40 families control 76% of the wealth in the Philippines. These families dominate politics because of their resources and influence and the way that our electoral process favors candidates who can spend the most funds. So unless we change how we elect our politicians, elections are always going to be an exercise in futility—a choice between the silent, yellow oppression of agricultural oligarchs or the overt, red oppression of violent populists.
I don’t know the answer though. Is it a parliamentary form of government where only ministers are directly elected to avoid the popularity trap, or campaign fund caps to avoid the graft and corruption trap?