AN ASSESSMENT OF THE VOTING BEHAVIOR OF

MAKATI CITIZENS IN THE 2016 MAKATI MAYORAL

ELECTIONS BASED ON THE GENDER AND POLITICAL
FAMILY BACKGROUND OF THEN-CANDIDATE ABIGAIL
BINAY

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A Thesis
Submitted to
Faculty of Arts and Letters
University of Santo Tomas

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In Partial Fulfillment
Of the requirements for the degree,
Bachelor of Arts in Political Science

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By

Limos, John Vincent F.

Maglana, Veronica Glenn

April 2, 2019
 AN ASSESSMENT OF THE VOTING BEHAVIOR OF MAKATI CITIZENS IN
THE 2016 MAKATI MAYORAL ELECTIONS BASED ON THE GENDER AND
POLITICAL FAMILY BACKGROUND OF THEN-CANDIDATE ABIGAIL BINAY

LIMOS, John Vincent F.

MAGLANA, Veronica Glenn B.
Proponents

Mr. Paul Micah Francisco, M.M.

Thesis Adviser

Abstract

Contemporary politics in the Philippines has been surged by political

families dominating both national and local politics. And with the global rise of the
demand for gender equality, it is relevant to determine how gender has been
influencing votes during elections. This study is focused on assessing the voting
behavior of Makati citizens who voted for then-candidate Abigail Binay in the
2016 Makati Mayoral Elections. The aim of the study is to determine the
connection of the votes garnered by Abigail Binay to her political family
background and gender. Then-candidate Abigail Binay is part of the Binay
political family of Makati City which has been active in the local politics of Makati
City for decades. Her gender and associateship to a prominent political family are
important factors to be studied for her victory as mayor in the 2016 Makati
Mayoral Elections. The qualitative data are gathered from one-on-one interviews
with local residents of Makati City who voted for Abigail Binay in 2016. The
informative responses of the interviewees are key to the discussion initiated by
this study.

Keywords: political family, gender studies, local elections, voting behavior, the
Binay political dynasty
 CHAPTER 1- INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

In the Philippines, during the time of the late President Manuel L. Quezon,

a plebiscite was successfully passed that allowed women to take part in the

Philippine politics (Cabigao, 2015). The global shift towards gender-friendly

politics eventually gave rise into the inclusion of the political rights of women in

the December 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. However, the

presence of an institution that secures the rights of women to participate in

politics does not guarantee their equal participation because of the reasons of

socio-cultural factors, religious factors, and economic factors (Kassa, 2015). A

number of countries have employed statutory quotas for women (Binda &

Slaughter, 2018). These quotas allocate a number of reserved seats for women.

However, some scholars believe that the use of statutory quotas is superfluous

and undemocratic in nature (Binda & Slaughter, 2018). Dealing with the

challenges faced by women entering politics must be addressed from the very

roots of social attitudes and gender roles assigned by the society to a person

from his/her very birth.

According to Kazuki Iwanaga (2008), an author who focuses on the study

of women and politics in Thailand, the entire number of elected women in the

government is not connected with the quality of women’s political representation.

It can be noted that in spite of the increasing figure of women in the national and

local government, most of them are part of a political family or dynasty. A political

family or dynasty by definition is a family that consists of several members that

are involved in politics (Guarde, Rosaroso, Rama, & Batac, 2016). In an article of

Abueva (2012), it is stated that a political dynasty is a repeated election and

reelection of close relatives with the same surname to offices in the local and

national governments. The relatives appear to enjoy a monopoly of political

power to the disadvantage of rival politicians. In this sense, there are many

provinces and cities with political dynasties that dominate local and even national

elections (Abueva, 2012). In the same article by Abueva, the Binays, Estradas,

Revillas, Enriles, Cayetanos, Angaras, Villars, and the Marcoses were included

on the list of the prominent political dynasties in the country. The Binay clan, who

dominates Makati City up to date, is headed by Jejomar Binay, the former Vice

President of the Philippines and his wife, former Makati Mayor Elenita Sombilo

Binay. The couple has five children and three of them are involved in politics.

Two of the three are female, namely Maria Lourdes Nancy Binay and Mar-Len

Abigail “Abby” Binay. Nancy worked for her parents as an assistant in their

government offices before having won a seat as a senator (Rappler, 2013) while

Abigail followed the footsteps of her parents and also served as a representative

of Makati City in 2007. In present time, Abby Binay is in office as the Mayor of

Makati City (Ong, 2010). The Binay political family is a manifestation of how

prevalent political dynasties are in the Philippines.

The Philippines belongs to the top 100 countries that have a relatively high

number of women in the government and that number is still increasing

(Philippine Commission on Women, 2014). Some reports suggest that many

women are encouraged to join politics because of the policies that are already
present in the country. These policies are said to have made women confident in

joining politics (Philippine Commission on Women, 2014). However, the total

number of women in politics can be deceiving because of the fact that most of

the women in the government belong to a particular political dynasty. Many

studies suggested that a woman is most likely to be elected as a government

official if she is a member of a political dynasty. People justify that it is much

better to vote for a politician that shares a bloodline with the previous government

officials because the projects of these officials will have a higher chance of being

continued by the succeeding administration where a family member is present

(Guarde, Rosaroso, Rama, Batac, & Lasala, 2016).

For more than three decades, members of the Binay political family have

taken turns on governing the Philippines’ richest city in terms of assets as mayor

of the city (Villanueva, 2018). Jejomar “Jojo” Binay, Sr., his wife, and two of their

children, Abby Binay and Junjun Binay, served as Mayors of Makati from 1988 to

2019.

B. Statement of the Problem

1. How are the votes of the residents of Makati City for Mayoral Candidate

Abigail Binay in the 2016 Makati Mayoral elections related to the political

family background and gender of Abigail Binay?

a. How do the voters perceive of the relation of Abigail Binay to a

political family in Makati City?

b. How do the voters feel about the effects of the gender of Abigail

Binay to the votes she received for the 2016 elections?

 c. Why did they choose Abigail Binay over the two other male

candidates for the mayoral race?

C. Theoretical Framework

This research study takes on the hypothesis that the effects of Abby

Binay’s gender and connection to the Binay political family on the voting behavior

of the citizens of Makati City in the 2016 Makati Mayoral Elections are minimal.

The reason is that the researchers perceive of this issue in the realist point-of-

view. The effects of the economic or social contributions of Abby Binay, in her

previous terms in office as a congresswoman, are more substantial than her

involvement in a political family and her gender. It overpowers the fact that she is

a woman and that she could contribute more to the substantial representation of

women or even her involvement in a political family. It is also important to note,

however, that there may also be a link between the contributions of her relatives

in politics and her personal contributions. This thesis statement will be tested with

the use of the rational choice theory that was also utilized by Anthony Downs

(1957) in his work, “An Economic Theory of Democracy.” Downs (1957) applied

the rational choice theory to explain the voting behavior of people based on the

economic aspect.

The main premise of this theory, according to Antunes (2010), is that the

decisions made by the voters are rational, meaning these decisions are highly

affected by their personal interests, or as what utilitarianism would say, the

maximization of utility. Voters, as rational beings, act depending on the ways

wherein they would be able to maximize gains from their votes. This is the
concept of rationality that was applied by Down (1957) in his economic theory.

Self-interest controls every action of man. This includes voting for the candidate

from which he will benefit the most.

D. Conceptual Framework

The rational choice theory is the most applicable theoretical framework for

this study as it involves the interpretation of the reasons of the voters for

choosing Abby Binay over the other male candidates. When applied here in this

study, it will provide the perspective that the voters have exercised their right to

suffrage and voted for the candidate they wanted because of what they may gain

from the candidate if he/she wins the race.

Since the study is concerned with the ways the votes for Abby Binay are

being affected by various factors, Abby Binay should be the key independent

variable, alongside the other independent variables, the gender of Abby Binay,

her social and economic contributions to the voters, and her being part of the

Binay political family. The only dependent variable in this study is the reason of

the voters for choosing Abby Binay in the 2016 Makati Mayoral elections. The

reasons are narrowed down to three, out of the endless number of possible

reasons for voting for her. Two reasons are innate characteristics of Abby Binay,

being a female and belonging to a political family. The other reason is the

contributions, even the performance, of Abby Binay from her term as

congresswoman. However, there is an indirect relation between the contributions

generally made by her political family in the city of Makati and the contributions of

Abby Binay alone. It would be inevitable to encounter reasons that consider the
contributions of her family her contributions too. There would be no issue about

this regarding the methods of analyzing the data for they will be labeled

differently.

The variables included therein are recurrent key words throughout the

whole research study. The figure provided below (Figure 1) illustrates the

research study’s conceptualization of the case with the guide of the theory.

