By Hannah L. Torregoza

Senator Robinhood "Robin" C. Padilla has filed an anti-political bill that seeks to prohibit political dynasties.

In filing Senate Bill No. 2730, Padilla said it is time to break the hindrance that prevent the best and the brightest from serving the Filipino people by finally fulfilling the 1987 Constitution's mandate against political dynasties.

“Given that this measure complies with the legislature’s mandate to enact an anti-political dynasty law and is a step towards leveling the playing field in politics and governance, the passage thereof is earnestly sought,” Padilla said.

Citing a 2011 study by the Harvard Academy, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes said political dynasties stem from the tendency of elites to "persist and reproduce their power over time, undermining the effectiveness of institutional reforms in the process."

A dataset of Philippine local elections from 1988 to 2019 also showed the number of governors with at least one relative in office (dynasty) increased by almost 39 percentage points, from 41% in 1988 to 80% in 2019.

The dynasty proportion of vice governors rose from 18% in 1988 to 68% in 2019. Also, the number of mayors in the dynasty increased gradually from 26% in 1988 to 53% in 2019.

Padilla also cited that a study by Tusalem and Pe-Aguirre in 2013 noted that congressional funds are higher in areas with more political dynasties.

The same study, he said, showed that these provinces also have higher rates of crime and poor governance, as well as lower spending on employment, infrastructure, and health care, Padilla stressed.

"Political dynasties, in effect, have exhausted resources to attain economic and political dominance while at the same time compromising political competition and undermining accountability," Padilla said.

"It is time to break the barriers preventing the best and the brightest from serving the Filipino people," he added.

Under the bill, Padilla said no spouse or person related within the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity, whether legitimate or illegitimate, full or half blood, to an incumbent elective official seeking re-election, shall be allowed to hold or run for any elective office in the same city and/or province, or any party list in the same election.

Relatives of an incumbent elective official which would also be disqualified from running within the same province.

"(N)o person who has a political dynasty relationship to the incumbent shall immediately succeed to the position of the latter," the bill said.

The bill also requires any person running for any elective public office to file a sworn statement with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) that he or she does not have a relationship with any incumbent public official running for an elective public office in the same city and/or province other than the position earlier mentioned.

Should the bill becomes law, the Comelec will be mandated to hear any petition that seeks to disqualify a candidate on grounds of political dynasty and conduct summary proceedings.

The Comelec shall deny due course to any certificate of candidacy (COC)  filed in violation of the anti-political dynasty act.