Senator Robinhood Padilla said he is set to file a measure seeking to disallow the proliferation of political clans in the Philippines.
Padilla said his proposal is in response to the mounting calls and petitions, urging the Supreme Court to compel Congress to pass laws related to political dynasties.
“As I said in the hearing of the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes last June, I believe in the 1987 Constitution. But we must pass an enabling law for its anti-dynasty provision,” Padilla told reporters on Friday.
“It is not too late for us to find where our generation went wrong in this regard,” he added.
Padilla, who chairs the committee on constitutional amendment and revisions of codes, also bared his plans to conduct hearings on the matter as soon as he filed the proposed measure.
He recalled that during an inquiry on 25 June, Consumer Protection Advocacy Group Inc. (CPAG) chairperson Ricardo Penson mentioned that at least 60 percent of Congress were from political dynasties since the 1990s.
Penson also lamented the political trend reached as high as 92 percent.
“This would render futile a constitutional convention if 92 percent will be running as delegates to the convention,” Padilla said, quoting Penson.
Christian Monsod, one of the framers of the 1987 Constitution, urged Congress to prioritize the passage of an anti-dynasty law instead of pushing the Charter change.
He cited the worsening effects of entrenched political dynasties.
According to Padilla, Monsod was quoted in reports as saying that real change cannot happen "until we strike at the roots" of the system.