Group brings law vs dynasties to streets

Civic groups launched yesterday a coalition called “Dapat Isa Lang Movement” to push a genuine Anti-Political Dynasty law, bypassing Congress through a People’s Initiative (PI), which is provided for under the Constitution.

The proposed measure would  allow members of one family to hold one national and one local post.

While a pending anti-dynasty bill, sponsored by Speaker Faustino Dy and House Majority Leader Sandro Marcos, marks the first major House action on the issue, it is widely seen as too limited to meaningfully curb dynasties.

Political dynasties have long been identified as the cause of pervasive government corruption and the failure of most parts of the country to develop due to the feudal system.

Atty. Carlo Africa, the coalition’s spokesperson, said the initiative stems from public fatigue with underdevelopment, attributed to dynasties.

He said the Philippines is currently caught in a cycle of corruption and  the only way to break out of it is to enact legislation that would prohibit  the concentration of power within a particular family.

This concentration of power, according to the lawyer, has resulted in dynasties populating both the Senate and the House of Representatives, creating power blocs that determine how the national budget is allocated.

“For us, it is clear that it is the dynastic politicians who are the root of the flood control scandal because they decide where public money goes. They trap all of us in this cycle of corruption that affects all Filipinos,” he said.

“The trillions of pesos could have gone to projects that could have literally saved the lives of people, but it just went to the pockets of Congress people and some senators,” he held.

Another concern he raised about families controlling the political system is the inability to ensure accountability for unlawful practices, noting that the Office of the Ombudsman relies on testimonial evidence to create cases.

Up to 4th degree

To resolve the issue, Africa said  their group proposes an Anti-Political Dynasty law that not only bars dynasties from holding multiple positions up to the fourth degree of consanguinity but also allows them to hold only one local and one national post per family.

Under the proposal, a candidate’s parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, godparents, cousins, and nieces and nephews would not be allowed to run for office simultaneously in their respective provinces.

“The way for us to actually end the cycle of corruption is to eradicate the entire system of political dynasties — that’s why we’ve defined political dynasties to be within the fourth degree while still allowing certain political dynasties to field one at the national and one at the local level,” he said.

This provides a stricter regulation than the bill currently pending in the House of Representatives that goes up only to the second degree.

For the petition to pass without a hurdle in Congress, the lawyer said they would invoke the “people’s initiative” provision under the  Constitution, which allows the public to amend a law.

Africa said they have coordinated with various schools, churches, and business institutions to collect the required number of signatures at signature collection sites.

Under Philippine law, the signatures of 10 percent of registered voters nationwide, with three  percent from legislative districts, are required.