(First of two parts)

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.

From Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis ‘Chavit’ Singson tried but failed to win a Senate seat in 2007. He will try his luck again next year. —PHOTO COURTESY OF CHAVIT SINGSON’S FACEBOOK PAGE

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

First published in CoverStory – December 10, 2024

(Last of two parts)

The Sanggunian Kabataan (SK) law and Bangsamoro Electoral Code define and prohibit political dynasties. However, these laws only cover the SK and Bangsamoro parliamentary elections.

In national and local elections, clans continue to consolidate political and economic power.

Based on the electoral plans for May 2025 of district representatives belonging to political dynasties, here are five ways they are able to stay in power.

1.  Max out term limits

The Constitution allows politicians to hold local office for three consecutive three-year terms or a total of nine uninterrupted years.

In the current 19th Congress, 142 district representatives are reelectionists belonging to political dynasties , PCIJ’s count shows. They represent more than half of the 253 district seats.

The entire province of Ilocos Norte is dominated by reelectionist dynasts, with presidential son Ferdinand “Sandro” Marcos (first district) running for a second term and his uncle Angelo Marcos Barba (second district) fighting for a third term.

Since the Marcoses returned to the Philippines in 1991, they have uninterruptedly reigned over Ilocos Norte’s second district. But the first district was only recently captured by the clan in the 2022 elections, when Sandro Marcos beat Ria Fariñas, a member of a rival political family.

In Leyte, each of its five congressional districts is held by a different political dynasty member: Speaker and presidential cousin Ferdinand Martin Romualdez (first district), Lolita Javier (second district), Anna Victoria Veloso-Tuazon (third district), Richard Gomez (fourth district) and Carl Nicolas Cari (fifth district). They all plan to keep their posts. 

Other provinces where all districts are represented by reelectionist dynasts include Misamis Occidental and Misamis Oriental in the Visayas, and Cotabato, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur in Mindanao.

Many elected members of political dynasties maximize the three terms.

It is easy for them to get reelected because of the “incumbency advantage,” said political science professor Julio Teehankee.

“If you’re elected, you have all the resources of the state. And if you’re elected as a member of the House of Representatives, you have a pork barrel and all sorts of projects to show to your constituencies,” he said.

“The longer you stay in power, the more likely you will accumulate it … the more likely you will pass it on to your relatives,” Teehankee said.

Legal Network for Truthful Elections (Lente) Executive Director Rona Ann Caritos said many incumbent officials are guilty of abusing state resources to aid their campaigns.

Lente defines abuse of state resources (ASR) as “the misuse of government resources—whether material, human, coercive, regulatory, budgetary, media-related, or legislative—for electoral advantage.”

These commonly take the forms of social welfare programs and the use of government transportation, she said.

Caritos said Comelec can do its part by monitoring how state resources are reduced during election campaign seasons. “We’ve managed to convince Comelec to take on monitoring ASR hopefully in the 2025 elections… That’s another step also of somehow tempering the political dynasties,” she told PCIJ.

2. Seek higher positions, swap with relatives

What happens when their terms run out? There are those who seek higher office, like many of the incumbent senators who started their careers in the House of Representatives.

Others do not wait.

Las Piñas City Rep. Camille Villar is seeking a Senate seat after two terms in the House of Representatives. She is swapping places with her mother, Sen. Cynthia Villar, who is sliding back to run for a seat in the House of Representatives.

It is Sen. Villar who is reaching her term limit in the Senate next year. She dropped initial plans of running for mayor of Las Piñas.

It’s the same for Lanao Del Norte Rep. Mohamad Khalid Dimaporo, who will run for governor in 2025. He is swapping positions with his mother, Gov. Imelda Dimaporo, whose third term will end next year.

PCIJ research shows that 67 outgoing district representatives have opted to seek higher positions or switch positions with family members. Nearly half of them are term-limited.

In Masbate, a father and mother will swap roles with their children as district representatives.