Legend: Rounded Rectangle – theory

Top Rectangle – independent variable Directional Line – direct relation

Bottom Rectangle – dependent variable Broken Line – influence

Ellipse – independent variable Bidirectional Arrow – indirect relation

Figure 1
E. Scope and Limitations

The study will only be conducted in the City of Makati as it concerns the

reasons of the registered voters in Makati for voting for Abby Binay. The current

Mayor of Makati, Abby Binay, won the electoral race in 2016, with her term

ending this 2019. The interviews for the gathering of data from the voters can be

conducted in any part of Makati City as long as the interviewees are registered

voters who exercise their right to vote in the 2016 local elections. The researches

do not find the need to cover an extensive area for conducting interviews

because it only concerns the qualitative ideas from the participants. These are

personal ideas that vary from one interviewee to another. This is not a

quantitative study that tries to measure the effects in every barangay in Makati

City.

The limitations include the respondents’ choice of keeping their identities

hidden, except for their genders. Their genders are important to the study to

distinguish the reasons from a perspective of gender. The interview questions will

also have to be translated in Filipino, possibly affecting the implied meanings for

every question that was made in English. Another possible limitation that may

arise during the data-gathering is the choice of the interviewee to be neutral in

the issues at hand. They may also change their choices or stand for every

question that is similar, causing inconsistencies in their answers.

F. Ethical Considerations
 As stated also in the limitations of the study, the identities of the

interviewees will be kept concealed upon their request. This was an important

aspect of the interviews because most of the interviewees are worried about the

things they were saying especially the interviews were conducted in a time

nearing the local elections in 2019. Even though it was clearly stated in the

Informed Consent that the recorded interviews will be used for the sole purpose

of the research study, some were still hesitant to participate in the study.

G. Significance of the Study

This study hopes to establish an understanding regarding the reasons of

the voters in choosing a candidate who belongs to a political dynasty and a

candidate who is a woman. The researchers also believe that it would contribute

to the following:

Theory of Rational Choice. The theoretical significance of the study is

the extensive utilization of the theory that was first used by Brown (1957) in the

interpretation of the voting behavior of people. The study was conducted with the

variables of gender and political clans, expanding the possible uses of this

theory.

The Binay Political Clan and Other Political Families. The result of the

study may be used by the political dynasty to further understand how various

factors have affected the votes of the citizens of Makati for Abby Binay. They

may see how their political family plays an important role in voters’ choice and

how the contributions of one member of the family positively affects the other

members.
 Registered Voters of Makati. This study may inform the voters of Makati

on how the preferences of others are affected by the concepts of gender and

political dynasties. Because of this, they may want to be more involved

depending on how they take the issue of political dynasties dominating local

politics.

Academe and Future Related Researches. The results of this study will

help the future researchers to generate more studies regarding this matter. Their

future study will be able to contribute to the study of women in politics and

political dynasties. The field of women political participation may be helped by the

research study, in terms of the qualitative or descriptive response of the

interviewees.

H. Operational Definition of Terms

1. Political family – refers to political dynasty/political clan; a family that consists

of several members that are involved in politics (Guarde E. , Rosaroso, Rama, &

Batac, 2016); a repeated election and reelection of close relatives with the same

surname to offices in the local and national governments (Abueva, 2012).

2. Binays – refers to the Binay political family in Makati City.

3. Gender – refers to either male or female distinguished on the basis of their

reproductive organs in the time of their birth. This should not be confused with

sexuality.

4. Contributions – refers to the social and economic contributions (e.g. gender

empowerment, good policies, financial assistances, basic services and utilities).

5. Voters – refers to the active registered voters who voted for Abby Binay in the

2016 Makati mayoral elections.

6. Innate Characteristics – refers to the characteristics of Abby Binay from birth.

In this study, this refers to her gender and involvement in a political family, as a

daughter of Former Vice President Jejomar “Jojo” Binay.

 CHAPTER 2 – REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURES AND STUDIES

Political Participation and Representation

The right of equal participation has been maintained ever since a first

mass rally organized solely by women coerced their government. Different

policies and laws followed a century after this historical event. However, Paxton

and Hughes (2017) argued women are still underrepresented in the field of

politics. There are many factors that may contribute to this problem but the

variation of gender equality development in every country hinders the

researchers to have a concrete answer. These variations include the correlation

of education and economic status to the attainment of a woman of a political

position. The problem of equal participation has been analyzed by the

researchers and enumerated the three types of representation. The first type is

the formal representation. It is the earliest form of representation and started

when laws allowing women to participate in politics were implemented. In short, it

recognizes the legal rights of women to participate in politics like of men (Paxton

& Hughes, 2017). However, Paxton and Hughes (2017) analyzed that this type

does not automatically produce a large number of women in politics at once.

Because of this, descriptive representation was introduced. Its goal is that the

total population of a country must have a resemblance on the governmental

representatives. The authors gave an example that if a country is comprised of

50% women, the legislature must be also made up of 50% women. However, it is

believed that not all women can represent all women in a specific state (Paxton &

Hughes, 2017). Women sometimes have principles they prioritize other than
gender equality. Seeing this as another problem, the authors introduced the last

type of equal representation which is the substantive representation. This type of

goal is that all of women’s interest must be presented in the legislation (Paxton &

Hughes, 2017). Iwanaga (2008), however, analyzed that descriptive and

substantive representation are also the major perspectives when it comes to this

kind of literature. A descriptive perspective believes that electing more women

has a symbolic purpose in gender equality, and women may attain a greater

legitimacy in the political system (Iwanaga, 2008). It is somehow connected to

what has Paxton and Hughes (2017) provided. On the other hand, substantive

perspective believes that an increase in the number of women in parliament

would result to a substantive difference. As stated above, not all women can

represent the interests of all women.

Analyzing the types of equal representation, one kind emerges as one

problem halts the former type. The authors associated this problem to Weber’s

concept of power. According to Weber, power is the probability of one actor to

convey its own will despite any form of opposition (Paxton & Hughes, 2017). This

was further expounded by Steven Lukes in one of his theories “three phases of

power.” Lukes gave three definitions of power. First of which is that power is the

prevailing conflict over political preferences (Paxton & Hughes, 2017). Political

institutions, due to the long reign of men, have been filled with their own interest

that women submit to it. Second, it prevents other preferences, other than of

men’s, to reach their goal. Power is like a bully who will do anything to keep

those principles or beliefs unmotivated. Lastly, Lukes also asserted that power
helps us shape our preference to match the preference of the other (Paxton &

Hughes, 2017).

Asia is the region that is hardest to crack when it comes to gender equality

development. Despite having the highest number of women presidents, Asia is

still lagging behind the development of the West. Paxton and Hughes (2017)

analyzed that there are three (3) unexpected patterns that deviates Asia from the

rest of the world. First is its lack of relationship between economic modernization

and women’s political success (Iwanaga, 2008). Industrialization in the West has

help women to catch up with the skills of men. However, Asia did not develop like

that of the mentioned region. Modernization only slowed down the gender

development in Asia. The reason for this is that Asian women only vie for a

position that requires low skills (Paxton & Hughes, 2017). Second is the lack of

inclusion on legislation. As mentioned earlier, even though that Asia tops the

West in the number of powerful female leaders, the legislation still lacks women

representative. Paxton and Hughes (2017) concluded that some Asian countries

have a sufficient number of women in the legislation but the positions have little

power. Lastly, some Asia Pacific countries have legislation that only consists of

men. Paxton and Hughes (2017) added that due to the overrepresentation of

men in politics for almost all the time, it has become a norm to those countries.

According to Iwanaga (2017), this problem has resulted to the belief that politics

is only for men and this belief is carried to the elections.

From labor to politics, women are still part of the minority who faces many

barriers to be able to solve this problem. Some government and international

institutions are already making their efforts to solve gender problems despite the

barriers. One of which is women empowerment. According to the European

Parliament (2016), women empowerment is a multidimensional process that

helps people gain control over their own lives. This concept allows women to

develop their own skills and talents through education and training. European

Parliament (2016) one of the barriers for this advocacy is the gender role

expectation that is embedded to the political institution. Paxton and Hughes

(2017) explained that this has become so due to the reign of men in politics since

time immemorial. It is reported that despite facilitating this kind of advocacy by

various institutions around the world, the progress is still slow (European

Parliament: Policy Department, 2016). One of the problems is the lack of

implementation of policies, low levels of participation in decision-making positions

of women, underinvestment in gender equality, and gender mainstreaming.

Analyzing these factors of the problem, it all imbedded either on the institutions

and/or the culture of the country.

These dilemmas were also highlighted in the work of Iwanaga (2008). This

is why he introduced the concept of facilitators. Facilitators are particular

conditions and policies that facilitate women’s empowerment (Iwanaga, 2008).

The author also enumerated the different types of facilitators. First of which is the

institutional facilitator. This kind of facilitator can act as a politician, public officer,

policies and laws. Years after suffrage was first granted to women, many

countries and international organizations has helped in highlighting the

importance of the rights of women. These include the Universal Declaration of

Human Rights, reproductive health rights and the like. This type can still be

divided into three (3) kinds: legal, electoral, and political facilitators. The second

type would be the contextual facilitators. This kind of facilitator concentrates on

the states socioeconomic and cultural structure which has a big contribution to

women empowerment (Iwanaga, 2008). These concepts have a big contribution

in shaping the society’s norms and beliefs. The failure of the first facilitator to

implement the legalities of the basic rights of women can affect this type. Without

any policies legally supporting the rights of women, it can affect women in terms

of their interest. Example of which is the years before granting women their right

of political participation. Women at that time are expected to stay at home and

follow the commands of her husband. They have no right to say anything about

politics because the society already assigned the role of men and women. In this

case, women have no place in politics. The last type is the individually oriented

facilitators. This type focuses on the potential candidates that plan to run in the

elections (Iwanaga, 2008). They were considered because election is when the

candidates can publicly speak about their advocacies and principles. Iwanaga

(2008) also asserted in this type that men can also advocate gender equality

besides from women.

