House Majority Leader Ilocos Norte 1st district Rep. Sandro Marcos candidly identified himself as belonging to a "political dynasty" on Wednesday, June 17, even as he led the push for the enactment of an anti-political dynasty bill.

In a chance interview with reporters, Rep. Marcos acknowledged the reservations that some sectors have on House Bill (HB) No. 8389, or the proposed Anti-Political Dynasty Law that the House of Representatives approved on third and final reading last June 3.

"Those concerns are actually very warranted. And naiintindihan ko naman kung saan nagagaling yung mga tao (And I understand where the people are coming from)," he said.

HB No. 8389 was historic in that it was the first time that such a measure hurdled the legislative chamber. It prohibits spouses and relatives within the second degree of consanguinity or affinity from simultaneously holding or seeking elective posts within the same political jurisdiction.

Critics in and out of the House have said that the bill--which received a nominal vote result of 267-20-7 (yes-no-abstain) could have been tougher on political dynasties, particularly by raising the restriction up to the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity.

However, Rep. Marcos--the eldest son of President Marcos and a principal author--said support for the meaaure in the House could have been affected. He gave a no-nonsense explanation for this.

"I am of the opinion and nakita naman talaga namin na (we really saw it that) should you make that bill stricter and more constrictive, nawawala yung supporta ng lower House and again (the lower House's support for it disappears and again), let's call a spade a spade, marami talagang political dynasty dito sa lower House (there are are lot of political dynasties here in the lower House)."

The 32-year-old then added: "I'd be an idiot if I said I wasn't from one either, let's be honest with ourselves here."

Under the House-approved bill, prohibited dynastic arrangements would cover national and local elective positions, including the presidency, vice presidency, Senate, House of Representatives, provincial governments, cities and municipalities.

Candidates would also be required to submit sworn declarations to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) stating that their candidacy would not result in a prohibited political dynasty relationship.

Amid the criticisms on the bill, Rep. Marcos said the important thing was to pass HB No. 8389 at the House level. Anyway, there would be further discussions on it with the other legislative chamber--the Senate--during the Bicameral Conference Committee hearings.

"It was really a matter of getting it through already na ipasa natin dito sa House (and to pass it here in the House) to get the conversation started. This is not the final result of what the bill will be...Because had it been more strict, baka hindi tayo makakakuha ng boto (we may not have gained the votes)," he said.

The bicameral stage or bicam is where House and Senate contingents gather to iron out the kinks of their respective versions of any given bill.

"May bicam pa (We still have the bicam). I highly doubt that the Senate will adopt the House version. So may sarili silang debate, may sarili silang provisions, may sarili silang version when they pass their version of the anti-political dynasty bill (So they have their own debate, their own provisions, their own version when they pass their version of the anti-political dynasty bill).

"There will be a bicameral conference and then there will be another opportunity to amend whatever provisions the upper house think to be inadequate or not tenable to the Filipino people," the majority leader said.