Anti-dynasty bill may be tweaked to allow pol clans to run in different territories

SPEAKER Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said the House leadership is open to amend the anti-political dynasty bill to allow political clans to be spread out in the country and run under different jurisdictions.

This loose version of the bill may defeat the purpose of entirely stamping out political clans in the country, but the bill is a good start in implementing the anti-political dynasty provision as enshrined  in the 1987 Constitution, according to Belmonte, who himself has relatives elected in public offices.

Belmonte said House majority and minority leaders have raised the possibility of inserting a provision that would allow political clans to run under different jurisdictions and would not be deemed dynastic.

He explains that if he runs for Quezon City, having a son who runs in Taguig would not constitute a political dynasty.

“Supposing one of my sons decided to run in Taguig, is he covered by the anti-dynasty law? Kung without clarification, he will be covered. Pero talking pragmatically and practically, ano naman ang pakialam ng Taguig sa Quezon City? It’s an entirely different jurisdiction. May mga ganung klaseng point of views,” Belmonte said.

Belmonte also said the bill that puts a dynasty cap of one family member per elective position would be amended to raise the cap to two family members per elective position.

The Speaker agreed that it is possible that the bill may legitimize the proliferation of political clans as long as these are under different jurisdictions, but he said an anti-dynasty bill is better than no bill at all.

“Perhaps it’s not the perfect anti-dynasty bill, but at least we have an anti-dynasty law and not a situation where the 1987 Constitution says Congress should pass an anti-dynasty law , and after so many years, we haven’t passed (one), and we’re even scared to talk about it,” Belmonte said.

“It’s not the ideal thing but at least we have a start… (There will still be a) dynasty pero hindi na illegal. Wala namang illegal na dynasty right now…  We’re just facing reality here,” he added.

Belmonte has family members holding various positions in Quezon City. His daughter Joy is Quezon city vice mayor, nephew Kit is an incumbent Quezon city sixth district representative, and other nephews Ricardo and Vincent are incumbent Quezon city councilors.

According to the bill, a political dynasty “exists when two or more individuals who are related within the second degree of consanguinity or affinity hold or run for national or local office in successive, simultaneous or overlapping terms.”

The Commission on Elections is tasked to disqualify from running those who violate the proposed measure.

Should none of the members of the same family running in the same election decide to withdraw from the race, the Comelec will hold a raffle to determine which of them would be allowed to run.

The bill also seeks to ensure that elective posts will not be passed on to a member of the same family. It states that no person within the prohibited civil degree of relationship with the incumbent will be allowed to immediately succeed his/her position.

The original dynasty cap of one family member in an elective position was criticized on the floor for affecting 180 members of the 290-strong chamber who have one family member in politics. Meanwhile, a dynasty cap of at least two family members in politics would affect only 60 of 290 members.

The bill is expected to be passed on second reading before Congress goes on sine die break.