Anti-dynasty law doomed – Gatchalian

Even as politicians admit that dynasties erode the principle of checks and balances in government, the anti-political dynasty law faces a bleak future with the present crop of lawmakers in Congress, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said on Wednesday.

“The anti-dynasty bill—I’ll be honest—faces difficult times because if we look at Congress, there are a lot of dynasties, and that alone is a signal that it might face a very difficult time (being passed),” the senator said during the Meet Inquirer Multimedia forum in Makati City.

While he supported the anti-dynasty bill in the Senate, Gatchalian expressed skepticism that a counterpart measure would pass in the House of Representatives.

Senate Bill No. 1765, authored by Sen. Francis Pangilinan, seeks to define and prohibit political dynasties, and provide penalties for violations as mandated by the 1987 Constitution.

His support for the anti-dynasty bill in the Senate was the result of his having seen the effect of political dynasties on local governance, Gatchalian said.

“I went around the country, I [saw] that dynasties eroded the local checks and balances, [such as when] you have a mayor and the wife is the vice mayor, obviously the system is eroded,” he said.

Slim chance

While a number of senators are said to come from political dynasties, there are far more members in the House of Representatives, making the prospects of the passage of the law slim, the senator said.

The Gatchalians have maintained their presence in local politics since 2001.

Senator Gatchalian is a former congressman and three-term mayor of Valenzuela City, while his two brothers are running for reelection: Wes is the incumbent House representative of the city, while Rex is the incumbent city mayor.  —MELVIN GASCON