Imagine if there was only one fastfood store in the country, say, Jollibee (since it’s homegrown). Imagine if there was only one brand of clothing; again, let’s take the homegrown Bench. Or if there was only one brand of mall, one brand of cigarette, one brand of bank, or one brand of bus company. Obviously we don’t have any choice but to settle for these. And since they are not competing with any other product, why bother providing the best quality? People will patronize them anyway, since the people have no other choice.

Despite Karl Marx’s theory that “the natural result of competition is the accumulation of capital in a few hands,” in a free market economy, competition drives product innovation, improvements in product quality, competitive prices – all for the benefit of consumers. Competition is so important that antitrust policies are in place to prevent unfair monopoly of markets. And competition is just as important in politics as in economics.

So what happens now in the many areas in the country where candidates for local positions in the forthcoming 2010 elections are unopposed? Here in the province:

Nine mayoralty and 11 vice mayoralty candidates from the different towns and cities of Ilocos Sur are unopposed this coming May 10, 2010 elections, according to the Commission on Election here.

Leading the unopposed mayors is Vigan City Mayor Eva Marie Singson–Medina, who is seeking re-election under the Bileg ti Nagkakaisa nga Ilokano political party founded by Deputy Security Adviser Luis Chavit Singson, who is himself running for governor.

The other unopposed mayors are the following: incumbent Provincial Board Member Zuriel Zaragoza, who is running for mayor of Narvacan; reelectionist Mayors Samuel Parilla (Bantay), Leonofre Geronilla (Salcedo) and Jesus Jeremy Bueno III (Santa); Bernardo Sarmiento (San Juan), Nancy Tabanda (San Vicente), Teresita Valle (Sta. Cruz) and Aries Gaerlan (Sigay town). (More info here.)

That’s roughly 26% of the towns in Ilocos Sur with unopposed candidates for the top LGU post. Surely there is no dearth of competent Ilocanos able to lead a town or city into progress and development. The presence of unopposed candidates thus could be reflective of apathy on the part of the local populace, a disinterest in public service. Or it could also reflect hopelessness or cynicism among the people; the local democratic system has ceased to work, with the ruling officials using their power to hold on to their positions for as long as they can (and through their families) by all means possible. So why bother, if they will win just the same?

Here in San Juan, the son, unopposed, is about to take over the rein from the father, an act that the Sarmientos have repeatedly done in the past 20+ years, alternately occupying the mayoralty seat. From the same source, we learn that …

Leading the unopposed vice mayoralty candidates are Vigan City’s vice mayoralty bet Ryan V. Singson, one of the sons of Deputy National Security Adviser Luis Chavit Singson; and Candon City vice mayoralty candidate Alfonso D. Singson, an incumbent ex-officio Provincial Board Member who is president of Ilocos Sur Councilors’ League, an elder brother of House Deputy Speaker Eric D. Singson.

This signifies a lot of disturbing issues. For one, it is an indication that political dynasty is getting more and more entrenched. When local politicians are unopposed, the motivation to do good for their constituents starts to wane and they can just rule as they want. This is how the Ampatuans amassed their power and became virtual owners of Maguindanao.

While national seats are hotly contested and voters enthusiastically debating about platforms, particularly through blogs and forums, signals their increasing concern about issues, not just personalities, local politics continue to be ruled by patronage. Partly contributing to the problem is poverty that keeps the people endlessly dependent on local politicians for their emergency needs, e.g. money to bury their dead, get treatment and bring their sick to the hospital, or even money for their next meal. In this way, poverty and patronage politics perpetuate each other with the poor exploited for their votes and the politicians constantly relied upon for help in return for the votes.

This trend of unopposed candidates does not augur well for democracy in the province and it is apparent that it will take generations for this kind of small town politics to change for the better, if at all.

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