WEBSTER defines patronage as the “power to make appointments to government jobs especially for political advantage.” Philippine patronage politics dispenses jobs, health cards, cash and other favors in order to buy or repay political advantage. It is at the very root of corrupt and inefficient governance and its power base lies in the barangay.

Candidates for mayor buy with patronage the support of barangay captains and their ward leaders. Candidates for governors, in turn, buy with patronage the support of mayors who have the loyalty of the most number of barangay captains. Senators, congressmen and finally the President spend the most so governors, mayors and ultimately barangay captains will deliver votes for them.

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In between elections all these leaders have to be kept loyal with a steady stream of patronage like pork barrel for legislative officials, projects for governors, mayors and barangay captains and jobs and livelihood for ward leaders.

During election, they get proportionate shares in campaign funds, thus making it is so expensive to get elected say, to the presidency.

We all know this, of course. We know, for instance, that this explains why Mike Rama has to worry about the petition of some barangay captains to have Margot Osmeña run for mayor.

This also explains why he has to worry that the prospect of defection by barangay captains to the opposition (for the promise of better patronage) might be another obstacle on his way to the top post at City Hall.

Since we know all this, I am bringing it up here not to belabor the issue but to share some significant insights on it.

First of all, I would like to point out the irony that while it is the barangay captains’ acceptance of patronage that props up our inefficient system of government, it is the barangay residents who suffer the most from the essential iniquity of the system.

Our barangay folks, however, are not aware of anything wrong with the system because they have been so miseducated as to believe that their hope lies in their leaders who, without their knowing it, are only taking care of the people with a trickle of patronage funds while keeping the lion’s share of the country’s resources to themselves and their political leaders.

Second of all, I want to support those who contend that the cultural revolution in the Philippines must start at the barangay level. A new Philippines cannot come from anywhere else but from culturally reformed and politically reconstructed barangays. This is where we need the “transformational leaders” that will strike at the power base of patronage politics.

The rebirth of Philippine society can only happen at the barangay level or it will not happen at all.