In a cross-national analysis of Ruedin (2012), there are other surprising

factors that contribute to the participation of women in the country other than

what Iwanaga (2008) and Paxton have suggested. First of which is how free the

country. It is said that free and partly free countries have the highest percentage

of women in the government (Ruedin, 2012). Sweden can be seen at the top of
the list with 45% of the members of the parliament are women. All of the

countries around the world have improving gender equality except for

Kyrgyzstan, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Saint Kitts and Nevis, the Solomon

Islands, and Tuvalu. In Kyrgyzstan, it is reported that two women lost their court

case and their parliament is composed of 100% men. Same with the Solomon

Islands but the difference is that many women ran for a position in the parliament

but not a single female won. As for the other countries mentioned, their

similarities lie on the size of their country and population that may have been the

cause of the absence of women in the women in the parliament. Second of which

is the electoral systems used. It has been analyzed that the proportional systems

are associated with higher proportion of women in the parliament (Ruedin, 2012).

In addition, the introduction of gender quotas has also helped in developing

gender equality. Countries who have gender quotas have larger female

population in the parliament than the countries without it (Ruedin, 2012). Third

factor is the age of democracy in a country. This factor has a small effect but it is

still considered to be significant. Over a decade in a democratic country, the

number of women in the parliament increased by 1%. The third factor is the

regional differences. Ruedin (2012) noticed that the Nordic countries have higher

proportions of women in parliament than other regions. The last facto is the

attitude of the politicians towards women. These attitudes affect the supply of

suitable female candidates for the parliament (Ruedin, 2012). Positive attitudes

can boost the confidence of potential female candidates to run in the elections.

This factor is related to the gender quotas that are somehow enforced on other
countries. Unenforced quotas reflect a society embracing the idea of having more

women in politics (Ruedin, 2012). As compared to enforced quotas, this may

reflect a society who does not automatically embrace gender equality and it has

to do with their culture. An attitudinal change appears to be an effective way to

approach changes regarding the number of women in the parliament (Ruedin,

2012). This approach is said to have a long-lasting effect. Ruedin’s research

made an unexpected turn regarding the political participation of women because

he analyzed factors that are deemed to be unnecessary in the literature

These literatures have presented that despite the development of policies

throughout the century since the women was granted the right to participate in

politics, there is still a big gap between men and women in politics. Asia has the

worst case compared to other regions of the world. It has showed a different

pattern that deviates them to the development of the West. With this information

at hand, the literature that will be discussed will be about the gender

development of the Philippines.

With the literatures above tackling the essence of political participation

and representation of women in the international arena, the next area of focus

would be discussing it in a smaller perspective, the Philippine perspective. The

next collection of literature would tackle the topic of Philippine Politics and

Gender.

Philippines Politics and Gender

In the earliest histories where women are important actors in the

development of the political and the societal aspects of life, Filipino women’s
involvement in a society and their rights were very much apparent prior to the

Spanish colonization, as studied by Myrna Feliciano (1994). The author

explained that Filipino women, prior to the Spanish colonization, enjoyed a high

social standing alongside the men. A few women were even revered as

priestesses who chanted rituals, a significant role performed by experienced and

highly-regarded women at that time. When the Spaniards came, they brought

with them their customs and traditions which led to the paternalistic society. The

Catholic religion also contributed to this (Feliciano, 1994). Even the Holy

Scriptures brought by the Spaniards through Catholicism taught that the first

woman came from a male’s body parts.

During the revolutions taking place against the Spaniards, women were

also important factors for the successful declaration of Philippine Independence.

In the Philippines, a former colony of Spain, anti-colonial women's organizations

were part of the Philippine independence campaign. The women's suffrage

movement from 1906 to 1935 was carried by women's leagues. Even today,

women's clubs and organizations in the Philippines are some of the agents of

national and political movement (Bailey-Wiebecke, 1995).

Women also became more involved in politics because the experience of

hardships during WWII, women had to work hard for the livelihood and support to

the family. It made women more independent and they became emancipated

from men's protection and domination. The right of suffrage was granted to them

for the first time in 1936. They were only seen as supporters and voters of male

politicians. After 60 years, women have participated in the political arena with
men. Many women have made themselves highly educated and socially

competent (Aguilar, 1998).

The Philippines has produced the first woman president (Corazon Aquino)

in Southeast and East Asia. Paxton and Hughes (2017) further concretized their

argument by citing interviews and experiences from women whom have already

held a powerful position in the government. One of their interviewees is Cory

Aquino. Aquino told the researchers that there are still boundaries even though

her being elected as the first woman president is a historic one. Government

officials who work under her simply do not follow orders from a woman, as if she

was stepping on their integrity and pride (Paxton & Hughes, 2017). Even though

this difficulty is present behind the closed doors of the Malacañang, Philippine

political institutions have higher female participation compared with other more

developed nations in the West. Philippines also produced the first ever woman

police general in the world in 1989. Belinda Aquino’s work (1994) provided facts

that women in the Philippines were one of the firsts to enjoy emerging gender

equality in their home country. As women gain more liberal rights, they are also

being more affected by poverty, leading to increased migration rates to work as

domestic helpers, entertainers, prostitutes, and other blue-collar workers abroad

(Aquino, 1994).

Women’s political participation revolved around: the struggle to achieve women’s

suffrage, the resistance to the oppressive regime by Ferdinand Marcos, the

mobilization on many social issues during that time (e.g. Military Bases

Agreement, prostitution, Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, etc.), the organization of

working women for their security and labor rights, and the promotion of

alternatives for political participation (e.g. NGOs and other POs) (Aquino, 1994).

In the modern era, the roles of girls and women drastically changed in

search for better living conditions. 16,000 Filipino girls who were the daughters of

landless peasants from the provinces became prostitutes in Clark Air Base and

Subic Naval Base. However, the number of educated and trained women in the

country who worked as overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) deployed abroad

increased significantly because of the deteriorating living conditions in the

Philippines (Bailey-Wiebecke, 1995).

Statistics from the Philippine Commission on Women (2014) about women

participation in politics and governance in the Philippines showed that despite the

fact that the entire Philippine population is comprised of more women, political

representation is still not achieved. Preliminary report (as of September 2013) of

the May 2013 automated national and local elections shows that around 19.97

percent (3,503) of the elected posts, including ARMM elections, are won by

women candidates, higher than the 18.4 percent turnout in 2010. The number of

women who filed candidacy for the election period was only 7,925 or 17.83

percent of the total number of candidates. There were 8 women who ran out of

33 senatorial candidates (24.2%), of which 4 entered the top 12 winning senators

(33.3%). There are 60 women Representatives (partylist not included) elected in

the 16th Congress (2013 National and Local Election). Voter turnout, which is

computed by dividing the total votes cast by the total number of registered voters,

is higher for women than men (Philippine Commission on Women, 2014).

This directly showed the quantitative data this paper needed in order to come up

with a list of factors affecting the occurrences of lower numbers of political

representation for women in the Philippines.

Despite these problems, the Philippine government has showed its efforts

to address this problem. One of which is the implementation of seventeen (17)

Sustainable Development Goals by the United Nations. One of these goals is

gender equality. Statistics from the Philippine Commission on Women (2014)

about women participation in politics and governance in the Philippines showed

that despite the fact that the entire Philippine population is comprised of more

women, political representation is still not achieved. Preliminary report (as of

September 2013) of the May 2013 automated national and local elections shows

that around 19.97 percent (3,503) of the elected posts, including ARMM

elections, are won by women candidates, higher than the 18.4 percent turnout in

2010. The number of women who filed candidacy for the election period was only

7,925 or 17.83 percent of the total number of candidates. There were 8 women

who ran out of 33 senatorial candidates (24.2%), of which 4 entered the top 12

winning senators (33.3%). There are 60 women Representatives (partylist not

included) elected in the 16th Congress (2013 National and Local Election). Voter

turnout, which is computed by dividing the total votes cast by the total number of

registered voters, is higher for women than men (Philippine Commission on

Women, 2014).

This directly showed the quantitative data this paper needed in order to come up

with a list of factors affecting the occurrences of lower numbers of political

representation for women in the Philippines. With the statistics we have on the

rate of Filipino women’s participation in politics and governance in the recent

years, it can then be taken into account that the electoral results (1) failed to

equally represent the percentage of women in the country in legislative

processes, thus suggesting that there is a problem in the descriptive

representation and (2) meant that because there are less women in office,

substantive representation, or how often the interests of all of women are being

presented in the political arena, will also be decreased (Paxton & Hughes, 2017).

