Volume 15 | 2024

The ascendancy of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos in the 2022 presidential elections has come back in vogue the perennial issue of political dynasties in the Philippines. They are not only an historical phenomenon that traces back to the Spanish colonial rule and survives through three colonial regimes and five experiences of Filipino republics; it is also a structural system of power concentration impeding the development of a real democratic participation at local and national level. The article examines the nature of political families from an historical perspective and unpacks the terminology employed so far in the academic literature to refer to the monopoly of power in the Philippines. Further, it seeks to shed light on constitutional changes adopted after Ferdinand E.E. Marcos was ousted in 1986, in a bid to dismantle the political clans. The paper argues that, while restoring democracy one year after, “de-Marcosification” reinstalled political dynasties of the pre-authoritarian era, assuring them the abiding practices to hold sway over politics, economy and society. They have cheated the rules codified in the Constitution and exploited old mechanisms that continue to curtail opportunities for making headway in Philippine democracy.