MANILA, Philippines — Caloocan City District 2 Rep. Edgar Erice urged his colleagues to enact a genuine anti-political dynasty law, saying they must comply with the Constitution and heed the Supreme Court's finding that their 39-year failure to do so constituted grave abuse of discretion.
Interviewed by The Manila Times via Viber, Erice said that he also delivered a privilege speech late last week wherein he criticized the Congress for keeping Filipinos to wait for nearly four decades to fulfill the constitutional mandate to prohibit political dynasties.
He cited Article II, Section 26 of the 1987 Constitution which provides that the State shall guarantee equal access to opportunities for public service and prohibit political dynasties as may be defined by law.
In August this year, the Supreme Court ruled that Congress has a mandatory constitutional duty to enact such a law and that its failure to do so for 39 years constituted grave abuse of discretion. The Court directed Congress to act with utmost urgency.
“Why has an enabling law taken almost four decades?” Erice asked.
He said the difficulty lies in the fact that Congress is being asked to regulate a system in which many lawmakers and political leaders themselves have family members involved in politics.
“The Constitution asked Congress to make a law that may limit our own families, our own political machinery, our own power,” the veteran Caloocan lawmaker said.
He challenged lawmakers to determine whether they could support legislation even if it affected their own families.
“It is easy to become or play a reformist when the ones affected are your opponents. But the real test of delicadeza is this: When the Constitution tells you to reduce your own power, will you obey?” Erice said.
Likening political succession within families to a "musical chair" in which different family members take turns occupying government positions, the Caloocan legislator stressed that public office should not become a family inheritance.
He also questioned whether elections alone guarantee equal political competition when one candidate has a prominent family name, financial resources, political machinery and incumbent relatives, while ordinary citizens may have only their qualifications and aspirations.
This, he said, was why the constitutional provisions on equal access to public service and political dynasties were placed together.
Erice also cited his own family as an example, saying his two children had chosen not to pursue elective positions despite having opportunities to do so. He said his children had instead embraced the principle that being capable of obtaining something did not necessarily mean they should take it.
“The best inheritance I can give them is not a congressional seat, not political machinery, not a title,” Erice said. “What I can give them is a strong principle of service.”
He then called on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. anew to use his political influence to push for the enactment of an anti-political dynasty law.
He said Marcos had publicly supported such legislation and should now translate that commitment into concrete action.
The House has passed House Bill 8389 or the proposed Anti-Political Dynasty Act, on third and final reading. The measure was transmitted to the Senate on June 8, while Senate Bill 1901 is pending on second reading.
The House version covers spouses and relatives within the second degree of consanguinity or affinity in specified circumstances involving the simultaneous or successive holding of elective office.
