MANILA, Philippines — The Senate leadership will ask President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to certify the anti-political dynasty bill as urgent, Sen. Risa Hontiveros said Thursday, as lawmakers moved to advance the long-pending measure during the 20th Congress.
During the hearing of the Senate Ad Hoc Committee on Reinvigorate Investment and Sustainable Economic Growth (RISE), Hontiveros thanked Senate leadership, led by Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian, for responding to the recent call from the Supreme Court and advocacy groups for Congress to act on the constitutional mandate against political dynasties.
She said Senate leaders agreed to request that the measure, already identified as a priority of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC), also be certified as urgent by the President.
"In fact, just last night (Wednesday), before we adjourned session, the leadership moved to request that the bill—already a LEDAC priority—be certified as urgent, so that we may attempt to pass it during the current session of the 20th Congress," Hontiveros said.
"This move is also prompted by findings indicating that in localities where political dynasties have long held entrenched power, there appears to be a genuine correlation with underdevelopment or a significant opportunity cost regarding potential progress in those areas," she added.
Hontiveros issued the statement after Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) former Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo highlighted the need for a genuine anti-political dynasty bill.
"I hope both the Senate and HOR will ultimately pass a genuine anti-political dynasty. The problem of our politics and institutions is huge because of the dominance of political dynasties," Guinigundo said.
"Let’s eliminate the dominance of political dynasties, maybe it can make a dent in our effort to stamp out red tape in bureaucracy or even corruption itself… We should have done this a long time ago, but this is part of the legacy problem of our society," he added.
The anti-political dynasty provision has been in the 1987 Constitution for decades, but Congress has yet to enact an enabling law defining and prohibiting political dynasties.
The Senate is currently considering Senate Bill 1901, titled the “Anti-Political Dynasty Act,” which seeks to prohibit political dynasties in national and local elective offices and party-list positions and impose penalties for violations.