Outgoing Masbate Gov. Antonio Kho is running for first district representative, a seat currently held by his son Ricardo Kho, who is joining the gubernatorial race. Antonio’s wife, Vice Gov. Elisa Kho, will contest her daughter Olga “Ara” Kho’s congressional seat in the second district.

Ara is eyeing the mayoral post of Masbate City, while her brother Wilton Kho seeks reelection as third district representative.

In Valenzuela, neophyte Kenneth Gatchalian is gunning for the position of first district representative, a seat previously held by his brothers Senator Win, Valenzuela Mayor Wes, and most recently Rex, who resigned when he was appointed secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

Marikina Mayor Marcelino “Marcy” Teodoro seeks to replace his wife, Rep. Maan Teodoro (Marikina City, first district), in the House. The same scenario is true in the city’s second district, where former deputy speaker Miro Quimbo is contesting his wife Rep. Stella Quimbo’s seat. Both wives will face off in the mayoral race.  

In Negros Oriental’s third district, a Teves has held the congressional seat since its creation in 1987, a legacy now set to continue with Janice Teves Gaston, aunt of expelled Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr., running for the seat. He was removed from office following allegations of involvement in the assassination of Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo. 

Elsewhere, political families are fielding their sons as candidates: the Silverios in the first district of Bulacan, the Collanteses in the third district of Batangas, and the Barzagas in the fourth district of Cavite. In each case, the sons are set to replace their congressmen-parents, who themselves succeeded one another.

Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri’s wife Audrey Zubiri is running for the seat of her father-in-law Rep. Jose Maria Zubiri Jr. in Bukidnon’s third district.

Without a law prohibiting political dynasties, the term limits sped up the entry of the next generation of dynasts, said Teehankee.

Before martial law, he said there were only a few political dynasties because there were no term limits. A politician could occupy the same positions for as long as he is reelected. “The framers of the constitution introduced term limits, thinking it would deepen democracy [and] open up the seats for non-dynastic candidates.”

“That was a toxic combination. You introduce term limits without antipolitical dynasty legislation. It accelerated the rise of dynasties. The unintended consequence was that they multiplied,” Teehankee said.

3. Expand to new provinces, cities and towns

Political families have also expanded their influence to other provinces to consolidate their power, which Caritos referred to as “franchising.”

“They’re not content with their original territory, so they expand as well to nearby territories,” she said.

Mark Cojuangco, from the prominent dynasty in Tarlac, is seeking reelection as Pangasinan’s first district representative. His wife, former mayor and congresswoman Kimi Cojuangco, is a native of Pangasinan.

The Cojuangco dynasty began with patriarch Eduardo “Danding’’ Cojuangco’s election as Tarlac governor in 1967. Since then, other family members have held various political positions.

The Suansing family holds sway in both Nueva Ecija on the main island of Luzon and Sultan Kudarat in Mindanao.

Term-limited Rep. Horacio Suansing Jr. (Sultan Kudarat, second district) is passing the torch to his daughter Bella. His other daughter Mikaela is running for reelection as Nueva Ecija’s first district representative, a seat previously held by her mother Estrellita.

In Taguig City’s second district and San Juan City, sisters Amparo and Ysabel Zamora are seeking reelection as representatives, respectively. They are daughters of former San Juan Rep. Ronaldo Zamora. 

4. Intra-family rivalry

Rivalry heats up in several provincial districts as family members vie for the same positions, mostly likely securing the seat within the family.

In La Union’s first district, the congressional race is a face-off between Joy Ortega and her cousin, incumbent Rep. Francisco Paolo Ortega V.

Similarly, in Iloilo’s fifth district, Niel Tupas Jr. is challenging his sister-in-law Binky Tupas, wife of outgoing Rep. Raul Tupas, for the same seat.

In Nueva Ecija’s second district, siblings Mario Salvador and Micaela Salvador Violago, wife of incumbent Rep. Joseph Violago, are vying for the same position.

