Anti-dynasty bill passed by House panel criticized: ‘Prohibit, not regulate’

CAGAYAN DE ORO — Progressive lawmakers decried what they viewed as a bill that seeks to “regulate” political dynasties instead of prohibiting them.

This came after the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms adopted on March 3, 2026, an unnumbered substitute anti-political dynasty bill with a proposed prohibition up to the second civil degree of consanguinity and affinity. Twenty legislators favored it, while four objected to the motion.

Lanao del Sur 1st District Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong, chair of the committee, claimed that the bill “substantially covers” the 25 similar proposed measures filed in the House of Representatives.

ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio, Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Sarah Jane Elago, and Kabataan Rep. Renee Louise Co withdrew their support for the substitute bill pushed by House leaders, which, they said, clearly shows that Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has no intent to abolish political dynasties.

“Any enabling law that falls short of outright prohibition is not reform—it is a mockery of the Constitution, and we refuse to be party to it,” the lawmakers from the Makabayan bloc said in a joint statement.

Dinagat Islands Rep. Kaka Bagao also asserted during the deliberation that other provisions filed by House legislators do not reflect on the bill.

Section 5 of the substitute bill proposed that spouses or relatives within the second degree of relationship be prohibited from simultaneously holding any national elective position. The same proposal goes to elective positions in legislative districts and provincial, city/municipal, and barangay governments.

This means that members of a political dynasty can still simultaneously run for elective positions as long as they are not in the same administrative levels.

Some proposals seek to prohibit the “succession” of relatives to an incumbent official. But there is no such provision in the substitute bill.

‘Railroading’

Some lawmakers questioned the procedure of the committee in adopting the substitute bill.

Upon the start of the deliberation, Bukidnon 2nd District Rep. Jonathan Keith Flores, committee vice chair, first raised the motion to consolidate the 25 similar proposed measures into a substitute bill using House Bill No. 6771—filed by House Speaker Faustino Dy III and House Majority Leader Sandro Marcos—as the working draft. Adiong explained that after adopting the substitute bill, they can discuss its features.

The deliberation was suspended for a few minutes in order for legislators present to receive a copy of the substitute bill. Upon resumption, Flores suddenly made a motion to “adopt and approve” the bill provided to the legislators.

Expressing her confusion, Bagao thought that HB No. 6771 would only be used as a working draft to consolidate the 25 bills. When she asked if they could still raise questions and propose amendments, Adiong said they could do so, but in the House plenary.

Rep. Tinio expressed his disappointment with the process, saying this is a clear example of “railroading” the approval without discussion.

“We invited resource persons; we held consultations. but in the end, what was filed, this particular version, that’s it. [It was] adopted without changes,” he said.

The House committee went to Cavite, Cebu City, and Cagayan de Oro for public consultations. Several individuals who shared their insights preferred a wider version, specifically the proposed provision that prohibits political dynasties within the fourth degree of consanguinity and affinity.

Read: Mindanao folks prefer wider anti-political dynasty law

Read: Cebuanos push Congress to enforce decades-delayed ban on dynasties

Election watchdog Kontra Daya slammed the abrupt approval of a bill that, it said, lacked transparency. 

“When a Congress dominated by political clans abruptly replaces an already weak bill with an unnamed substitute version, it reinforces what many Filipinos already suspect: This ‘push’ is nothing more than political theater,” Kontra Daya said in a statement.

The group said this approval confirms its assertion that “reform without sincerity is deception.” (AMU, RVO)

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