The Philippines has always been characterized as extremely clannish in almost every aspect of life. Politics, among other things, has always been considered a family affair. People whose faith is in the monarchial system believe that the right to rule is hereditary, a birthright. In this system, only representatives of one or a few families can morally represent a group of people, or a nation.
Anachronistic and elitist though it may sound, such system, or a semblance thereof, exists in Philippine politics. Because of its baranganic history, and the perpetuation of the rule of the former datus in every town as the Spanish era Cabezas de Barangay and Gobernadorcillos, the Philippine political structure has been consistently dominated by families. Since the proclamation of the first republic in 1898 by General Emilio Aguinaldo those who followed him were his relatives by blood or marriage, or both. Though not from one ruling family the Presidents, Vice-Presidents, Senators, and other elected officials of the Philippine government have, since 1898, been related to each other, others many times over.
All over the Philippines, such a clannish aspect to politics is replicated, some more pronounced than others. A case in point is Argao, a coastal town in southern Cebu, which reveals a similar, if not more pronounced, pattern. Out of approximately 4,000 unique families in the municipality, only about 262 families have ever held both hereditary (Spanish-era Gobernadorcillos and Cabezas de Barangay) and elective positions, or about 15% of the total families. Even the town’s lay church officials in the nineteenth century, the Sacristan Mayores and the Fiscales, were from four families only.
Though its list of Gobernadorcillos and Capitan Municipal is incomplete, majority of the former Chief Executives of the town were related by blood or marriage, or both. For instance, Don Jose Saniel, one of the most favored Gobernadorcillos of the Spaniards, was the son of a former chief executive Don Ciriaco Saniel while another, Don Diego Saniel, was a cousin. Furthermore, Don Diego Saniel was the grandson of another Gobernadorcillo, Don Apolonio Calderon, while a sister of Don Jose Saniel married the son of Gobernadorcillo Don Lucas Lucero. A granddaughter of Don Felipe Lucero, brother of Don Lucas, married the daughter of Don Ysidoro Mondragon, who was not only a long time capitan but also a long-time Directorcillo of Argao. Don Vicente Espina, who was also a long-time fiscal of the church, was the first cousin of the mother of Don Manuel Ceballos, the first Argawanon to hold the renamed position of Capitan Municipal.
With the turn of the 20th century, and the coming of the Americans, Argao’s ruling class simply changed titles, but the same families held elective posts. This is because when elections were first held in December 1901, the Americans mandated that only those who had land, who were literate, or held positions in the Spanish era were eligible for public office and to vote. Thus, many of the former members of the Principalia stood for local elections and promptly became Municipal Presidents, Vice-presidents, and Councilors. Some families even managed to extend their political dominance elsewhere. Don Alejandro Ruiz, the first American period chief executive of the town, had a brother, Don Antonio Ruiz, who was also Sibonga’s president. A Lucero descendant, Don Aquilino Lucero, went to Ronda and promptly became its first municipal president and was later on followed by two sons and a granddaughter as the town’s Mayor.
Of the total 34 Presidents, Mayors, and Vice-Presidents/Mayors of Argao, 24 belong to the five main political dynasties of the town. These big dynasties are Kintanar, Lucero, Miñoza, Albarracin, and Ceballos-Espina, which have produced an average of five members who have held (or still hold) chief executive positions.
The Kintanar family, perhaps the most prolific family in terms of the number of politicians it has produced, has had two Vice-Presidents, one Mayor, and the caretaker official after the 1986 People Power Revolt. It also shares wartime President Jose Lucero Kintanar, and his brother Mayor Jesus Lucero Kintanar, with the Lucero family, itself producing two Vice-Presidents and one Vice-Mayor. Another Mayor, Antonio A. Almirante, Jr., is a Lucero descendant, as was Vice-Mayor Anacleto K. Bajenting, who was married to a Lucero second cousin of Mayors Jesus and Jose Lucero Kintanar.
Incidentally, the head of the guerilla forces of southern Cebu during the Second World War, Hilario P. Davide, was married to a second cousin twice removed of the Japanese-sanctioned government of Jose Lucero Kintanar.
