Certifying the anti-political dynasty bill, which has been overdue, as urgent, is a tangible proof of the administration’s desire to dismantle the rule of political dynasties, Senator Francis Pangilinan said in making the call Sunday.
Pangilinan, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes, said the anti-political dynasty was ordered by the Constitution.
“It has to progress in Congress, and it will only do so with the President’s imprimatur,” he said.
The senator said he agrees with Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon’s observation that there should be a ban on political dynasties to effectively remove the oligarchs in the country.
President Duterte earlier boasted of dismantling oligarchy when a committee at the House of Representatives rejected the franchise application of ABS-CBN resulting in the shutdown of the network.
Pangilinan said an oligarchy is usually characterized by the control of one family and transfer of power from one generation to the next.
“As wealth means power and political control, the political elites in the country perpetuate themselves by means of political dynasties.”
Pangilinan filed Senate Bill 264 in July last year defining and prohibiting political dynasties. However, as in the past initiatives of some senators, the bill has hardly moved.
He said that Congress has the constitutional duty to enact a law defining and prohibiting the establishment of political dynasties in accordance with the intent of Section 26, Article 2 of the 1987 Constitution.
“Three decades later and despite numerous attempts to enact such legislation, there is still no enabling law prohibiting political dynasties in the country. Thus, its existence has undermined the checks and balance in government, weakened the competition in the political system, resulting in less access for alternative leaders to be part of the political arena, and perpetuated personality-based politics by prompting politicians to invest in their relatives,” he said in his bill.
Various data also show that dynasties are pervasive in the 10 poorest provinces in the country, Pangilinan said.
“While several bills have been filed in the past – with the Senate even coming up with a committee report on the anti-dynasty bill in the 17th Congress – these were never really acted upon and advanced to become a law,” he said.
“We challenge this administration to make a difference and certify the anti-political dynasty bill as urgent, so that it will move in Congress,” Pangilinan added.
