13 senators seek ban on political dynasties

At least 13 senators signed Wednesday evening the report of the Senate committee on electoral reforms and people's participation banning political dynasties.

Committee Report No. 367 or Senate Bill 1765 effectively prohibits immediate and extended relatives from running for public office to succeed or replace or simultaneously seek a post as an incumbent relative in the same area, among others.

It was signed by Senate Minority Leader Frank Drilon, Senators Risa Hontiveros, Loren Legarda, Panfilo Lacson, Joseph Victor Ejercito, Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, Nancy Binay, Sonny Angara, Ralph Recto, Leila de Lima, Sherwin Gatchalian, and Francis Pangilinan.

Pangilinan is expected to sponsor the bill in the plenary when the session resumes on May 14.

The proposed measure limits the prohibition to the second degree of consanguinity or affinity.

This covers spouses (legal and common-law), siblings (full or half-blood), parents, children (legitimate, illegitimate, and adopted) and the children's spouses.

It also prohibits an incumbent national elective official, including a party-list representative, to have these same set of relatives run for any position in the national and local levels, including as barangay captain, mayor, governor, or district representative in any part of the country. The vice versa also applies.

Pangilinan and De Lima conducted hearings on political dynasties and drafted the report.

Pangilinan is chairperson of the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes and vice chairperson of the Senate Committee on Political Reforms and People's Participation, while De Lima is chairperson of the Senate Committee on Political Reforms on Political Reforms. Pangilinan took over the hearing when De Lima was incarcerated.

In a hearing last February 15, resource persons from the academe enumerated the reasons for the need to ban political dynasties such as stated in the Constitution and Congress needs only to define it.

They also said political dynasties are killing democracy, causing poverty and inequality, and destroying fairness.

The senators said political dynasties do not allow others to serve as the way of picking leaders is biased toward political dynasties, and younger, more able leaders were kept from joining politics.

The resource persons said elections dominated by fat dynasties are abusive because these are not democratic or dictatorial. —KG, GMA News