There are many factors that can be considered in order to explain these

phenomena of unequal gender representation in the Philippines. Sethi’s study

(1988) of the possible determinants of women’s political participation centered

mainly in two questions: (a) whether male dominance of power processes

derives from female preference or male imposition or both; and (b) whether male

dominance is natural or conventional. The quality and quantity of women's

participation in politics is determined by (a) political rights given to women by law,

and (b) the stage of a society - and women's access to education, property and

entry to different sectors of social life. In Conway’s article (2001), she used three

theories alongside the theoretical approaches that can be used, namely,

legal/institutional, sociological, psychological, rational choice, and political

process which is then used to explain patterns in the political activities in the

United States. These theories have similarities in the Philippine setting. The

patriarchal culture that has dominated American society with its social norms and

role expectations, has assigned women to domestic life or being left in the house
with the children. Another issue is that willingness of the population to support a

female politician. In the US, 76 percent only stated they would support a female

for president (Conway, 2001). The American experience can be used and

applied in the Philippines to test whether they have similar reasons as to why

there is only a small number of female politicians in office.

These determinants used by their respective authors could be applied in the

country in order to explain the results of the previous elections. Sethi’s study

(1988) were more about the preference of the voters, whether male or female,

which can be traced from the country’s history of colonization, bringing into the

country the paternalistic society that it currently has, very similar to Conway’s

(2001) arguments.

It is indeed empower to read about these literatures that tackle the role of

women in Philippine politics, yet it is still a prevalent problem here that some

political clans and families operate this culture of creating a dynasty in politics.

The next collection of literature would tackle the Nature of Kinship of Politics or

Political Dynasties in the Context of the Philippines.

Nature of Kinship Politics or Political Dynasties in the Context of the

Philippines

The definition of politica de familia, as the term used by Mina Roces

(2000) interchangeably with kinship politics in her case study about the Lopez

family, is “a political process wherein the kinship groups operate for their own

interests interacting with other kinship groups as rivals or allies.” Families in

politics tend to employ all of their resources to potentially gain more power and
wealth in competition with other political families. Roces defined the term as an

entity whose only endeavor is to accumulate wealth or even achieve the

monopoly of political power in either national or local politics. She argued that

Filipino political dynasties tend to enter politics to satisfy their familial interests

and not for the people who voted for them. They were also said to be blinded by

their own actions, despising similar deeds by rival families whose goals were also

to monopolize political power in order to bend the law into their favor. Kinship

politics is itself the reason why political families run for office. It is also the motive

for them to “make or break political alliances, to legislate on behalf of the family,

and to expose the graft and corruption of those outside their family group in the

press” (Roces, 2000). Truly, loyalty to the family as one of the most significant

traits a Filipino could have is deeply ingrained in the Filipino culture.

In Pablo Querubin’s study (2012), it is also elaborated that political

dynasties’ primary goal is to monopolize political power to form the culture of

elitism among the political system. Philippines is only one of the many countries

which constitute a significant number of political dynasties existing in very high

positions in the government. According to Querubin (2012), the majority of the

persons elected as legislators and governors in the Philippines are related to a

political family. The culture of kinship politics, in general, even undermines the

economic growth of countries in the long term. The policies made are becoming

less nation-centered but more familial-interest tied (Hedman and Sidel, 2000 and

Coronel at.al, 2007). Instead of fostering a wide range of political ideologies and

advocacies, it becomes personalized in a sense that the policies instead of being

created for the populace, it becomes a tool for the act of power-grabbing of the

dynasties. Querubin (2012) argued that power concentrated in the hands of a few

will definitely lead to a less democratic system of government as it inhibits the

voters’ choices between a narrow range of interests, or the interests of the few

oligarchs.

Guarde et al. also established in their study the prevalence of political

dynasty but in the context of Cebu. The study concluded that the emergence and

the continuing resilience of the group is brought by three factors: weak party

institutionalization, deficient electoral law implementation, and a ‘personalistic’

mindset of the Filipinos when it comes to the elections (Guarde et al., 2016).

Weak party institutionalization is very evident in the Philippines. Many candidates

change their parties every year because of the benefits that they will receive.

Sometimes, they go to a political party that is considered as the majority in the

congress to ensure a seat and to avoid political disputes. Electoral law

implementation is very problematic since it allowed many families to dominate a

local government for decades. Binay is among of the political dynasties that reign

their respective regions or cities. For the last factor, Guarde et al. (2016)

conducted an interview with the locals of Cebu. The interview suggested that the

prominence of political dynasty is the effect of the personalistic mindset of

Filipinos wherein an act of kindness done by a clan to a particular person can be

considered as a “utang na loob.” Because of this, that particular person will vote

for that candidate or its relatives as a sign of gratitude (Guarde et al., 2016).
Other instances said that they vote for a candidate of the particular clan due to

the effectiveness of their projects.

It may be disappointing to discover that this long-standing problem of the

Philippines of having kinship as a basis for people to run for office is still being

practiced in present time, the next collection of literature discussing the Philippine

Assessment of Gender Equality sheds light to the further understanding of what

really is the current status of gender equality in the Philippines.

Philippine Assessment on Gender Equality

In addition, Asian Development Bank (2008) also conducted an

assessment regarding Philippines’ gender development between 2007 and 2008.

Their assessment started from the 1987 constitution where they have deduced

that it ensures the fundamental equality before the law of men and women (Asian

Development Bank, 2008). The constitution states that it does not condone any

form of discrimination like of gender, race, economic status and the like. As years

passed by, laws were also implemented that strengthen the protection the rights

of women. These laws include the Magna Carta of Woman, the Anti-Violence

Against Women and Children, Party-List System Act of 1995, Anti-Sexual

Harassment Law of 1995, Anti-Rape Law of 1997, and Anti-Trafficking in

Persons Act of 2003. Because of these, the United Nations’ Convention on the

Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) commended

the Philippines’ efforts in putting priority of women in one their agendas (Asian

Development Bank, 2008). The convention was also successful since most of the

countries in the United Nations signed CEDAW and Philippines is one of the
countries who also implemented it immediately in 1981. These laws are said to

be the cause why women have the confidence in participating in politics. In 2007,

53 out of 239 elected representatives, and 4 out 24 senators are women (Asian

Development Bank, 2008). These numbers may have been far from the ideal

percentage of women in the legislative but it keeps growing from one

administration to another. The growth of women in the government is cos

Aside from women’s participation, the Philippines has also implemented a

Gender and Development Budget (GAD) which requires all of the public

institution to allocate a budget to women. The only problem with this project is it

has yet to be fully institutionalized for it to see its full effects in the institutions.

The failure of institutionalizing it is that the proponents failed to justify the GAD

budget in the House of Representatives of the Congress of the Philippines every

year before it becomes an act (Asian Development Bank, 2008). Aside from

budget, the proponents also developed a gender plan that is based on the

Framework Plan of Women and has three (3) priority areas: the promotion of

women’s economic empowerment, the protection and fulfillment of women’s

human rights, and the promotion and strengthening of gender-responsive

governance (Asian Development Bank, 2008). However, the implementation is

somewhat successful because only 130 out of 400 national agencies submitted

their GAD plan. Also within the ten-year implementation, the GAD appropriations

decrease every year (Asian Development Bank, 2008).

Asian Development Bank also highlighted the efforts of the judiciary

branch in implementing gender equality in the country. Last 2003, the judiciary
branch formed a Committee on Gender Responsiveness even though nearly 2/3

of the judges and the justices are male. The purpose of the committee is to

promote gender mainstreaming with an appropriate plan and budget (Asian

Development Bank, 2008). In addition, ADB (2008) also asserted that the

committee also ensures gender sensitivity among justices, lawyers, court

personnel, mediators, and litigants in rules, procedures, systems, and facilities,

and improved the access of women and children to judicial system and fully

operational family courts.

The low participation rate of women in the Philippine government can also

be analyzed in many ways. First, Sethi (1988) deduced that the quality and

quantity of the political participation of women depends on their political rights

provided by law, and their access to public goods. For the past several years

since the 1937 plebiscite, the government has made its efforts to implement laws

that will protect the welfare of women. These laws include the Magna Carta of

Woman, the Anti-Violence Against Women and Children and etc. However, the

only treaty that the Philippines has a problem with is the Convention on All Forms

of Discrimination Against Women. It is said that the main hindrance is its

implementation (Asian Development Bank, 2014). These mentioned laws made

Philippines to have a better protection of women than to its neighboring countries

(Akchurin & Lee, 2013). However, these are not enough to protect them from

experiencing poverty. Second, Conway, Ahern, and Steuernage (2005)

concluded that patriarchal culture may have had effect on the political

participation of women. Women domesticity has caused the society to expect

that a woman should be left in the house with the children. Lastly, gender

inequality is also one of the top contributors to the development of the society

(Ferrant, 2015). It does not motivate women to do activities that will contribute to

the progression of the country. To be able to get rid of gender inequality,

McDaniel (2008) enumerated six (6) key indicators to determine gender

inequality attitudes. These are: equality in jobs, equality in education, equality in

politics, women as mothers, contributing income, and working mothers

(McDaniel, 2008).

