LONG-TIME provincial chief Juanito Victor “Jonvic” C. Remulla, Jr. on Tuesday took oath as secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), joining his elder brother in the Marcos Cabinet.
Mr. Remulla, younger brother of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla, replaced seasoned politician Benjamin “Benhur” de Castro Abalos Jr., who is eyeing a Senate seat in the 2025 midterm elections.
“After 29 years serving in the provincial government of Cavite, 11 and a half of which I was governor, I think I will leave the province much better than when I first came in,” the new DILG chief said in a statement.
“To date, Cavite is the most business friendly province in the country.”
Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace S. Barbers was among the top picks for the post, according to previous reports.
The Remullas hail from Cavite province, the nation’s second most vote-rich province with 2.3 million voters in 2022.
Political analysts noted the rise of dynasties in the Executive branch, dragging appointive positions into dirty politics.
“Both the President and the Vice-President have always been dominated by dynasties. Even the Cabinet has been dominated by appointees who are part of fat dynasties,” Michael Henry Ll. Yusingco of the Ateneo Policy Center said in a Facebook Messenger chat.
“But siblings simultaneous occupying offices in the Cabinet just shows the lack of shame amongst political elites to keep power for themselves.”
There are several members of political dynasties in the Marcos Cabinet, including Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco, whose mother Cebu Governor Gwendolyn F. Garcia is seeking reelection. His uncle Cebu Rep. Pablo John “PJ” Garcia is also vying for reelection.
Several family members of Mr. Marcos’ Finance Secretary, Ralph G. Recto, are seeking for elective posts in next year’s elections including his wife Vilma, who is gunning for the gubernatorial post of Batangas province with their son Luis as her running mate.
“A dynasty in appointive positions may be a new phenomenon in Philippine politics,” Arjan P. Aguirre, a political science professor at the Ateneo de Manila University said. “It deserves a new concept: ‘Dynastic appointments’ — executive appointments given to members of the same family.”
Another Cabinet official who is a member of a political dynasty is Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile, whose daughter Katrina was appointed as chief of the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority last year.
“The domination of political dynasties of the executive branch will compromise policy decisions, because the focus will be on how to keep political power rather than what is best for the nation,” Mr. Yusingco said.
“It will also undermine development planning and execution because the focus will be on attention-grabbing activities rather than laying down economic foundations for the future.” — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza
