Election forensics: How Arroyo allies ruled polls

In this two-part report, the Center for People Empower in Governance (CenPEG), a think tank that advocates for more grassroots participation in governance, dissects the recent elections. The first part, “Pork barrel, perks helped pro-Arroyo clans to dominate House, LGUs,” says the “big gainers in the recent political bout, where 80,000 candidates fought for 18,000 elective positions, were the heavyweights or the political families.” The second part, “All in the family: Ampatuans, Garcias, other reigning lords,” goes deeper into the phenomenon called political dynasties, which “are a product of a society riven by income inequalities and lack of opportunities for social and economic uplift of the majority of the people.”