Other notable laws and policies that contributed to the uplifting of women’s

interests and rights will then be discussed in this paragraph. The Gender and

Development Law requires government departments to allocate 5% of the total

fund for gender-related issues. The Party-List Law included women as an

important sector that needs to be represented appropriately through party-list

elections. The Anti-Sexual Harassment Law and the Anti-Rape Law provides a

more justified outlook on the consequences when an act of rape or sexual

harassment occurs. The Women in Nation-Building Law allocates sufficient funds

for women coming from overseas entities or governments including multilateral

entities. The Anti Mail-Order-Bride Law prohibits the occurrences of such

prevalent cases in the country. The Repatriation Law gives the right of

repatriation to female Filipinos who have lost their citizenship caused by

marriage. The Non-Discrimination Law in Labor Code defends women from

unlawful discrimination with their salaries slightly smaller compared to a male

counterpart of the same work status and the preference of most companies to
pick male applicants over the female ones. The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform

Law or CARP made women have equal rights as men in land ownership and

acquisition. And lastly, Military Training equality allowed women to voluntarily join

the military and police trainings also providing them with amenities (Anonuevo,

2000).

Assessing the current status of gender equality in the Philippines with the

help of the literatures above made the understanding of the topic easier. With

that being said, in order to further understand and stitch all these topics as a

whole together, the last collection of literature discussing how to measure the

size of political dynasty-related individuals in the Philippine Congress ends the

discussion of the literatures that helps create a better understanding of the topics

mentioned before.

Measuring of the Size of Political Dynasty-related individuals in the

Philippine Congress

The study conducted by Mendoza, Beja Jr., Venida and Yap (2012) about

the structure and composition of the 15 Philippine Congress confirmed that 70

th

percent of the previous legislators were involved in a political dynasty. The

authors also stated that these dynasty-related congressmen won by a large

margin in comparison to those without any relations to a political dynasty. They

greatly affect the selection between political candidates for they make up most of

the total number of candidates running for the elections, hence, producing more

and more family interest-centered policies favoring only those within a powerful

family.
 The related literature and studies indicated above have discussed about

the ways on which how women are represented, the state of gender roles and

politics in the pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial eras, the nature of political

families in the country and how they came to be, and the more recent

assessment of Philippine gender equality and the measurement of the Philippine

Congress, in terms of individuals related to influential political dynasties. All of

these would be pertinent to the objectives of the study.

Rational Choice Theory

The rational choice theory has been used by people for a long period of

time in order to further understand how humans create decisions in different

economic and social circumstances. As asserted by Jonathan Levin and Paul

Milgrom in their paper entitled Introduction to Choice Theory, individual decision-

making serves as the basis for almost all of microeconomic analysis (Levin &

Milgrom, 2004). With that being said, rational choice plays a huge role in the

decision-making. The rational choice theory begins with the thought of individuals

having preferences and choosing according to the given preferences. Depending

on the context and the situation of a choice, the ways it is posed, its social

context, the current emotional state of the decision-maker, the additional

extraneous items to the set, and the other environmental factors are some of

which that may influence the choice or the behavior of the individual. These

mentioned factors are further criticized for the reason being that they are not

enough because they are solely based on heuristics, intuitive forms of reasoning,

and instinctive visceral desires (Levin & Milgrom, 2004). Hodgson (2003) further
added that the rational choice theory focuses on the universality and

unfalsifiability of the rational choice approach. He argued that the theory has this

reputation that it can be modified and adapt into any mode of conduct, which also

includes the conduct of non-human organisms. The rational choice theory also

has its weakness, that because of its extreme quest for generality, it then fails to

concentrate on the geographic and historically-specific features of the socio-

economic systems (Hodgson, 2003). In relation to this, the next set of literature

will be involving the voting preferences of the people.

Voting Preferences

In an article by Kira Sanbonmatsu (2002), she stated that there are two

distinct bodies of research on the gender of a candidate. The first claims that a

number of voters are not biased in terms of the gender of the candidate while the

other argues that voters do apply gender stereotypes whenever they evaluate

candidates. The author argues that a large number of voters do have baseline

gender preference in voting the male candidates over the female candidates. The

data presented exhibited that gender stereotypes with regards to the beliefs of

the candidates’ traits and beliefs, together with issues of their competencies, and

also the gender of the voter itself are factors that affect the preference of the

voter (Sanbonmatsu, 2002).

In an article by Dr. İhsan Kurtbaş (2015), he claimed that there are several

factors that influence the voting preference in local elections and in the survey

that he conducted, results obtained showed that approximately one out of every

ten voters did not give any attention with regards to the vote they were using.
Around 48.4% of the voters who participated in the survey said that they did none

or very little research before the elections. Approximately one out of every four

voters said they would not support the candidate or the party that they think has

no chance of winning in the elections. Meanwhile, around 28.7% of the voters

said that the most significant factor that influenced their preferences in local

elections was the ideology of the candidate (Kurtbaş, 2015).

In a recent study during the 2016 Philippine Presidential Elections

conducted among millennial voters, it turned out that millennial voters prefer a

president who is an economist, with an appropriate experience as an elected

official, a liberal thinker, someone who prioritizes economic growth and one who

holds a doctoral degree (Murcia & Bolo, 2017). With that being said, factors that

contribute to the voting preference of a person usually vary depending on his age

and gender.

Baseline Gender Preferences

The difference between the male and female candidates somehow affects

the outcome of the elections. Often, voters do have their own gender preference

when it comes to the public official that they ought to vote. Voters who yearn for a

greater representation of women or those who view women as the ones who can

handle important issues better are more likely to prefer female candidates than

that of the male candidates. This concept of baseline gender preference means

that a number of voters would rather vote for and be represented by a man while

others would rather want to be represented by a woman. Baseline gender

preference is like a summary judgement about whether a male or a female

candidate is the best to represent the corresponding voter (Sanbonmatsu &

Dolan, Gender Stereotypes and Gender Preferences on the 2006 ANES Pilot

Study, 2007).

In another discussion by Paula Kukolowicz (2013), she argued that the

voter’s preference with regards to the candidate’s gender to favor either the male

or the female candidate to the position. Furthermore, she said that the gender of

the candidate gives a rise to the emergence of stereotypes which concerns the

qualifications and stands on certain political issues by the candidate and that

these stereotypes contribute to the voter’s preference with regards to the gender

of the candidate. It turned out that the stereotype which concerns the candidate’s

qualifications and beliefs together with the own gender of the voter affects the

preference of the voter (Kukolowicz, 2013).

 CHAPTER 3 – RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND PROCEDURES

A. Research Method

This is a qualitative type of research study that specifically aims to

contribute to the field through a case study of the relationship between certain

factors that contributed to the win of Abby Binay as mayor in 2016, involving a

large political clan that has dominated the political scene in the City of Makati.

The focus of this study is the relationship between variables, and this can only be

explained through descriptive answers from primary sources of data facilitated by

a qualitative approach. A quantitative approach cannot be applied in this study

because of the nature of the research problem.

B. Research Design

The case study research method is most applicable to the study as it

revolves around the effects of the gender and the political family involvement of

Abby Binay on the votes she garnered in the 2016 local elections. This research

method specifically studies a single case to further contribute to the existing

literature. The researchers will particularly employ a single instrumental case

study to fully grasp one bounded case. There are two types of analysis of data,

the holistic analysis and the embedded analysis (Creswell, 2007). The holistic

analysis collects data from the whole case while the embedded analysis collects

data from a specific portion of the case (Creswell, 2007). In the research study,

the focal point is the effect of the various innate characteristics of Abby Binay to

the votes she received. The researchers will not delve deeper into the personal
lives of the participants. The researchers’ intentions are only limited to the study’s

scope.

C. Respondents and Locale

The research study is only concerned with the descriptive ideas of the

voters of Makati City. With this in mind, interviews will only be conducted in the

City of Makati. The interviews do not need to be done throughout every barangay

in the City of Makati. The only important factors for choosing the respondents are

their gender and that they voted for Abby Binay in the 2016 elections. The

interviews should only involve those who voted for her because the study aims to

analyze how the votes for Abby Binay were affected by different factors. The

researchers assume that the only number of respondents needed for the

interviews is ten. The researchers, however, can add more participants if they

see that the results of the ten interviews do not reach the point of saturation.

Every half of the respondents will cover each gender to further distinguish and

interpret their stand on certain issues through a perspective innate to them.

D. Data Collection Instruments and Procedures

The data-gathering process begins with the clear understanding of the

objectives of this study, which is to determine the relationship between the votes

for Abby Binay and her innate characteristics, her gender and involvement in a

political family. The next step is the formulation of the data-gathering instrument,

the interview. The study will utilize a semi-structured interview, so as not to limit

the respondents’ answers. The interview questions, patterned after the theory of

rational choice, have been strategically made with underlying detectors for
rational choice being at play. As a strategy that is utilized by the researchers, this

will cause the interviewees to answer every question truthfully, without the need

to worry about being labeled as a person who is self-interested through their

answers. The interviews will only be conducted in a timeframe of five to fifteen

minutes. The initial number of interviewees that is deemed to be enough for this

research study is ten. However, the researchers may still include more

participants if they find that ten respondents are not enough to reach the point of

saturation. After the procedure of the interviews, the voice records will then be

transcribed to prepare them for the analysis and interpretation of the data.

