Slaying giants. Kapatiran Party. et al. filed on 8 November 2022 a Petition for Certiorari seeking from the Supreme Court a judicial review of congressional inaction in relation to the intent from the Record of the 1986 Constitution Commission of Section 26, Article II of the 1987 Constitution.
Apply to everyone the Constitutional ban against relatives of incumbent government officials up to the second degree from seeking public office simultaneously or succeeding the former, and to make it unlawful for any member of the Senate or the House of Representatives to run for another office without first resigning from his/her current position six months before the elections.
1987 Constitution
“The State shall guarantee equal access to opportunities for public service and prohibit political dynasties as may be defined by law” (Art. II, Sec. 26).
“The Congress shall give highest priority to the enactment of measures that protect and enhance the right of all the people to human dignity, reduce social, economic, and political inequalities, and remove cultural inequities by equitably diffusing wealth and political power for the common good” (Art. XIII, Sec. 1).
Political Dynasty articles on Philippine Daily Inquirer. Read more…
Political Dynasty articles on Philippine Star, Read more…
24 January 2011 – ANTI-POLITICAL DYNASTY ACT. SB. NO. 2649, Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, Fifteenth Congress. Philippine society, many sociologists note, evolves around the system of extended family. However, this extended family system, an otherwise beneficial concept when applied to the social aspects of human behavior, finds its pernicious effects in the political arena where public office becomes the exclusive domain of influential families and clans that are well-entrenched in Philippine politics. The monopoly of political power and public resources by such families affects the citizenry at the local and national levels. Read more…
23 October 2007 – POLITICAL DYNASTIES IN MINDANAO. By Roland G. Simbulan, Professor – University of the Philippines (Lecture delivered on the occasion of the 2nd Engineer Arturo F. Eustaquio Sr. Lecture Series, Universidad de Zamboanga, and before the Faculty of the Western Mindanao State University). Politics is a family affair, so that from the national to the local level, we see long family histories of political rule. Husbands, wives, sons, daughters, and close relative occupy many public offices; during elections we likewise see them all running for public office…Since 1987, the anti-political dynasty bills filed never got to first base. Why? Most lawmakers from the administration and opposition oppose the Constitutional ban on political dynasties because they too, come from political dynasties and clans, which have been long entrenched in power. New political dynasties have also risen to challenge the traditional political clans in their bailiwicks. Read more…
7 May 2007 – FRAUD, 2007. Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG), Issue Analysis No.07. Fraud is an endemic disease that has been institutionalized by a political system – the government, executive and legislative structures, political parties – that remains dominated by political dynasties.
20 July 2007 – POLITICAL DYNASTIES. Philippine Daily Inquirer, Separate Opinion by Isagani Cruz. One of the most ambitious policies of the present Constitution is expressed in its Art. II, Sec. 26… It is also the most ignored by Congress for obvious reasons…Although its evils are readily recognizable, the political dynasty may not really be easy to define… Should it be limited to the immediate family only or may it extend to other relatives, by consanguinity or affinity, within the fourth civil degree under the Civil Code? This is a question that may be offered by Congress as its excuse for not defining the political dynasty. But the real reason, of course, is the refusal of its members to commit political suicide by applying their prohibition to themselves.
30 December 2004 – FAMILY TIES. The Makati Business Club, Congress Watch Report No. 98. Although there have been previous attempts to introduce an anti-political dynasty law before (as early as the 8th Congress) to effect electoral reforms and consequently level the political landscape, Congress has never passed such a law…Thus entrenched, they can also ensure their perpetuation in office, only allowing for a few token positions to be taken by non-relations when it’s convenient for the ruling clan in the locality. It is only ironic that the laws that are sorely needed to break political dynasties can only be crafted by those who are benefiting from its absence and that perpetual inaction on their part can only be in their best interest.
16 September 1997 – Pastoral Exhortation on Philippines Politics. CBCP.Our Constitution describes public office as a public trust meant for the good of civil society at large. Yet many a politician looks at it as a means of enrichment and a source of influence and power for self- and family-enlargement. It hence easily becomes considered and actually treated as some sort of private property to be passed on from one generation to another in the manner of a feudal title–the perpetuation of power that is at the base of so-called “family dynasties.” In this manner no distinction is made between public funds and private money. Read more…
Note: This article contribution was sent to the Philippine Daily Inquirer on 30 July 2023. =================================== We thank Dr. Randy David for his article, Lingering doubts about the… Read More
The TNTrio+ with Kapatiran Party Philippine Daily Inquirer 16 June 2023 MANILA, Philippines — A petition to disqualify Smartmatic Philippines from bidding for the 2025 midterm automated… Read More
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