A former congressman on Sunday questioned the credibility of the proposed anti-political dynasty bill being pushed in Congress, saying it contains numerous loopholes and would fail to fully dismantle entrenched political clans.
“Our anti-dynasty law, it should be a real anti-political dynasty. The one that will stop the real anti-dynasty,” said Atty. JV Bautista, co-convenor of the newly formed anti-corruption group Artikulo Onse, in a chance interview over the weekend. “We should have a lot of reforms so that this won't happen again.”
Bautista pointed to what he described as inherent conflicts in the bill’s authorship, noting that its principal proponents themselves belong to political dynasties.
“Yes, there are a lot [of loopholes] because what's important here, Speaker Faustino Bojie Dy III was included, and I think House Majority Leader Ferdinand Alexander Sandro Marcos was the co-author. Of course, those who are in power are a bit heavy, a lot of support will be received. These are members of these dynasties,” Bautista added.
He said the bill, as currently framed, would fail to achieve its stated purpose.
“I heard an observation, and it seems to be true, that this bill will not abolish the dynasty. It will legitimize the dynasty. It will say that this is not part of the anti-dynasty,” he said.
Bautista further argued that loopholes such as allowing relatives to run in different districts weaken the intent of the measure. He also said President Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jr. could exert greater influence to ensure meaningful reform if the administration truly prioritizes the measure.
“For example, you are from a different district, there are a lot of loopholes that should not allow this to happen. The President [Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.], although we have what we call separation of power, and it should be abolished, no matter what, if he will say that this is a priority, no matter what, he has a big influence on the members, especially in the Chamber. And that influence should be wielded, and he should show that he really means business,” the former congressman said.
Earlier, President Marcos directed Congress to prioritize the passage of several reform measures, including the Anti-Political Dynasty bill, the Independent People’s Commission Act, the Party-list System Reforms Act, and the Citizen Access and Disclosure of Expenditures for National Accountability (CADENA) Act.
“The anti-dynasty, the party-list reform, the independent commission–that really has teeth to investigate, and the chain. Those four, Malacañang already said that these are priority bills,” Bautista said.
“The people should also investigate, and should be very active, if those are the ones that are in line with our calls for reforms in our society. However, there is no guarantee that these bills will be implemented because it is just a priority. This is still in the Congress,” he added.