresswoman. And some even see her as one of the rare few celebrity politicians with a more reformist orientation,” said Teehankee.

“E bakit naman biglang buong pamilya talaga? Lahat-lahat? (Why the sudden move to involve the whole family)?” Teehankee said.

Santos is not the first celebrity to be elected and establish her own political dynasty. Former President Joseph Ejercito Estrada, the late Sen. Ramon Revilla Sr., and Lapid have done so before her.

Fernando remains a rare exception so far.

Read more: Meet the ‘obese’ political dynasties of the Philippines

The post Who can dislodge political dynasties? appeared first on CoverStory.

Political dynasties continue to hold a tight grip on provinces in the Philippines. 

By the count of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), at least 71 of the country’s 82 provincial governments, or 87%, are led by members of political dynasties. 

This dominance underscores a system where power is frequently passed down within families, raising concerns about its impact on democratic representation and political diversity.

Eighteen of these political dynasties are considered “obese” with at least five family members seeking different electoral positions next year.

The Marcoses of Ilocos Norte, Singsons of Ilocos Sur, Ortegas of La Union, Ynareses of Rizal, Tolentinos of Cavite, Umalis of Nueva Ecija, Pinedas of Pampanga, Garcias of Bataan, and Khos of Masbate have ruled over these Luzon provinces for decades. 

In Mindanao, many political dynasties control the provinces. These include the Dimaporos of Lanao del Norte, Adiongs of Lanao del Sur, Pacquiaos of Sarangani, Mangudadatus of Maguindanao, Mendozas and Taliños of Cotabato, Jalosjoses of Zambaonga del Norte, Yus of Zamboanga del Sur, Tans of Sulu, and Salimans and Hatamans of Basilan. 

The May 2025 elections are unlikely to bring significant change. Forty-seven of the 71 incumbent governors belonging to political dynasties are seeking reelection. 

Meanwhile, 19 sitting governors who are not reelectionists have family members seeking to replace them.

Incumbency advantage

In many cases among the country’s biggest political dynasties, it is the leaders of the clans who occupy the provincial capitol.

The office of the highest local executive official can also serve as the seat of power for local political kingpins. 

The Marcos family has dominated the province of Ilocos Norte since the 1970s. The clan has exercised an unbroken control of the capitol for the last 26 years or since 1998.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. served three terms as governor, from 1998 to 2007, before he was elected district representative in 2007 and senator in 2010.

His cousin Michael Marcos Keon served one term in the capitol (2007-2010), before his sister Sen. Imee Marcos took over in 2010 and served three terms until 2019.

In next year’s elections, the President’s  nephew, Gov. Matthew Marcos Manotoc, will aim to swap seats with his aunt, Vice Gov. Cecilia Araneta-Marcos.

In Cebu in the Visayas, two political clans have controlled the capitol for the last three decades.

Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia is serving her second term and will seek to win a third term next year. She became governor in 2004 when she succeeded her father, Pablo “Pabling” Garcia, who completed three terms (1995 to 2004), and occupied the seat for two more terms until 2013.

She ran and won two terms as representative of Cebu’s third district (2013-2019) before she returned to the capitol. During those years, Hilario Davide II was governor.

Julio Teehankee, a professor of political science, who has studied political dynasties in the Philippines for over two decades, said clans have clearly benefited from incumbency advantage. 

“If you are elected, you have all the resources of the state. You control the budget and you have built-in support because the city hall or capitol staff is under you,” Teehankee told PCIJ.

Power begets power in a patron-client political system, he said. The longer the families hold it, the bigger the power they are able to accumulate.

National politics

Political dynasties grow influence when they aspire for and win national seats. But it is not always guaranteed.

The Escudero clan ruled Sorsogon province as early as the 1940s when Salvador Escudero, grandfather of Senate President Francis Escudero, was governor.

Francis succeeded where his father, the late former Rep. Salvador Escudero III, failed. He won a Senate seat in 2007 when he was 37 and became so popular that he almost ran for president in 2010, but he gave way to a colleague, Benigno Aquino III. 

Escudero ran for vice president in 2016, but he lost to Leni Robredo.

After these political setbacks, he took a break from national politics and served as governor of Sorsogon from 2019 to 2022. He returned to the Senate in 2022 and is now the leader of the legislative chamber.

There are clans who continue to try but are only able to capture as high as the provincial capitol so far.

Luis “Chavit” Singson has been in and out as governor of Ilocos Sur from 1972 until 1986, from 1992 to 2001, from 2004 to 2007, and from 2010 to 2013.  He is considered the political kingmaker in his province, but a national position has eluded him. He tried but failed to win a Senate seat in 2007.  

Despite Singson’s defeat in national elections, his family continued to grow political influence in the province and in the House of Representatives. In 2016, he ran and won as mayor of Narvacan town.

He will try his luck again to win a Senate seat in next year’s elections.  

Thin, fat, obese dynasties

Many political dynasties are not as big as the Marcoses and the Singsons, but they can also monopolize political power for decades.

In Quirino province in northern Luzon, the Cua father and son have been swapping positions to control the capitol for the last 17 years. Dakila Cua was first elected governor in 2007 and served only one term to give way to his father Junie Cua, who occupied the position for nine years until 2019.

Dakila succeeded his father in 2019 and is now on his second term. He will seek a third next year. The other candidate in the family next year is his wife Mindy, who has taken over his former district seat in the House.

In Iloilo where multiple dynasties operate, the Defensors have exercised an unbroken rule of the capitol in the last 14 years or since 2010. Arthur Defensor Sr. served as governor from 1992 to 2001, followed by Niel Tupas Sr. (2001-2010).

Defensor was elected governor again in 2010. The family has not let go of the capitol since.

His son Arthur Jr. succeeded his father in 2019, and is seeking his third term next year. The other family member who is running is reelectionist Rep. Lorenz Defensor.

The PCIJ list also includes what Teehankee described as “dormant” dynasties.

In Zamboanga Sibugay, Gov. Dulce Ann Hofer is the only one running for elected office next year. 

Hofer is a big political name in the province as the governor’s father, George Hofer, is dubbed its founding father. Her brother George II ran for election twice but lost.

“I refer to such cases as dormant dynasties in which one or none is left in active politics, but they can grow fat again in the future,” Teehankee said.

Whether expanding, consolidating, or lying in wait, political dynasties show no signs of relinquishing their hold on power in the Philippines.

Read more: Meet the ‘obese’ political dynasties of the Philippines

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