68 Chasing the Wind: Assessing Philippine Democracy patronage flows, controlling these two elective positions ensures easier access to national resources while at the same time facilitating control on the ground. When these two positions are not controlled by the same family, intense factional struggles oftentimes ensue. It is not surprising therefore that political families aim to control these two pivotal positions. Of the 77 provinces in this study, 46 or 60 percent had families that were able to win these two positions at various times from 1987-2010 (see Table 12).24 Congressional representatives receive institutionalized funding through the priority development assistance fund (PDAF) which now amounts to P70 million per year for each member of the House of Representatives. This excludes additional allocations that they may be able to access through their congressional committee positions and related congressional initiative allocations. On the other hand, local government officials enjoy institutionalized funding through the internal revenue allotments (IRA) as provided for by the Local Government Code (LGC). While its amount depends on the revenues collected by the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the standardized distribution formula provided by the LGC, the IRA constitutes a significant financial resource for local politicians, especially in the face of weak accountability mechanisms for the expenditure of such resources. For instance in 2008, the highest IRA went to Pangasinan at P1,324,000,000. while Batanes received the lowest at P167,000,100. (NSCB 2008) Table 12: Political Families with Gubernatorial and Congressional Positions, 1987-2010. Province 1.Ilocos Norte 2.Ilocos Sur 3.La Union 4.Pangasinan 5.Isabela 6.Aurora 7.Bataan 8.Tarlac 9.Zambales 10.Nueva Ecija 11.Bulacan 12.Cavite 13.Laguna 14.Batangas 15.Quirino 16.Camarines Norte 17.Quezon 18.Palawan 19.Masbate Province 24.Cebu 25.Negros Occidental 26.Leyte 27.Southern Leyte 28.Siquijor 29.Western Samar 30.Northern Samar 31.Misamis Occidental 32.Biliran 33.Bukidnon 34.Agusan del Norte 35.Surigao del Norte 36.North Cotabato 37.Davao del Norte 38.Davao del Sur 39.Zamboanga del Sur 40.Zamboanga del Norte 41.Sultan Kudarat 42.Lanao del Sur Political Family Garcia Marañon Petilla Mercado Fua Tan Daza, Ong Ramiro Espina Zubiri Amante Ecleo, Barbers, Matugas Piñol Del Rosario Cagas Cerilles Amatong Mangudadatu Adiong 20.Marinduque 21.Iloilo Political Family Marcos Singson Ortega Agbayani Dy Angara-Castillo Roman, Garcia Yap, Cojuangco Magsaysay Joson, Umali Sy-Alvarado Remulla, Revilla San Luis Recto Cua Padilla Suarez, Enverga Mitra, Socrates Espinosa, Kho, Lanete Reyes Defensor, Tupas 43.Lanao del Norte 44.Maguindanao 22. Antique 23. Guimaras Javier Nava 45. Basilan 46. Sulu Dimaporo Ampatuan/Datumanong, Matalam Akbar Loong