HOW serious is House Speaker Faustino Dy III in his vow to support an Anti-Political Dynasty Act?
The question is apt since Dy recently acknowledged he has at least 16 relatives currently in government, including his son Faustino “Inno” Dy V, now Echague town mayor, and nephews Ian Paul and Michael Dy, both Isabela congressmen.
In calling on Congress to take up the anti-dynasty bill and fulfill its long-overdue mandate under the Constitution by banning political dynasties as may be defined by law, Dy pointed out this would restore the people’s trust in government. “I believe that public service is not an heirloom but a public trust,” he said.
There are several anti-political bills recently filed in the House. The Makabayan bloc has filed House Bills 209 and 4784, which they described as “true anti-political dynasty measures with clear and uncompromising provisions.” These measures would prohibit any person from holding or running for national or local office simultaneously with another relative within the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity.
For their part, the Akbayan Reform Bloc has filed House Bill 5905, which seeks to fully implement the provision in the 1987 Constitution banning political dynasties in the country. The measure wants to prevent the concentration of political power within families and to open leadership opportunities for ordinary citizens.
These and other anti-political dynasty bills proceed from the recognition that, as things now stand, the country’s political system is now dominated by political families. “The goal is clear—to return government to the people, not to the few,” according to the proponents.
A 2025 UNDP report revealed that 94 percent of Philippine provinces are dominated by political families, with an average of 2.3 dynasties per province.
An earlier study by the Ateneo Policy Center said dynasties increased from 19 percent of all elected positions in 1988 to 29 percent in 2017, adding roughly 170 positions per election cycle. By 2019, families holding multiple simultaneous elected offices continued to grow, reflecting entrenched power across local and national levels.
A 2015 Philippine Institute for Development Studies report found dynasties concentrated in the poorest provinces, often reinforcing weak institutions, persistent poverty, and limited economic opportunities.
Nearly four decades have passed since the Constitution prohibited dynasties, yet Congress has failed to pass an enabling law, allowing families to monopolize power and perpetuate inequality.
While it is true that passing an anti-dynasty law has been difficult, if not impossible, all these years since 80 to 90 percent of our lawmakers come from dynasties, real change may be in the horizon if Speaker Dy makes good on his promise to see an honest-to-goodness anti-political dynasty passed during his watch.
