House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms Chairman Lanao del Sur 1st district Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong says the proposed Anti-Political Dynasty Law will be endorsed for plenary consideration in two weeks' time.

Adiong gave a rough idea on the timeline of the long-sought measure, plus some key details during a press conference Wednesday, Feb. 25.

"Next week na magkakaroon na tayo ng committee adoption [of the substitute bill].. So due na siya for I think for next, next week for plenary debate (We'll have the committee adoption of the substitute bill next week. So it's due for plenary debate next, next week)," he said.

"Nakita naman natin (We all saw that) there's no question about [the[ anti-political dynasty [bill] kasi (because) everyone agrees that there's already that in the Constitution," Adiong noted.

The suffrage panel had just finished a whirlwind, two-week public consultation on the contentious bill that saw the solons gather vital input from common folk in Cavite, Cebu, and Misamis Oriental (Cagayan de Oro City). All three have a high volume of registered voters as per the Commission on Elections.

The Adiong panel will now consolidate the 24 anti-political dynasty measures pending before it in order to come up with a substitute bill. Once approved by the panel, the substitute bill will go through broader debates in plenary, where over 300 congressmen sit.

While the 1987 Constitution provides for a ban on political dynasties, Congress has never been able to pass an implementing law for it in the past four decades. This has led to various members of the same political clan holding elective posts.

Adiong says that of the two dozen bills referred to his panel, some 16 or 17 of them are calling for a civil prohibition up to the second degree, as opposed to the stricter fourth degree ban.

"Majority of the versions that we received, [up to] second degree [of consanguinity and affinity] yung pinopropose na prohibition (the prohibition being proposed is up to second degree of consanguinity and affinity)...The rest are fourth degree," he explained.

The committee chairman said there was also "basis" to implement a second degree prohibition as far as the proposed Anti-Political Dynasty Law was concerned.

"I think may existing law na rin tayo (we already have an existing law) and I've mentioned this many times over. Sa SK (Sangguniang Kabataan) law, second degree; pati na rin yung sa (even in the) BARMM (Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) electoral code, second degree.

"So if we follow the, you know, dictation at democracy rules by numbers, mas majority yung nagpu-propose ng second degree civil relationship prohibition (based on dictation and since democracy rules by numbers, the proposed second degree civil relationship prohibition has more backers)," he said.