E. Data Analysis Plan

At the conclusion of the data-gathering processes in this research study,

the collected data from the interviews and articles will then be analyzed to

conceive of a structural narrative on the topic. The statements from the

interviews will be highly-valued in this research because they will be the primary

source of data in this study. With the collected data from the interviews with the

participants, this would create a smooth and elaborate narrative to interpret the

data. Information coming from the analyzing process will foster the primary

arguments about the hypotheses to be proven. After the presentation, the data

would be analyzed using the rational choice theory to explain the choices of the

voters. It can also explain the phenomenon of having contradicting statements.

These contradictory statements of the interviewees may have underlying factors

that have caused the interviewees to utter them.

 CHAPTER 4 – PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA

This research study makes use of the qualitative method. The source of

primary data for this study will come from interviewees with the registered voters

in Makati City who voted for Abby Binay in the 2016 Makati Mayoral Elections.

Their attitudes toward the variables of the gender and involvement of Abby Binay

in a political family are highly essential to the development of this research study.

Fortunately, the researchers were able to conduct interviews with local residents

of Makati City that have provided fruitful insights which will aid the flow of

discussion in this study. Since the primary concern of this study is the qualitative

aspects and not the quantitative ones, the questions formulated for the interview

will not be measured numerically, but will be classified by the reasons or factors

that have affected the voting behavior of the respondents. The data-gathering

process has achieved the degree of saturation needed to create a narrative

sufficient with supporting details. In this chapter, the primary data will first be

presented, analyzed, and then interpreted to further prove the hypothesis of this

study within the grounds of the theoretical framework that is the rational choice

theory.

A. Data Presentation

The order of the presentation of data will be patterned after the statement

of the problem (see Chapter 1) starting from the bottom to the top. This is in

order to present first the sub-problems, gradually moving up to the main problem

of this research study. With the conducted interviews as our source of primary
data, the questions used in the semi-structured interviews (Appendix R) will also

be utilized to help introduce the primary data clearly and in an organized manner.

The nine (9) questions in the semi-structured interview (Appendix R) can

be categorized into three themes, in accordance to the three sub-problems of the

study. However, the first question in the conducted interviews, whose sole

purpose is to confirm that the one being interviewed actually voted for Abby

Binay in 2016, will be excluded. The first question asks whether the interviewee

voted for Abby Binay to validate the interview being conducted since the target

respondents of this study are only those individuals who voted for Abby Binay.

The three themes correspond to their respective sub-question, namely, (1) the

perception of the voters on the connection of Abby Binay to a political clan, (2)

the perception of the voters on the gender of Abby Binay, and (3) their reasons

for voting for Abby Binay over the 2 other male candidates, all of which are in

relation to the 2016 Makati Mayoral elections. These three categories would then

lead to the main problem ultimately. As stated in Chapter 3 of this study, the

questions in the semi-structured interviews are constructed in such order to get

the most out of the interviewees’ opinions.

It is important to note, however, that the answers of the interviewees will

be utilized qualitatively; the number of how many positive or negative responses

gathered from the interviews will be irrelevant to this research study. The study is

only concerned with the reasons or factors that emerge from these political

concepts and how the participants respond to such.

 The interviewees, for the reason that all seventeen of them chose to keep

their identities hidden as they participated in the interview, will be addressed in

this study as either F (F for female) or M (M for male), followed by the number

designated to every interviewee according to who was interviewed first, with 1

being the first and 2 being the second, and so on (e.g. M1, F1, M2, F2, … F9).

The interviewees, as from what they have stated while signing the Consent

Form, chose to keep their identities undisclosed because of the upcoming 2019

Makati Mayoral elections. They wanted to keep their candidate preferences

concealed.

Questions 2, 6, and 8 of the interview (Appendix R) are categorized under

the perception of the voters on the connection of Abby Binay to a political clan.

Questions 3, 5, and 7 fall under the perception of the voters on the gender of

Abby Binay. Lastly, questions 4 and 9 are under the category of their reasons for

voting for Abby Binay over the 2 other male candidates.

1. The Perception of the Voters on the Connection of Abby Binay to a

Political Clan: Questions 2, 6, and 8

a. Question 2: “What do you think about a political candidate running

for elections who is part of a political family/dynasty?” (Appendix R)

The answers by the interviewees for this question were grouped into

three, according to how they addressed the issue. These three groups are (1)

those who are supporters of political dynasties (Appendix G; Appendix H;

Appendix I; Appendix J; Appendix L; Appendix M; Appendix N; Appendix O;

Appendix P; Appendix Q), (2) those who are not sure and feel nothing about
political dynasties (Appendix A; Appendix B; Appendix C; Appendix D; Appendix

E; Appendix F; Appendix K; Appendix N), and (3) those that are against political

dynasties (Appendix I; Appendix M; Appendix O). It can be noticed that there

have been instances of interviews being labeled both as pro- and anti-political

clans or neutral. This was caused by interviewees F9 (Appendix I), M4 (Appendix

M), M5 (Appendix N), and M6 (Appendix O) making exceptions to the issue at

hand. This will be discussed elaborately later on in the analysis of data.

The first group discussed the reasons for their backing of political

dynasties. Interviewee F7 (Appendix G) said that it is better for members of the

political dynasties to be elected and/or reelected for her idea that political family

members will continue the projects and policies the previous government official,

who is also part of that same political clan, left uncompleted on the culmination of

his/her term. She strongly believes that unfinished projects must be continued by

someone who is part of the same political clan. She also stated that a political

family will be continuously supported by the local residents if they enjoy being

under the leadership of the political family (Appendix G). Interviewee F8

(Appendix H) specified that currently and only temporarily, it is better for

members of a political family to dominate local politics. The example she gave to

support this claim was the Binay political clan and the early contributions of

Former Vice President of the Philippines, Jejomar “Jojo” Binay, Sr., as mayor.

She included that what the Former VP has done for the city has been continued

by his sons and daughters (Appendix H). F9 (Appendix I) said that the existence

of political dynasties is better only if their administration results to positive

outcomes. Interviewee M1 (Appendix J) said in a jokingly manner that we should

stick with the mayor involved in a political dynasty who has been in office long

enough to carry out his/her corrupt practices because voting for a new mayor will

lead to more corruption in the city government. M5 (Appendix N), sharing the

same sentiment, believed that if a new and inexperienced candidate wins the

seat as city mayor, he will tend to be more corrupt compared to those who have

already been in power (Appendix J; Appendix N). He also made an example out

of the Binay political clan, and said that, at least, this political family has done

things to improve what is needed to be improved. From the schools, basketball

courts, roads, playgrounds, even up to the free uniforms and shoes provided in

schools, all of which have been given to the citizens of Makati for free. He also

added that political dynasties are beneficial for the reason that there will always

be a father that will guide his children during their terms, insinuating a patriarchal

view of political clans based on the political family of the Binays (Appendix J). M3

(Appendix L) made a general statement about political dynasties. He said that

political dynasties contribute to the city’s development. Interviewee M4 (Appendix

M) made a very muddled statement on his stand on political dynasties. There

have been contradictions with his statements. He claimed that political dynasties

are favorable if they provide for their people. Just after saying this, he made a

general statement proposing that all political dynasties are involved in corrupt

practices. And then cited the Binays, despite being corrupt, have been

respectable when it comes to providing public services to its people, with the

schools, hospitals, and other benefits (Appendix M). M6 (Appendix O), when
asked about his perspective on political clans, answered that he is pro-political

dynasty “only if it is Abby Binay.” M7 (Appendix P) claimed that when a candidate

comes from a political dynasty, the candidate, in his personal view, is already

skillful. Interviewee M8 (Appendix Q) said that despite of Abby Binay’s

attachment to a political dynasty in Makati City, she has been acclaimed by the

Commission on Audit. He made this statement with a negative connotation on

political dynasties, making Abby Binay an exception.

The second group is those who exhibited neutrality or uncertainty towards

political dynasties. Most of the interviewees’ reasons for being neutral are that a

candidate’s involvement in a political clan is insignificant. What matters more is

their performance in office as incumbent officials (Appendix E; Appendix F;

Appendix K; Appendix N). Interviewee F6 (Appendix F) added that nothing is

negative about political dynasties because almost every politician is a member of

one. F1 (Appendix A) shared this same sentiment. Interviewees F2 and F3

(Appendix B; Appendix C) insinuated that there is nothing that Makati citizens

can do since the Binays have always been in power for decades. They have

accepted the fact that the political power of the Binays in Makati are developed

and unopposed, leading to their neutrality towards political dynasties in Makati

City alone.

One of the reasons of the anti-political clan group is the frequent

involvement of political dynasties in corruption. M4 (Appendix M) stated blatantly

that political clans have always been indulging in corrupt practices, neglecting

their constituents. But he made the Binays exceptions to this claim. He said that
the Binay political clan has contributed to the development of Makati (Appendix

M). F9 (Appendix I), however, disliked the idea of political dynasties because of

their lengthy nature. She wanted other candidates, uninvolved in any political

dynasty, to experience being the mayor of the city. She wanted more

participation and not from members of a political family (Appendix I). M6

(Appendix O), as stated earlier that he only wanted Abby Binay among other

members of political dynasties, implies that he deems political dynasties being

negative because of his preference only for Abby Binay.

b. Question 6: “Could you describe to me what you think of the effects

of Abby Binay’s political family background on your vote?”

