By Manny Valdehuesa LET’S hope Congressman Rufus Rodriguez’s family holds fast and stays true to his statement that his wife (Lady Fenina) and his sister (Barangay Chair Jocelyn) will no longer vie for political office. Doing so will earn the family two distinctions: one, obedience to the Constitution, which prohibits political dynasties (cf. Article II, Section 26); two, willingness to forego family advantage or privilege in favor of the common good by sacrificing personal ambition. These two distinctions are rare in our system today—where statesmanship or altruism seems alien to the values of so-called traditional politicians (trapos) who cling tenaciously to power and privilege once in office. Their unilateral, voluntary gesture shows the way to correct democracy, where opportunities must be open to all and not monopolized by political families. It will certainly endear the Rodriguez family to the citizenry. It speaks well of the family to set an example of ethical behavior—or delicadeza, which is disappearing from the Filipino way of life. It is similar to the European concept of “noblesse oblige”—meaning, noble people are expected to behave nobly. It is a good ethical guide for aspiring leaders. There’s nothing wrong with high ambition; but to seek it at the expense of ethical values, or to corner political office and establish a dynasty, is unseemly and selfish. Let’s hope the Rodriguez family will be appreciated and remembered for restoring delicadeza to our politics. A worthy family legacy for our city and province. And having shown the way, let’s hope it will shame the practitioners of dynastic politics to contain their greed for power and subordinate family interests to the common good. It is a refreshing development to see a modicum of statesmanship acted out in our city—something unheard of in our province and region for quite some time. To see it acted out amidst the sea of dynasties in our region’s barangays, municipalities, cities, and provinces is inspiring. Let’s hope it will induce a nationwide movement against dynastic politics so that equality of opportunity and righteous politics will reign in our land. We need badly to produce more and more enlightened candidates and ethical politicians who honor the Constitutional provision that there must be equal access to opportunities for public service. And we need badly to exhort political families—especially the already entrenched from long years of being in power and those who control the levers of our economy—to refrain from engaging in dynastic politics for the sake of the common good which is, or ought to be, the guiding principle in a democracy. (Manny Valdehuesa is PPI-Unicef outstanding columnist awardee, author of books on governance, and national chairman/convenor of the Gising Barangay Movement Inc.. E-mail: valdehuesa@gmail.com)