A second-degree civil relationship prohibition is emerging as the majority position as the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms consolidates 24 anti-political dynasty measures into one substitute bill.
This was disclosed by committee chair Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong, who said the working draft is House Bill (HB) 6671 filed by Speaker Faustino G. Dy III and Majority Leader Ferdinand Alexander A. Marcos Jr., which has garnered 144 co-authors since it was filed last December.
In a press conference, Adiong said the committee is now in the final stages of consolidating the 24 measures into a unified substitute bill that will be the subject of its committee report, which they hope to finalize next week.
The panel reached this stage after concluding the Luzon-Visayas-Mindanao leg of national public consultations in Cavite, Cebu, and Cagayan de Oro.
The Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms and People’s Participation on Tuesday endorsed a consolidated bill that would bar relatives up to the second degree of consanguinity or affinity from simultaneously holding national or local elective posts or immediately succeeding one another in office.
Committee chair Senator Risa Hontiveros said the proposed second-degree coverage includes parents, children, siblings, and spouses, describing the measure as an initial step after she earlier filed a stricter proposal extending the prohibition to the fourth degree.
A total of 12 senators signed the committee report scheduled for plenary sponsorship, namely Hontiveros, Erwin Tulfo, JV Ejercito, Francis Pangilinan, Panfilo Lacson, Loren Legarda, Sherwin Gatchalian, Robin Padilla, Imee Marcos, Juan Miguel Zubiri, Bam Aquino, and Lito Lapid.
According to Adiong, the committee’s task is to translate these varied inputs into a single, defensible measure that can withstand rigorous plenary debate and ultimately survive judicial scrutiny.
“Our responsibility now is to consolidate these varied inputs into a version that is principled, balanced, and enforceable,” Adiong said.
“Our goal at the committee level is to craft an agreeable, constitutionally sound Anti-Political Dynasty law that can gather broad support in Congress and endure legal challenges,” he added.
He stressed that the constitutional prohibition itself is not in dispute, as the debate centers on the degree of relationship to be covered.
Adiong noted that of the 24 versions filed, a majority propose a second-degree ban.
Cagayan de Oro Rep. Lordan Suan, whose proposed measure extends the ban up to the fourth degree of relationship, acknowledged the difficulty of implementing such a strict prohibition and said he is open to reducing it to the second degree instead.
“We also don’t want the perfect bill that is based on our preference if it cannot be passed. Because when we make laws, it’s not about personal preference; it’s about collective agreement,” Suan pointed out.
1TAHANAN Rep. Nathaniel Oducado, another author of the anti-political dynasty bill, said HB 6671 filed by Dy and Marcos strikes a balance between constitutional intent and political realities.
“So far, I think our group will agree that the best approach is HB 6671 of Speaker Bojie and Majority Leader Sandro Marcos because it is congruent with the constitutional intent but at the same time it balances it with what is the political reality and what is necessary on the ground,” he said.
Under HB 6671, a political dynasty refers to the concentration or dominance of elective political power by persons related to one another.
The bill covers all elective positions from the national level down to the barangay level, including President, Vice President, Senator, Member of the House of Representatives, governors, mayors, and barangay officials.
It prohibits spouses and covered relatives from simultaneously holding elective positions within the same political jurisdiction, preventing family members from consolidating political power at the same national, provincial, city, municipal, legislative district, or barangay level.
