Anti-political dynasty bill hurdles second reading in House

The House of Representatives on Wednesday, for the first time in its history, approved an anti-political dynasty bill prohibiting relatives up to second degree of consanguinity or affinity from running for or occupying a post in the same constituency or jurisdiction on second reading.

This developed after the House plenary, via voice vote, approved House Bill 8389.

“Hindi na po pwede sabay na manungkulan si misis at si mister. Si misis at ‘yung kanyang anak, si nanay at si tatay. ‘Yun po ang sigurado na wala pong possible manipulation ng internal resources ng ating mga LGU,” Adiong said during the plenary deliberations on the measure.

(The husband and the wife cannot govern the same constituency at the same time. Same goes for the wife and the child, the children and their parents. Now, we are sure that no family can possibly manipulate the resources of our local government units.)

“Because we don’t have an anti-political dynasty policy, this measure is already a huge step forward,” he added.

Included in the list of principal authors of House Bill 8389 are Speaker Faustino “Bojie” Dy III of Isabela and House Majority Leader Sandro Marcos of Ilocos Norte.

There are 173 other House members who are co-author of the measure, or more than one-third of all House members.

House Bill 8389 is a listed priority measure by the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council and President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr.

The President, however, is yet to certify the House Bill 8389 or the anti-political dynasties as urgent.

A bill certified urgent by the President allows the House and the Senate to approve the measure on second and third reading on the same day.

Article II Section 26 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution mandates that "the State shall guarantee equal access to opportunities for public service, and prohibit political dynasties as may be defined by law."

But for Akbayan party-list Representative Perci Cendaña, House Bill 8389 is not enough to weed out the well-entrenched political dynasties that will still have the chance to occupy a lot of elective posts across the country at the same time.

The Senate version of the anti-political dynasty bill bans relatives up to second degree of consanguinity or affinity from holding from occupying national or local elective posts at the same time.

“If the mayor’s uncle is the Vice Mayor, that is not covered because it is third degree. And if the said local government’s councilors are cousins of the mayor, then they are not also covered since they are related in fourth degree. Parang lumalabas po, family group chat ang kanilang meeting, or a family reunion,” Cendaña said.

(Their meeting will look like a family group chat then.)

Adiong replied that such a situation remains hypothetical at this point and that not all relatives who run in elections win.

He added that House Bill 8389 balances the people’s right to suffrage with removing obese political dynasties.

“Democracy resides within the will of the people. We need to balance it out between the intention of the Constitution which is to regulate political dynasties in order to decongest power, avoid the build-up of power,” Adiong said.

He also cited the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) position of limiting the bill coverage to up to second degree for the bill to be enforceable given the poll body’s limited resources.

“This [bill] will give the Comelec enough room to actually assess and review lineage and affiliations between individuals who are running for elective posts,” Adiong said. — BM, GMA News