Cebu, Cagayan de Oro to host House public consultations on Anti-Political Dynasty Law
At A Glance
- The House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms is set to conduct back-to-back public consultations in Visayas and Mindanao on the Anti-Political Dynasty Law beginning Thursday, Feb. 19.
The House of Representatives (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)
The House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms is set to conduct back-to-back public consultations in Visayas and Mindanao on the Anti-Political Dynasty Law beginning Thursday, Feb. 19.
This, even as committee chairman, Lanao del Sur 1st district Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong had practically guaranteed the passage of the contentious measure by his panel.
According to the committee, the Visayas leg of the public consultations will take place Thursday morning at the University of the Philippines-Cebu (UP-Cebu), while the disussoons in Mindanao will be hosted the following day, Feb. 20 by the University of Science & Technology of Southern Philippines (USTP), Cagayan de Oro City.
Last Feb. 12, the Luzon leg of the consultations was carried out at Carsigma Gym in Carmona, Cavite.
Parallel public consultations are being conducted by the Senate, which has to pass its own version of the measure, to give it a shot at being a law.
While the 1987 Constitution provides for a ban on political dynasties, Congress (House of Representatives and Senate) has never been able to pass an implementing law for it in the past four decades.
If the public consultation in Cavite is any indication, there are strong arguments for and against the enactment of such measure. But Adiong said its passage was mandated by nothing less than the Constitution, and thus Congress must follow.
He says the suffrage panel is looking to pass the bill on third and final reading in plenary before the House goes on recess from March 21 to May 3.
"This will certainly pass at the House of Representatives. We're just looking at the timeline because we're also realistic," Adiong, also a House assistant majority leader, said shortly after the first consultation in Cavite.
"As far as the basis for this particular measure is concerned, it's very clear that it's not even negotiable eh, kasi (because) it's the Constitution speaking eh. There has to be an anti-political dynasty as clearly defined by law," he added.