Former elections commissioner Luie Guia likened these family rivalries to the boxing sport. They serve only to entertain the voters, he said. In the end, Guia said, voters are not sure if one winning over the other will bring change.

5. Join the party-list system

Political dynasties have also been occupying party-list seats in the House of Representatives, which has allowed clans to hold up to three seats in the legislative chamber.

Many family members of incumbent district representatives are running in the party-list race.

Speaker Romualdez, who is seeking reelection as Leyte’s first district representative, is introducing his son Andrew to politics through the party-list system. The younger Romualdez is set to replace his mother Yedda as first nominee for the Tingog party-list group. Yedda is the sixth nominee.

Tingog is one of several regional party-list groups that has allowed political clans to expand their political influence.

The Tulfo can also have three nominees in the party-list elections. Sen. Raffy Tulfo’s wife, ACT-CIS Rep. Jocelyn Tulfo is seeking her third term. The senator’s sister, former tourism secretary Wanda Tulfo Teo, is also the first nominee of a new Ang Turismo party list group. Teo’s son is the third nominee.

The flawed party-list system has been criticized as a “backdoor” to the House for political dynasties and big businesses.

Caritos said adding an antidynasty provision in the Party-List System Act could prevent political families from taking advantage of the system. But like the passage of an anti-dynasty law, she isn’t hopeful that this will be passed in the near future.

Read more: That’s entertainment in politics

First published in CoverStory – October 30, 2924

After ex-president Rodrigo Duterte, his protégés—Senators Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and Christopher “Bong” Go—are most likely to be arrested next for the extrajudicial killings (EJKs) in the “war on drugs” and brought before the International Criminal Court (ICC), according to former senator Antonio Trillanes IV. 

“Bato is sure to get it. Bong Go is almost there. If there’s a third one, it will most likely be General [Oscar] Albayalde,’’ said Trillanes, who is back in the country after his attendance at an ICC conference in The Hague in the Netherlands.

The warrants will be issued late this year if not early next year, the ex-senator told CoverStory on Thursday.  

“Their names should be there,” he said, referring to the document detailing the three counts of murder as a crime against humanity filed by ICC prosecutors against Duterte and his alleged co-perpetrators.

Trillanes has been “facilitating witnesses and transmitting documentary evidence” to the ICC since he filed a communication in 2017 prodding the court to investigate Duterte for possible crimes against humanity. 

Former senator Antonio Trillanes IV — PHOTOS BY TJ BURGONIO

Go was special assistant to Duterte when he was mayor of Davao City, where he launched his crackdown on suspected drug users and pushers. As President, Duterte cast a wider net, with then Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Dela Rosa and, later, Albayalde, as chief implementors.

Dela Rosa and then Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II were mentioned by the ICC prosecutors in their “pre-confirmation brief” explaining the specific charges against Duterte.

The defense team of the 80-year-old ex-president, detained at the Scheveningen prison in The Hague since March, has moved for his interim release. The ICI has indefinitely postponed his confirmation of charges hearing originally set on Sept. 23 to determine his fitness to stand trial.

A ‘cabal’ of personalities

Human rights lawyer and ICC assistant to counsel Kristina Conti said that as far as Duterte’s supposed co-perpetrators are concerned, the court is “looking at a cabal” of personalities.  

“There are at least three police officials,” she told CoverStory also on Thursday, citing the heavily redacted pre-confirmation brief. “There are three or four appointed officials, [including] one who is significantly close, one a friend. There are eight personalities, or eight entities at least, mentioned, and Bong Go could be one of them.’’  

Dela Rosa, then Davao City police chief handpicked by Duterte to head the PNP, ranks up there as chief implementor, Conti said. If the pre-confirmation brief was used as a basis, it’s clear he was “co-perpetrator alongside Duterte,’’ she said.

But until she read the pre-confirmation brief, she had questions about whether Go “rises to the level of most responsible,” Conti said.   

