Metro Manila, Philippines – The anti-political dynasty bill moves further in the House of Representatives after passing the committee level on Tuesday, March 3, but some minority lawmakers criticized the proposal for lack of further scrutiny first.
The House committee on suffrage and electoral reforms adopted the unnumbered substitute bill, which seeks to ban political dynasties within the second degree of consanguinity or affinity. Twenty lawmakers voted in favor, four opposed.
Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong, panel chairperson, said he expects that the committee report will go into plenary debate next week.
Adiong said the measure consolidated 25 bills, mainly based on the version filed by Speaker Bojie Dy and Majority Leader Sandro Marcos, which has garnered over 140 co-authors.
The Dy-Marcos version originally proposed the fourth degree ban, but the panel revised it to the second degree to reflect the suggestions of around 60 percent of the bills.
However, minority lawmakers expressed dismay at the measure and questioned the committee process, as the motions quickly moved from adopting the Dy-Marcos version as the “working draft” to a substitute bill, giving them no chance for further deliberations.
This resulted in the withdrawal of co-authorship by Deputy Minority Leader Kaka Bag-ao, Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice, Akbayan party-list, Kabataan Rep. Renee Co, and ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio.
Dy called the bill a “decisive step toward enforcing a long-standing constitutional mandate.”
In a statement, he explained that with the bill, at the national level, spouses and second-degree relatives are barred from simultaneously holding any national elective position, including president, vice president, and senator.
The speaker said the ban also applies within the same provincial government, the same city or municipality, and the same barangay.
‘Not an anti-political dynasty bill’
Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice said the measure was not an anti-political dynasty bill.
“Ito mas worse pa sa nangyayari ngayon. Hindi lang po mataba na dynasty ang ipo-promote dito, bundat na dynasty,” Erice said.
[Translation: This is much worse with the present politics. This will promote not only fat dynasties but obese ones.]
In Philippine politics, “fat” dynasties refer to families occupying different elected positions simultaneously, while “obese” dynasties are those with five or more clan members active in politics.
Erice also hit President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for the proposed measure, as the political dynasty ban is among his priority bills. “Bola lahat [It’s all just talk],” he said in the hearing.
Bag-ao said that the assumption that the “working draft” already covered substantially the 25 versions lodged with the committee was “very dangerous.”
“Kung isang subject matter kagaya ng succession, hindi man lang na-mention dito at hindi nabubuksan ang pagkakataon na magbigay ng rekomendasyon ng isang probisyon, halimbawa tungkol diyan, tingin ko hindi tama ‘yong proseso,” she said.
[Translation: If one subject matter, for example, succession, is not mentioned in the bill and there will be no opportunity to give recommendations on it, I think the process is not correct.]
Tinio claimed that the process was railroaded, a claim Adiong rejected, explaining that public consultations had been conducted, while there was voting during Tuesday’s hearing.
Before withdrawing their co-authorship, the minority lawmakers asked if the “working draft” was still open for debate in the committee, but Adiong said their proposed changes should be put forth instead in the plenary.
Panel: Bill not weak
The House committee also dismissed criticisms that the anti-political dynasty bill was weak.
“With the bill we passed, only one can occupy one position in a particular political unit,” Bukidnon Rep. Jonathan Keith Flores said in a news conference.
“To say it is a weak version, I would not agree with it. In fact, it is the strongest and only version that is existing right now,” Flores said.
Adiong described the bill as “progressive” and “a step forward,” hoping that all sectors, including the business groups, will support their move.
“There’s no comparison whatsoever that we can actually draw the conclusion that this is worse than something,” Adiong said.
Compared to the Senate committee report, the House panel version does not bar succession.
Here’s the version of the Senate committee report: Senate panel’s anti-dynasty bill bars 2nd-degree relatives from simultaneous or successive terms
