A bill seeking to penalize political turncoatism has a better chance of becoming law than an anti-political dynasty bill, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III said Friday, Aug. 5.
Pimentel, a former Senate President, made this observation after former Philippine President and now Pampanga 2nd district Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo filed a bill that seeks to reform political parties by restricting and penalizing political turncoatism, or the practice of switching party lines after elections.
"Political party reform bill has better chance of becoming law than anti political dynasty bill. Although both are difficult to pass. But I am in favor of trying to pass these bills,’’ Pimentel pointed out.
“Good ideas worth discussing and debating the pros and cons. We can start with anti-turncoatism idea and separate that and pass into law. Because passing a more comprehensive bill with so many novel ideas might require more time to study and discuss.”
Section 13 of Arroyo’s House Bill (HB) 488 , or the Political Party Development Act of 2022, states that politicians who change their political party affiliation one year before and one year after any national elections would have forfeited the elective office they are running for or the post they have been elected for.
The bill covers the accreditation of political parties nationwide, including the establishment of a State Subsidy Fund that would help augment accredited parties’ operating funds.
In July, 2020, then-Senator Francis Pangilinan sought a Malacañang certification declaring urgent the anti-political dynasty bill ‘’as a tangible proof of the administration's desire to dismantle the rule of political dynasties".
‘’It's long overdue. It is ordered by the Constitution. It has to progress in Congress, and it will only do so with the President's imprimatur," Pangilinan, then chairperson of the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes, said.
The senator said he agrees with then-Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon's observation that there should be a ban on political dynasties to effectively remove the oligarchs in the country.
Pangilinan had filed Senate Bill (SB) 264 defining and prohibiting political dynasties.
However, as with past initiatives of several senators, the bill has hardly moved.