“Bong Go seems to have been involved in giving rewards,” she said. “If his role was cerebral, like how much to give and how to give, that’s possible. But if he’s a mere orderly or utusan, he could be in [the category of] aiding and abetting.”   

Dela Rosa, Go and Albayalde have maintained their readiness to face ICC investigation over the drug war.

The two senators were among those who voted Wednesday night in favor of the adoption of Senate Resolution No. 44 appealing to the ICC to grant Duterte house arrest on humanitarian grounds.

Citing Duterte’s advanced age and supposed deteriorating health, the 15 senators urged the court to designate a physician to examine the former leader and ascertain his fitness to withstand detention.

‘No effect’

The senators’ action was “expected,” Trillanes said. “They are politicians; they want to court the political base of the Dutertes which they see as fanatical voters. They don’t want to lose that when they run [for election] whether in 2028 or in the future.” 

“It has no effect,’’ he added. “[Duterte’s detention] can’t be undone regardless of what the Senate does, or even if they’re able to convince the Marcos administration to make a similar call to the ICC. It has no binding effect on the Pre-Trial Chamber.’’

The resolution was signed by Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri and Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano. Senators Imee Marcos, Robinhood Padilla, Rodante Marcoleta, Jinggoy Estrada, Joel Villanueva, Sherwin Gatchalian, Loren Legarda, Erwin Tulfo, JV Ejercito, Panfilo Lacson and Mark Villar voted in favor of it. 

Senators Bam Aquino, Risa Hontiveros and Kiko Pangilinan voted against it. Senate President Tito Sotto and Sen. Raffy Tulfo abstained.  The other senators were not present during the voting. 

Conti called the Senate resolution a total failure—“semplang na semplang”—that could even backfire on the defense team’s move to get Duterte released to a third country.

“It’s just noise,” she said. “It’s irrelevant. It’s nothing for the defense right now. But it could be a basis for the prosecution to support its claim that Duterte still enjoys nationwide clout.’’ 

Trillanes sees the resolution as “part of a script” and a communication plan “to gain sympathy” from a section of Philippine society.

For Conti, it’s a “fitting end’’ to the narrative woven by Duterte’s lawyers and family about his state of health over the past months—from being supposedly “skin and bones” to being “cognitively impaired” and even to “falling unconscious.”

Human rights lawyer Kristina Conti

‘Absolution’

Even so, Conti said, she is “shocked” not only by the Duterte team’s ignorance of court processes but also its “absolution” of his crimes.  

“This is VIP treatment for someone who is on trial for very serious crimes and someone who has not shown remorse for his crimes,” she said. “This Senate resolution is something short of an absolution. It brushes aside the crimes that he’s being charged with.”  

According to the three counts of murder as a crime against humanity filed by ICC prosecutors against Duterte, he was an “indirect co-perpetrator” in the killing of at least 76 people in his “war on drugs” when he was Davao City mayor and, later, president. 

The Philippine government pegs the number of the EJKs at 6,000, but rights groups say the lives of as many as 30,000 mostly poor Filipinos were snuffed out.

Today, Oct. 4, the remains of eight of those killed in the brutal antinarcotics drive will be laid to rest in an inurnment at the Dambana ng Paghilom (Shrine of Healing) at La Loma Cemetery in Caloocan City. The ceremony organized by the Buhay ang People Power Campaign Network for the bereaved families also marks the closing program of the Justice for All drive calling for accountability for and remembrance of state-sponsored violence.

Meanwhile, the ICC’s Registry, which oversees the Scheveningen prison, said it lacks the authority to declare whether Duterte is physically and mentally fit to appear in court for the pre-trial proceedings.

The state of Duterte’s physical and mental health “really has to be determined by an expert, and ultimately, it’s the court who will say that he’s not fit for trial,” Conti said. “It’s both a medical and a legal construct.”

First published in CoverStory — October 4, 2025