Hontiveros files anti-political dynasty bill

Senator Risa Hontiveros has filed an anti-dynasty bill, as an enabling law in accordance with applicable provision of the 1987 Constitution, stressing the need for equal access to opportunities for public service.

The bill calls for no person related within the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity to any incumbent national elective official to be allowed to hold or run for a national post.

Also, no person related within the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity to an incumbent local elective official shall be allowed to hold or run for elective office within the same legislative district, province or city.

The same is applicable for the party-list system.

Senate Bill no. 1548 will be titled “Kontra Dinastiya Act” once enacted.

Any violation of the proposed law – including misrepresentation or non-disclosure of material facts – shall be punished as an election offense, in accordance with the Omnibus Election Code.

Hontiveros cited Article II, Section 26 of the 1987 Constitution, which declares that “[t]he State shall guarantee equal access to opportunities for public service, and prohibit political dynasties as may be defined by law.”

“Nearly four decades have passed since ratification of our fundamental law–and Congress has yet to heed this mandate. The absence of an enabling law has allowed the continued dominance of political dynasties across the country – an outcome foreseen and explicitly warned against by the framers of the Constitution,” she said.

She also cited a report by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) that revealed the concentration of power among a few families in the Lower House, with over 80% of the 253 congressional seats held by political dynasties.

“Political dynasties weaken democratic institutions and produce poorer governance outcomes, particularly when ‘fat dynasties’ allow multiple family members to simultaneously hold elective offices within the same jurisdiction,” she said.

“Passage of an Anti-Political Dynasty Law is necessary to restore fairness in our electoral system, strengthen public institutions, and ensure that leadership in government is determined not by birth or inherited political machinery, but by merit, integrity and a genuine and meaningful mandate from the people,” she added.