"YOU'RE RELATED!": PHILIPPINE POLITICAL DYNASTIES ON WOMEN'S REPRESENTATION

Abstract

According to the annual Global Gender Gap Report for the past several years, the Philippines was ranked highly for its progress on narrowing in the gender gap. Politically, women seem to be better represented, at least numerically, as compared to other democracies. The republic has had two female presidents and a record-breaking number of women lawmakers and judges since the end of the Marcos authoritarian regime. For a country plagued with violent crimes and widening socioeconomic inequality, the Philippines has outdone expectations for its progress on women’s causes. However, an overwhelming majority of women politicians are part of an elite-based entity, known as political dynasties. Political dynasties have been a hallmark of Filipino politics and seem to have substantially contributed to women’s representation. This paper will illuminate the effects of political dynasties on women’s representation and how it has guided, or coerced, women’s policy priorities and agendas. By drawing from empirical case studies from dynastic and non-dynastic women, I find that women from political families are less inclined to advocate for women’s causes. This paper will argue that political dynasties are not worth the cost despite contributing to the number of women in politics. Instead, dynastic women have undermined the quality of governance and are mostly indifferent to work on behalf of other women, just like their male relatives.