Lawmakers withdraw support for ‘weak,’ watered-down anti-dynasty bill

MANILA, Philippines — Several lawmakers from the Minority have withdrawn support for the anti-political dynasty bill approved by a House of Representatives panel, as it was supposedly “watered down” and may even worsen the status quo.

Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice on Tuesday withdrew his House Bill (HB) No. 2037 as the House of Representatives’ committee on suffrage and electoral forms approved the still unnumbered substitute bill.

The substitute bill used the proposal from House Speaker Faustino “Bojie” Dy III and Majority Leader Ferdinand Alexander “Sandro” Marcos as the working draft, but placed the limit on relatives at the second degree of consanguinity and affinity instead of the original fourth degree.

“Mr. Chair, if we pass this version of the bill, this is no longer an anti-political dynasty bill, because this will be worse than what is happening now, it would not only promote fat dynasties, but even obese ones,” Erice said in Filipino.

“It is clear in our Constitution, to the framers of our Constitution, that there are parameters on how to define a political dynasty. One, it should promote equal access and opportunities to ordinary citizens for public office. But here, you have 10 people from a political clan, all of whom can run for different posts,” he added.

For these reasons, Erice said he is withdrawing authorship of the bill.  Committee chairperson and Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong granted the request.

The Makabayan bloc — composed of ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio, Gabriela party-list Rep. Sarah Elago, and Kabataan party-list Rep. Renee Co — also confirmed in a separate statement that they will be withdrawing their support for the committee’s anti-political dynasty measure.

According to the three lawmakers, the committee’s final product tends to lean towards merely regulating political families.

“We, the Makabayan bloc, are withdrawing our support from the substitute anti-political dynasty bill being pushed by the House leadership. We restate our basic and non-negotiable position: we cannot support a bill that merely regulates political dynasties instead of prohibiting them, which is what the Constitution explicitly commands,” they said.

“Article II, Section 26 of the 1987 Constitution does not say ‘regulate.’  It says ‘prohibit.’ Any enabling law that falls short of outright prohibition is not reform — it is a mockery of the Constitution, and we refuse to be party to it,” they added.

Makabayan said they will not allow themselves to be party to a bill that would make the situation with political dynasties worse.

“We will not be used. For nearly four decades, Congress has violated the Constitution through inaction. Now it is worse — they want to violate it through a law that pretends to comply,” Makabayan said in Filipino.

“The substitute bill bears the fingerprints of the dynasties themselves — full of loopholes and deliberately designed to preserve the status quo. Ang tunay na layunin nito ay protektahan ang mga pamilyang makapangyarihan, hindi ang mamamayan,” they added.

After four committee hearings and three out-of-town public consultations — one each in Cavite, Cebu, and Cagayan de Oro — Adiong’s panel on Tuesday finished deliberations on the substitute measure.

After the bill is finalized, it will be contained in a committee report that will be sent to the plenary for second reading consideration.

Article II, Section 26 of the 1987 Constitution explicitly prohibits political dynasties, but the framers left it to Congress to define what a dynasty is.

Several bills have been filed, but talks only gained traction after Dy, when the House resumed its session last November 2025, said that the chamber would now focus on the proposal.

Dy admitted that his statements may be met with raised eyebrows, as his family has been considered a fat dynasty in their home province of Isabela. He urged his colleagues in the House to join him in discussing this measure, as the proposal is not meant to limit chances for candidates seeking elective posts, but to urge more individuals to run for office

There were concerns that the bills were mere politicking, but no less than President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. himself asked both the House and the Senate to prioritize the measure, along with three other proposals seen to initiate key political reforms.

In December, Dy and Majority Leader Marcos filed HB No. 6771.

READ: House to start hearings on anti-political dynasty bills in January

At one of the hearings, former Supreme Court Justices Antonio Carpio and Adolfo Azcuna shared views on proposals to ban political dynasties.

According to Carpio, the ideal anti-dynasty law would prohibit relatives up to the fourth degree of consanguinity and affinity.

READ: Carpio, Azcuna clash on what ideal anti-dynasty law should be

Azcuna said he consulted colleagues and his law students at San Beda University to ensure that anti-dynasty proposals are in tune with the day-to-day realities, and their findings were that it might be hard for the Commission on Elections to enforce a law that limits relatives in public office up to the fourth degree.

According to Azcuna, another point of contention is whether the bill should apply only to local positions, as the grip of political dynasties is “diffused by the extent of the national electorate.”  /mcm