The Albarracin family has produced two brothers, Lorenzo and Jacinto, who became Presidents (one of whom was a former Vice-President of the other), while their sister, Vicenta, became Argao’s first female Councilor, then later Vice-Mayor. Another brother, Magdaleno, became a Councilor.
The Miñoza family has produced two Presidents (one of whom married a Lucero), one Mayor, and one Vice-Mayor, Azucena Miñoza Sesaldo, who, apart from being the daughter of a former Mayor, is married to another past Mayor, Daniel Sesaldo.
The Ceballos-Espina family has produced two Presidents, one Vice-President, and the current Mayor, Edsel A. Galeos. Needless to say, all these belonged to families who formed the hereditary and elected principalia of Spanish-era Argao, and were related to each other in complicated and many ways.
It is even more interesting to note that even among the younger generation of politicians in Argao those who come from the old political clans still tend to dominate the political arena. Beginning with the Marcos Era Kabataang Barangay (KB), the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) has evolved into a fixed political arm for the Filipino youth.
The Sangguniang Kabataan Federation of Argao is composed of all the SK Chairs of Argao, each representing a barangay. The presidents then elect their federation chairperson, who sits as an ex-officio member of the municipal council. So far, Argao has had four (4) SK Federation officials.
Argao’s first youth leader in the Marcos years was Annabelle Almirante, who was the daughter of then Mayor Antonio A. Almirante, Jr. The Almirantes of Argao are directly descended from the Spanish-era political families of Almirante, Lucero, and Espina-Ceballos. Thus, Annabelle Almirante was not only a daughter of a Mayor, but was related to virtually every former Mayor, Municipal Presidents, and Gobernadorcillos.
The first SK Federation President of Argao was Greta May Alcarez, who is a descendant of the Alcarezes, one of the smaller political families of Argao that has produced at least one Spanish-era Cabeza de Barangay and three municipal pre- and post-World War II councilors.
Greta May Alcarez’s successor as SK Federation President was Mariglen Lucero, who was a 5th cousin of Annabelle Almirante. All in all, when Mariglen Lucero was elected into office, 18 Luceros already held various elective posts from the Spanish period up to the time of her election.
Mariglen Lucero was then followed by Aisha Iryll Kintanar Quintana, whose mother, Margaret Ann, was both a fourth and fifth cousin of Mariglen, and a fifth cousin of Annabelle Almirante. Aisha’s grandfather, furthermore, was Representative Simeon Lucero Kintanar, who served as a Representative to Congress for Cebu’s 2nd district for three consecutive terms.
Aisha Quintana’s successor and incumbent SK Federation Chairperson is Richard de los Reyes, kin to Don Celedonio Delos Reyes, a former Gobernadorcillo as well as a long-time Directorcillo of the pueblo, and to three other Cabezas de Barangay and two councilors. Another former Mayor, Emilio T. Reyes, was a Delos Reyes who shortened the family name to Reyes.
Even the current members of the SK Federation of Argao still belong to old political families. In fact, 87% of the current SK Presidents of Argao are members of old Argawanon families. Of this 87%, 49% belong to families considered to be members of the town’s Spanish-era Principalia, and at least 11%, though not members of the Spanish period Principalia, have had at least one member elected into public office before.
Among the members who belong to Principalia families, 36% are descended from those classified as hereditary Principalia, or the Spanish era ruling elite descended from the native ruling class. The rest belong to the elective, or the post-1863 cabezas de barangay who were elevated into the office of Cabeza due to their educational attainment and fluency in the Castellan tongue. The current descendants of the hereditary Principalia families include three de los Reyeses, two Floreses, an Albarracin, a Miranda, and a Gonzaga.
While it cannot be denied that these young political leaders were elected into office because of their achievements and qualifications, this survey still goes to show that politics is still pretty much strongly influenced by family ties.
Truly, the myriad of interrelationships is an amazing display of the resilience and continuity of political families in the town of Argao, Cebu. Some people call political dynasties evil and corrupt. Believers in the theory of divine right to rule say that people will choose those whose blood has been tried and tested through time.
Whether this is true or not, this illustration on Argao’s political families is another reminder of how interesting Philippine politics is.