(Appendix R)

This question tackles about the effects of Abby Binay’s political

background on the personal voting preference of the interviewees. The answers

to this interview question are subcategorized into two according to how the

interviewees responded. The grouped answers are those who implied that their

votes were affected by the fact that Abby Binay is part of the Binay political family

and then, those who implicitly said that they were not affected by it. There was

another instance of an interviewee falling under both subcategories for her

statements (Appendix I). F9 explained how her son has been a scholar of Abby

Binay when she was still a congresswoman, affecting her choice during the local

elections in 2016 (Appendix I). This answer is classified as “not affected by Abby

Binay being a Binay” because of the instance that Abby Binay, alone, was

responsible for that scholarship, without the help from other members of the
Binay family. She also said that the contributions made by Former VP Jojo Binay

in his early years as mayor that ranged from the installation of water supply

services and the construction of roads in the Barangay of Pitogo, affected her

voting choice. This statement is part of those whose votes were affected by the

involvement of Abby in the Binay political family. In addition to this, she stated

her opinion regarding the effects of the head of the Binays, VP Jojo Binay, to the

performance of Abby Binay. She claimed that there will most likely be a positive

outcome in the election of Abby Binay to office because of the good deeds her

father has done for the city. And that VP Jojo Binay, as a veteran in the field of

political administration, acts as a guide for Abby Binay throughout her term as

mayor. The other interviewees who were not directly affected were because of

two reasons: (1) the performance and/or contributions of Abby Binay, alone, as

congresswoman and (2) that the alleged corruption by her parents are not her

deeds. Respondents F2, F3, and F9 shared the same sentiment towards the

contributions and/or performance of Abby Binay (Appendix B; Appendix C;

Appendix I). They believed that the deeds of Abby Binay are supposed to be set

apart from the contributions of her political family, thus, claiming no effect of the

factor of Abby Binay’s involvement in a political dynasty to their votes.

Respondents F6, M7, and M8 said that the alleged corrupt practices of her

parents are not her fault. She was part of a political family with members that are

corrupt but she is not involved in such cases (Appendix F; Appendix P; Appendix

Q). However, those who said that they were influenced by this factor can be

grouped into six. First, the contributions her father has made as a Binay were
significant to the outcome. Some interviewees stated that what her father has

done for the city has affected their choices (Appendix H; Appendix J; Appendix K;

Appendix M; Appendix O). Second, as already stated earlier, Abby Binay can be

an instrument to continue what her father has started in the development of

Makati City (Appendix I). Third, as also stated earlier, her father, being an

experienced and well-equipped politician, will be there to direct Abby Binay

during her term in office as mayor (Appendix I). Fourth, her father’s popularity,

especially when he won the Vice Presidential race in 2010 (Appendix K),

influenced the votes of three of our respondents (Appendix J; Appendix L). Fifth,

the performance of Jojo Binay as mayor was being compared by M4 to other

previous mayors of Makati, and he claimed that the Binays were actually better

(Appendix M). Lastly, even though this was negative, it still affected how the

voter thought of them. M5 mentioned about the alleged corruption and plunder

some members of the Binay political family are facing, and despite that, he still

ended up voting for Abby Binay (Appendix N).

c. Question 8: “Do you think her political family background played an

important role in her win as mayor? What do you think is the effect of

her, belonging to a political family, on the votes of other people?”

(Appendix R)

If the previous question is about the personal effects of Abby Binay’s

involvement in a political clan to the voter’s choice, this question is about their

perceptions on the effects on the preferences of other Makati citizens who voted

for her in 2016. This question is essential as it lets the interviewees think of Abby
Binay being a part of a political dynasty in a more general and different

perspective. This may initiate more input from the participants. It must be taken

into account that the asking of this question does not guarantee the increase in

qualitative answers, but it may facilitate further participation of the interviewees.

Almost all of the reasons from Question 6 have unsurprisingly resurfaced here.

Most of the answers that said that other people’s choices are affected by Abby

Binay being a part of a political family are still based on the contributions of their

family (Appendix E; Appendix H; Appendix I). F8 stated that even though Abby

Binay was already married carrying the new surname Campos, she still used her

maiden name in the 2016 elections. F8 also said that the Binays have been

performing well in Makati City and that is a reason why others still voted for a

Binay. Besides that, Abby Binay was also endorsed by her father, causing the

supporters of VP Jojo Binay to also pledge their confidence onto Abby Binay

(Appendix H). F9 mentioned that an important factor for the win of Abby Binay

was the city’s benefits for senior citizens and for the yellow card holders, a

medical card that may be used for free or discounted hospital fees (Appendix I).

The families of senior citizens may have been thankful for these policies and that

they tend to support other members of the Binay family in hopes of the

continuation of these assistances. Alleged corruption, again, by her parents and

her brother, Junjun Binay, have been seen as a negative effect by M5 on the

voters’ choices. But this has not been enough for the people to change their

minds in regards to voting for another Binay (Appendix N). One respondent said

that it had no effect. F6 mentioned that the allegations of corruption of the

parents of Abby Binay and her brother, Junjun Binay, are not her actions and that

she is not liable for the deeds of her other family members. F6 believes that this

factor has not affected the votes of other people for her (Appendix F). Two of the

interviewees have shown uncertainty and neutrality. F7 implied that she is not

able to make a general statement for all those who voted for Abby Binay, and

that it all depends on the voters’ preferences entirely (Appendix G). However, M7

said that he was unsure (Appendix P).

2. The Perception of the Voters on the Gender of Abby Binay: Questions 3,

5, and 7

a. Question 3: “What do you think of when a female candidate wins the

elections?” (Appendix R)

For this interview question, the answers of the respondents have only

either been positive or neutral. Among the positive feedbacks from this question,

respondents F1 and F4 said that since she is female, she is more likely to be

empathetic for other women (Appendix A; Appendix D). They believed that

female candidates will focus on the improvement of the welfare of both women

and children. F3 and F6 made general statements about women being better

candidates as compared to men (Appendix C; Appendix F). Interviewee F5

stated that she thinks it is good that female candidates win in elections because

they are female like her. Women are also easier to approach in comparison to

men, she added (Appendix E). M7, however, believed that women are less

corrupt than men when he was asked this question (Appendix P). Lastly, F8 and

F9 believed that when women win in elections, they become models of

empowered women or become the cause of women empowerment (Appendix H;

Appendix I). Specifically, women gain the courage to go outside their homes and

participate in politics, as opposed to becoming secluded from political affairs

because of gender roles in the society (Appendix H). F9 also added that gender

equality becomes more visible when more women win elections (Appendix I).

The responses that are considered to be neutral are subcategorized into

three. Most of the neutral answers are based on the performance of the

candidates and not on their gender. F3, M2, M3, M4, and M5 believed that the

candidates’ performance is greater than gender preference (Appendix C;

Appendix K; Appendix L; Appendix M; Appendix N). F6 and M8 shared the same

sentiment of the existence of gender equality in the country. F6 particularly stated

that women can govern like men (Appendix F). M8 directly stated that people

nowadays do not care about gender preferences anymore, instead they are more

enticed by candidates’ performance (Appendix Q).

b. Question 5: “Could you describe to me what you think of the effects

of the gender of Abby Binay on your vote?” (Appendix R)

The responses to this question can be classified into those who thought

that there are effects of Abby Binay’s gender on their vote and those who did not.

F3 and F8 claimed that the gender of Abby Binay has affected their votes

because of the fact that it empowers them as women (Appendix C; Appendix H).

Interviewees F6 and F9 said that the gender has affected their votes because

they believe that women are less corrupt than men (Appendix F; Appendix I).

Both F8 and F9 answered that Abby Binay’s gender has affected them because
of Abby being a mother figure (Appendix H; Appendix I). F8 added that women

can be “strict, but they have the heart to serve” (Appendix H).

Those who did not believe that there were effects of the gender of Abby

Binay on their votes had four reasons. First, F5, M4, and M7 have argued that it

did not have an effect on their votes because they base their preferences on the

performance of the candidates (Appendix E; Appendix M; Appendix P). F7, M3,

M6, and M8 implied that they have equal views on the governance of men and

women, showing gender equality. They believed that both women and men can

govern and that Abby Binay’s gender did not affect them (Appendix G; Appendix

L; Appendix O; Appendix Q). F9 said that it did not affect her vote because “it

was just fate that she was a woman” (Appendix I). Lastly, M5 stated a more

distinctive reason. He said that Abby Binay’s gender didn’t matter because she

was a friend of his boss (Appendix N).

c. Question 7: “Do you think her gender played an important role in her

win as mayor? What do you think is the effect of her, being the only

female mayoral candidate in 2016, on the votes of other people?”

