Open for Business
by Sheila S. Coronel


LAND as a source of wealth and power is waning; instead the business interests of the members of the House of Representatives are more varied, a sign of the modernization, if not the democratization, of the Philippine elite.

THOSE WERE the days. In July 1988, in the first-ever State of the Nation of Address made by a post-Marcos president in Congress, sugar planter and Negros Occidental Rep. Hortensia Starke marched triumphantly into the session hall attired in a swirling ball gown and twirling a frilly parasol.

Just a month before, the House of Representatives had passed an emasculated land reform bill, with 118 voting for and only 49 against it. Starke was one of the most eloquent defenders of landlord interests in the legislature. "Your land is like your favorite dress," she said at one point. "If it is taken away from you, it is as if you have been stripped." When Starke, clad in all her finery, strode into Congress that day, the symbolism was too much to bear: It was seen as the clearest signal of the victory of the landed aristocracy.

Since then, the image of the House of Representatives as a "landlord-dominated House" was etched in the public mind. Up to now, nearly 40 percent of congressmen still own agricultural land, but this is down from 58 percent a decade ago. Despite this decline, the ranks of Congress still include members of the biggest landowning families in the country: Rep. Benigno 'Noynoy' Aquino III is part of the Cojuangco clan, which owns the 6,000-hectare Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac; his cousins Mark and Carlos Cojuangco are heirs of their father's estates, which include at least 3,000 hectares in Negros Occidental; and Antonio 'Tonyboy' Floirendo Jr. stands to inherit control of a 5,000-hectare banana plantation in Davao del Sur.

Yet the days of Hortensia Starke are over. For sure, Congress remains a house of privilege, where the landed and wealthy dominate. But agricultural land as the foundation of power has been eclipsed by other sources of wealth, including manufacturing, services (construction, restaurants, schools, labor contracting, among others), and trade. This trend was already evident in the 1980s, but the image of the likes of Starke was so compelling, it hid the reality that the hacienderos, for all their flair, are a dying class.

Although Philippine politics often seems backward and feudal, the country has come a long way from 1898, when the short-lived Malolos Congress, composed largely of members of the landed ilustrado class, convened amid much pomp and pageantry in Barasoain Church. Neither is the country mired in 1907, when the first Philippine Assembly, again made up of members of the landed aristocracy ((including Melecio Cojuangco, the great grandfather of Noynoy Aquino and his two cousins), took office under U.S. tutelage. Nor is it the 1960s all over again, when powerful sugarcane planters dominated the legislature and dictated to presidents.

It is true that in some districts, the descendants of caciques still rule. The most notable example is Tarlac, whose representatives to Congress in the last 100 years have largely been drawn from just two families, the Aquinos and the Cojuangcos. But in the last half-century, these families have also diversified their holdings so that it becomes difficult to call them simply as landlords.

Eduardo 'Danding' Cojuangco Jr., whose two sons and a nephew are members of the 12th House, may be a major landowner but he is also chairman of San Miguel Corp., a multibillion-peso food and beverage manufacturing giant. His cousins in the other branch of the Cojuangco family still own Hacienda Luisita, having managed to skirt land reform by using loopholes in the law shepherded through the House by then Speaker Jose 'Peping' Cojuangco Jr.

Luisita, though, is not primarily an hacienda anymore, but a bustling commercial, industrial, and tourist hub. Similarly, up to now, the Floirendos control vast tracts of land in Davao. But they also have car distributorships, resorts, and even a television production outfit. The Zubiris of Bukidnon, who own a sugarcane plantation and a sugar mill in the province, are known in Manila as savvy entrepreneurs who run a chain of popular bars and restaurants.

Representatives with Interests in…

Sector	9th House (1992-1995)	11th House (1998-2001)	12th House (2001-2004)
Agricultural Land	58%	42%	39%
Agricultural Enterprises	32%	29%	29%
Fisheries	15%	11%	8%
Banking	19%	15%	13%
Financial Services	21%	14%	13%
Media, Publishing and Telecommunications	11%	14%	15%
Construction	11%	13%	8%
Food Manufacturing	9%	11%	10%
Nonfood Manufacturing	18%	17%	14%
Trading	35%	34%	32%
Transport, Shipping and Hauling	12%	15%	15%
Property Development and Real Estate	53%	52%	49%
Hotel, Restaurant, Travel and Leisure	21%	28%	26%
Mining, Power, Oil and Energy	15%	13%	10%
Logging and Wood-based Industries	8%	6%	6%
Schools	7%	6%	4%
Others	24%	25%	24%
None declared	17%	15%	16%

Source: PCIJ research based on statements of assets and liabilities filed by congressmen, their biodata, previously published information, and information from the Securities and Exchange Commission. This is not a comprehensive listing as it is based only on information filed by the representatives themselves and additional research from SEC. Many representatives have business interests that are not in their names.

This diversity of businesses makes it difficult to speak of a landlord or comprador bloc with a cohesive set of interests, such as the protection of export quotas and farm subsidies or the provision of incentives for the export of agricultural commodities. Neither can the Philippines still be accurately described as a cacique democracy in the sense of the pre-eminence of land-based wealth and power. As the table on this page shows, a multiplicity of proprietary interests is represented in the legislature.

These interests are so diverse, congressmen say there is really no dominant economic bloc that determines the direction of Congress. While there are many landowners in the House, for example, they do not get together to draft a legislative agenda. This ensures that no single business interest is able to capture the legislative process; it also means that legislation can go any way, without following a consistent path. "We can't put together a coherent economic program because everyone is pulling toward the interests of their own clan, business or geographical area," says Batanes Rep. Florencio 'Butch' Abad, a former activist who has been in the House for three terms.

Together, the changing business interests of cacique families and the entry of new entrepreneurs and professionals who do not come from land-based wealth are transforming the House of Representatives. While the House may not have been radically democratized, it has at least been modernized.

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