Bojie Dy, Sandro Marcos’ weak anti-dynasty bill prevails in House committee

MANILA, Philippines – After numerous public consultations across the country, the House suffrage committee ended up passing an anti-political dynasty bill almost identical to the version proposed by Speaker Bojie Dy and Majority Leader Sandro Marcos — one that is deemed weak by critics.

To make matters worse, the unnumbered substitute bill that hurdled the committee on Tuesday, March 3, has been watered down further — relaxing the ban from fourth degree of consanguinity to only second degree.

The approval of the timid bill frustrated some opposition lawmakers, who withdrew their authorship in the consolidated proposal. They include the three-member Makabayan bloc and Caloocan 2nd District Represntative Edgar Erice.

“What they passed is a travesty and disrespect of the Constitution,” Erice said.

The House leadership’s version

The approved bill describes a political dynasty relationship as an existing family connection between an incumbent elected official and anyone related to them up to the second degree of consanguinity or affinity.

The prohibition, however, is based only on territory or government level.

It bars relatives:

• of national elective officials from holding other national elective posts
• from running for the same congressional office in a legislative district at the same time
• of provincial elective officials from holding other elective posts in the same provincial government
• of municipal or city elective officials from holding other elective posts in the same municipal or city government
• of barangay elective officials from holding other elective posts in the same barangay

This template allows numerous members of the same political family to still be in elective office.

Using the Marcoses as an example, these people can hold the same posts at the same time:

• a Marcos can hold one national position (president, vice president, or senator)
• another Marcos can hold one provincial position (governor, vice governor, or provincial board member)
• Marcoses can hold as many legislative district seats as possible
• Marcoses can hold as many city or municipal seats as possible as long as there is only one official per locality

“In a sense, across all levels of government, you are still allowed to hold position simultaneously. The governor can still be the father, the mayor can be the mother, the councilor can still be the child,” Anti-Dynasty Network convenor Mikee Defensor said.

“We’re just fooling ourselves here,” she added.

The bill also does not seek to address the longstanding ill of successive dynasties.

Not weak?

Suffrage committee chairman Zia Alonto Adiong said his panel approved the Speaker’s version of the bill because it has obtained the most number of co-authorships.

“More than 100+ signified to be co-authors of this measure,” he said in a press conference.

Adiong also rejected perceptions that the bill approved by his panel is a weak one.

“In the first place, we don’t have an anti-dynasty bill being implemented in this country,” Adiong added. “In this version, we tried to decongest political unit from control of one political family.”

The 1987 Constitution bans political dynasties, but says Congress must pass an enabling law. Lawmakers, who are dynasts themselves, have failed to get behind such a measure in the last 39 years. – Rappler.com