(Appendix R)

The responses to this question can also be classified into two: those who

thought that there are effects of Abby Binay’s gender on other people’s votes and

those that did not. Only F6, of all the interviewees, said that Abby Binay’s gender

has affected the choice of other people. The reason was she believed Abby

Binay was a mother figure to the citizens of Makati which have caused other

people to be influenced by her gender (Appendix F). F5, F9, M7, and M8 have
implied that people nowadays do not care about gender anymore. They believed

that people are now careful on voting for candidates based on their performances

(Appendix E; Appendix I; Appendix P; Appendix Q). F8, M1, and M8 have implied

the existence of gender equality among other people. They said that both

genders can equally be effective as servants (Appendix H; Appendix J; Appendix

Q).

3. Their Reasons for Voting for Abby Binay over the 2 Male Mayoral

Candidates: Questions 4 and 9

a. Question 4: “Why do you think Abby Binay won the mayoral race

against 2 other male candidates in 2016?” (Appendix R)

F1, F4, F5, F6, F9, M3, M5, M6, and M8 said that people chose Abby

Binay over the two other male candidates was because of her performance when

she was still a congresswoman. Her contributions as a congresswoman became

the basis of these interviewees to explain why she won versus the two others

(Appendix A; Appendix D; Appendix E; Appendix F; Appendix I; Appendix L;

Appendix N; Appendix O; Appendix Q). Other respondents, F2, F3, F7, F9, M4,

and M7, said that many citizens of Makati wanted her to win because of her

family’s contributions to the development of Makati. They believed that the

collective effort of her political clan was important to the people of Makati

(Appendix B; Appendix C; Appendix G; Appendix I; Appendix M; Appendix P).

F8, M1, and M2 argued that Abby Binay won against the two male cadidates

because of the fact that she is a Binay (Appendix H; Appendix J; Appendix K).

M1 specifically said that the win of Jojo Binay, Abby Binay’s father, as the Vice
President of the Philippines, contributed to her win. Her father’s popularity was

the reason why she won against the two male candidates (Appendix J).

b. Question 9: “Which gender do you think would perform better in the

government? Why?” (Appendix R)

The respondents’ statements to this question can be summarized into

three. There are those who have favored the male gender, those who were

neutral, and those who have favored women.

First are those who were in favor of men regarding this question. F1

reasoned out that women are too soft and they lack the capability to lead. She

believed that men are better in governance because they are stricter compared

to women (Appendix A). F3 and F5 thought that men should generally be the

ones who govern the people (Appendix C; Appendix E). They had a patriarchal

perspective on the topic and it is quite surprising because both of them are

females. M7 stated a more patrilineal opinion. He said that men are better than

women in governance and administration. He will vote for a man because he is

also a man, he added (Appendix P).

Second are those who were neutral when asked which gender is better in

the government. All of the respondents who were neutral had one reason. F2,

F7, F8, F9, M1, M2, M3, M4, M5, M6, and M8 supposed that there is no

difference between the capabilities of men and women in governance and

administration. Both have the capacity to become effective in their duties. Their

choices are highly influenced by the candidate (Appendix B; Appendix G;

Appendix H; Appendix I; Appendix J; Appendix K; Appendix L; Appendix M;

Appendix N; Appendix O; Appendix Q).

Third are those who were for women. F4 claimed that women in power

help their fellow women. They prioritize women’s rights, improving the lives of

women in the aspects of social and economic (Appendix D). While F5, as stated

earlier, said that men are the ones to rightfully be in government positions, she

added that women can be better, but only sometimes (Appendix E). F6 sees

women in office as mother figures. She explains how women behave as

politicians through an analogy of the Filipino household. F6 said that mothers,

like the female government officials, know the very problems of her kids because

of the fact that she is always at home, as the female official to her constituents.

She also added that the fathers of the households only provide the family with

financial support and that it is not enough (Appendix F). Both respondents, F6

and F9 believed that women are less corrupt and more effective than men

(Appendix F; Appendix I).

B. Data Analysis

To begin with the analysis of the data presented, it is important to note

that the quantitative results (e.g. the number of respondents who answered

positively) of this study are irrelevant because of the nature of this research. The

voters, acting like consumers, have the capacity to determine which choices are

better than other existing choices for elective candidates. This is exemplified in

the rational choice theory. Voters, as rational beings, choose their preferred

candidate over others because of their weighing of the maximum benefits they
may receive from that candidate. They believe that choosing a particular

candidate gives them the maximum utility, whether it be in financial or social

terms. This is the framework that guides the study to interpret the interviewees’

perceptions on political dynasties and genders in relation to the victory of Abby

Binay in the 2016 Makati Mayoral Elections.

With all the data that were gathered from the interviewees, it is quite

noticeable that their responses for every social issue being studied (existence of

political dynasties & gender preferences) is being influenced by the benefits they

have received previously or will be receiving prospectively when they choose a

particular candidate through reasoning. For example, when answering the

second question in the interview (Appendix R), the respondents have given

statements that can be categorized into three groups. But every response that

has been given by the interviewees were based on their experiences with

political dynasties. Those whose answers were positive regarding political

dynasties have good experiences with the presence of the political family of

Binay in Makati. Those who answered negatively have stated their reasons, like

the frequent involvement of political dynasties, in general, in corrupt practices

(Appendix M) and the monarchy-like nature of political dynasties in which political

power is being transferred to the direct relatives (Appendix I). There are also

those who were neutral because they believed that even if a person is part of a

political family, they are still capable of being effective in office, the same as

those who are not involved in political families. This is true to all the responses of

the interviewees. Their choices are primarily based on their reasoning, preferring
candidates where they can get the most benefit from among other candidates. All

the responses of the interviewees for every question can be linked to the concept

of rational choice. However, there is a more important feature in the interviews –

contradictory statements and/or exceptions.

These statements were anticipated by the researchers because it is highly

possible that the respondents will have biases when it comes to particular social

issues. While the general statements of the interviewees are also highly valued,

these contradictory statements and/or exceptions can exemplify the theory of

rational choice in explaining such behavior towards political families and genders.

The interviewees that have expressed such statements are F1, F2, F3, F5, F6,

F9, M4, M5, M6, and M7. F1 (Appendix A) has stated that she felt positive

whenever female candidates win in elections because they understand or feel

empathy for other women. However, when asked about gender preference when

voting, she said that she prefers men over women because they are sterner and

can execute policies well as compared to women (Appendix A). Based from

these statements, it can be seen that there have been inconsistencies in her

answers. This can be explained through the rational choice theory. There are two

factors to be studied in her statements. These are the general welfare of women

and the effectiveness of the implementation of policies. Since there were two

questions asked and the second question asked was for her preferred gender

during elections, she prioritizes the concept of the implementation of policies over

the welfare of her fellow women. Rational choice theory asserts that individuals

have various factors to consider when making a decision and that it is up to them
to rank these factors according to what they see as more salient issues. For F1,

the more salient issue was the strictness of the leader in the execution of the

laws. The representation of the interests of women may come second, third, and

so on in her order of priorities. This is also true to all the other interviewees that

have stated contradicting statements and/or exceptions in their answers.

 CHAPTER 5 – CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

A. Conclusion

Overall, the data gathered by the researchers manifested that the gender

of then-candidate, Mar-len Abigail "Abby" Binay-Campos, for the 2016 Makati

mayoral elections has a relatively small impact on the votes she received that

resulted to her win as mayor as compared to the effects of her involvement in a

political clan. The interviewees responded to the questions in such a way that is

sufficiently enough to create a flow of discussion that tackles about pressing

issues in the Philippine local politics. Surprisingly, some of the interviewees have

manifested contradictory statements during their interview. As one can notice

from the changing standpoint and opinions of some of the interviewees, it is

discernible that their attitudes shift towards the concepts of political families and

gender when faced with factors that they may consider as some things that have

helped them or, in a way, contributed to their welfare. The most important factor

that influences their views on political dynasties and gender is the service and

the good deeds the Binay political family had shown throughout the years of their

terms in office as mayors of the city. Some interviewees will start off as staunch

supporters of political dynasties, but will also state some negative repercussions

of the persistence of political dynasties. In the lens of the rational choice theory,

the findings prove the tendencies of the voters to be influenced by factors that

can be considered as beneficial for them. This can be in forms of social or

economic benefits. The interviewees that have expressed contradictory

statements have also subliminally shown the existence of their ranking of

priorities when choosing for a candidate. The rational choice theory has been

effective in the interpretation of the responses of the interviewees, especially the

shifts in opinions from the contradicting statements.

B. Recommendations

After coming up with the conclusion of the study, the researchers would

like to recommend future researches on the study to conduct quantitative

researches based on the qualitative data provided by this study. The persistence

of political families in politics in any part of the world has been influencing local,

national, and even international affairs. Gender preferences among voters is a

topic critical to the study of gender equality. It is important to determine how

voters are affected by these elements. The reasons that were expressed by the

interviewees in this study can be used as the basis of prospective quantitative

studies, in surveying for example. The answers of the respondents can be used

as choices for prospective surveys to determine the quantitative data on the

reasons of the voters for choosing a particular candidate over the others. Similar

studies can also be conducted with different variables existing, not just political

families and gender preferences.

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