Around 31 business and advocacy groups urged Congress to enact a genuine anti-political dynasty law to prevent the perpetuation of corruption and inequality.

In a joint statement on Thursday, February 12, the groups said the absence of an effective anti-dynasty law allowed political power to remain in the hands of select influential families.

The move was initiated by the Justice Reform Initiative, and signatories included the Management Association of the Philippines, Makati Business Club, Philippine Chamber of Commerce, Bukluran ng Mangagawang Pilipino, and the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting.

While the groups acknowledged the proposed anti-dynasty measure filed by presidential son Sandro Marcos, they asserted that the proposal falls short of the clear intent of the 1987 Constitution. They even described the bill as a “pro-dynasty measure.”

“(House Bill) 6771 permits succession, switching, substitution, and rotation among relatives, enabling family members to occupy elective positions across levels of government and across election cycles, effectively, preserving monopoly over political power,” they stated.

The groups explained that political dynasties go beyond the mere participation of family members in politics as they also influence local economies.

Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said fat dynasties – political families that occupy several elected positions at once – hinder growth in their bailiwicks because of their control over economic activities.

“So there’s less competition in those areas. There’s less growth. They prevent [the] coming in of competitors, and so it’s not good economically to have a fat dynasty in local jurisdictions,” he explained.

Without new businesses that compete with firms owned or protected by the ruling clans, locals face higher prices and fewer job opportunities.

Balisacan also noted that inequality is often more pronounced in places run by political dynasties. A study the socioeconomic planning chief himself co-authored in 2004 found that, in these places, politicians often prioritize projects and policies that benefit themselves and perpetuate political patronage.

“And so when you have inequality of opportunities, that, of course, constrains inclusive development and will constrain faster economic transformation eventually,” he said.

Studies have found that when power is concentrated in one family, there’s a lack of checks and balances which leads to the misallocation of funds, particularly in health and infrastructure projects. The lack of funding for high-impact projects makes it harder for Filipinos living under fat dynasties to escape poverty.

For the 31 signatories, a truly effective anti-dynasty bill contains the provisions that achieve the following:

• prohibit relatives within the fourth civil degree from holding elective office at the same time to limit family dominance, given that their respective jurisdictions do not overlap;
• explicitly ban the substitution, rotation, and position-switching among relatives to circumvent term limits; and
• establish a mandatory cooling-off period equal to one electoral cycle for term-limited officials and their relatives to prevent them from immediately seeking the same position in the following elections.

An anti-political dynasty measure is among the priorities of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC). There are several versions of the bill pending in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. – Rappler.com