More than half of Filipinos back immediate passage of anti-dynasty bill

By Chloe Mari A. Hufana, Reporter

MOST FILIPINOS support the immediate passage of measures addressing systemic corruption in the government, including bills banning political dynasties and creating a stronger independent body to investigate corruption in infrastructure projects, according to a nationwide survey.

In a December poll, released on Monday, Pulse Asia Research, Inc. found 54% of adults said Congress should promptly enact legislation prohibiting political dynasties, reflecting public frustration amid a string of high-profile corruption scandals and political controversies.

Support was strongest in Metro Manila, where 69% backed the proposal, and in the rest of Luzon and the Visayas, both at 59%. Opinion was more divided in Mindanao, where only 34% agreed, while 38% remained undecided.

The survey, conducted through face-to-face interviews with 1,200 adults from Dec. 12 to 15, had a margin of error of ±2.8 percentage points.

The findings come against a backdrop of intensifying scrutiny of public spending and governance, including allegations of massive budget insertions, resignations of senior Cabinet officials and investigations into lawmakers and former officials linked to infrastructure projects.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. earlier this month “ordered” Congress to prioritize measures banning political dynasties and create the Independent People’s Commission (IPC), which in effect institutionalizes and strengthens the Independent Commission for Infrastructure.

Public protests and calls from business and professional groups for stronger accountability mechanisms have added pressure on Congress to enact such measures.

Several versions of an anti-political dynasty measure in both chambers of Congress have been filed at the House of Representatives, including House Bill No. 6771, authored by Presidential son Ferdinand Alexander A. Marcos III and House Speaker Faustino G. Dy III, both of whom are members of political dynasties.

The bill seeks to curb political dynasties by barring spouses and relatives up to the fourth civil degree from simultaneously holding elective posts. It also prohibits such relatives from holding national positions at the same time, occupying the same House seat within a district, or serving concurrently in the same provincial, city or municipal, or village governments.

Hansley A. Juliano, a political science lecturer at the Ateneo de Manila University, said the narrow majority reflected in the survey suggested many Filipinos remain hesitant to fully abandon longstanding political patterns.

He added this reluctance cannot be explained by patronage politics or political ignorance alone, noting that segments of the middle class often operate on a belief in meritocracy that makes them more tolerant of political dynasties with “proven track records.”

Mr. Juliano added that even reform-minded Filipinos tend to come from higher social strata and may be unwilling to discard familiar political actors entirely.

“We have seen as much that even our top-level reformers come from the upper strata of society, and it seems even for our reform minded kababayans, it would not do to throw baby with the bathwater,” he said via Facebook Messenger.

ANTI-GRAFT BODY
The survey also revealed a similarly strong support for legislation establishing a fully empowered Independent Commission Against Infrastructure Corruption, or the IPC, with 52% of respondents agreeing Congress should immediately pass a law creating such a body.

Sizeable majorities in Metro Manila (67%), the rest of Luzon (52%), Visayas (61%), and among lower-income households (54%) shared this opinion.

About a third of Filipinos said they were undecided, while 15% opposed the proposal.

The clamor for such a measure was backed by a widening graft scandal involving high-ranking government officials and private contractors.

Mr. Marcos alleged politicians have been receiving kickbacks from public work projects that were substandard or even non-existent.

The climate-vulnerable nation suffers about 20 typhoons annually as it is situated in the Pacific Ring of Fire.

Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III has filed a bill last month seeking to create an IPC to investigate anomalies in all government infrastructure projects, aiming to hold officials accountable for irregularities in public spending.

The proposal, co-authored by Senators Erwin T. Tulfo and Ana Theresia N. Hontiveros and sponsored by Senator Francis Pancratius N. Pangilinan, was prompted by controversies such as alleged flood control abuses.

Mr. Sotto said the independent body would probe systematic corruption in infrastructure funds, stressing that resilience should not replace accountability and calling for the recovery of stolen public money and punishment of those responsible.