1Sambayan laments absence of law vs. political dynasties amid possible Sara presidential bid in Eleksyon 2022

Opposition coalition 1Sambayan on Thursday lamented the absence of an enabling legislation to stop the proliferation of political dynasties amid talk of a possible presidential bid of Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte in 2022.

Sara Duterte topped the June survey of independent pollster Pulse Asia on potential successors to her father President Rodrigo Duterte. The survey results were released days after she expressed openness to running for the country’s top post and began consultations with political leaders.

“We are a free country. Anyone who is qualified can run for president but we also have an anti-dynasty provision in the Constitution, which should prohibit members of a family from controlling a certain position or succeeding one another,” said 1Sambayan convenor and retired Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio in an online press conference.

“If she wants to run she can run, but the intention really is there should be a prohibition.”

Carpio earlier said that it would be the “height of a political dynasty” if President Duterte will choose his daughter as his successor. President Duterte, however, has repeatedly said he does not want her to run given the “vagaries of politics.”

No dynasty

On Wednesday, an official of Hugpong ng Pagbabago claimed there will be no political dynasty if Sara and her father, President Duterte, will both run for national posts next year.

In an online press briefing, Anthony del Rosario, secretary general of Sara's provincial party HNP, said as long as there is an electoral process, people are free to vote “whoever they want.”

“Here in HNP, we don’t believe there’s political dynasty here. After all this is an electoral process and everybody’s free to vote for whoever candidate they prefer to vote for,” said del Rosario.

When pressed if there is a political dynasty if Sara succeeds his father, the HNP official again denied this, saying that “each candidate is voted separately” during the national elections.

1Sambayan, on the other hand, aims to come up with a single slate of national candidates — president, vice president, 12 senators — who will run against President Duterte’s preferred successor and his other bets in the May 2022 polls. — RSJ, GMA News