Marcos wants Congress to prioritize anti-dynasty bill

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., son and namesake of the late dictator whose relatives occupy various elected posts in the country, wants Congress to prioritize legislation that would operationalize a provision in the 1987 Constitution that prohibits political dynasties.

Marcos directed Congress to prioritize the following proposed measures, according to Palace press officer Undersecretary Claire Castro:

1. Anti-dynasty bill
2. Independent People’s Commission Act
3. Party-list System Reform Act
4. Citizens Access and Disclosure of Expenditures for National Accountability or CADENA Act

All four proposed measures, in one way or another would, theoretically, promote reform in Philippine politics and governance. The Independent People’s Commission Act, for instance, would institutionalize the Independent Commission for Infrastruture, an ad hoc body created by Marcos to review a decade’s worth of government infrastructure projects.

Marcos had met with Senate President Vicente Sotto III, House Speaker Faustino Dy III, presidential son Majority Leader Sandro Marcos, and other congressional leaders for a Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) meeting on Tuesday morning, December 9.

Like the Marcoses, Sotto and Dy also have relatives in elected posts in government.

Marcos and congressional leaders also “agreed on the timelines” for the passage of the proposed 2026 budget and when it would be signed into law by the President, said the Palace.

The President hails from among the most enduring and, by virtue of his seat in the Palace, among the most influential clans in Philippine politics. His home province Ilocos Norte is led by relatives, either through blood or marriage. Aside from his son, a handful of relatives — his own sister, as well as cousins from both the Marcos and Romualdez sides of the family — are members of Congress.

Advocates have long pushed for the passage of an anti-dynasty bill. It has been difficult for the proposed legislation to pass Congress, an institution dominated by politicians who hail from dynasties themselves.

A day before the announcement of Marcos’ priority measures, the Anti-Dynasty Network was launched, pushing for the passage of an anti-dynasty law especially in light of the flood control scandal which, the group said, “has been enabled by gross political and socio-economic inequalities, engendered by the dominance of political families.” 

Rappler’s investigative series on corruption in flood projects showed that members of political dynasties are often linked to government contractors that bagged multi-billion infrastructure projects. – Rappler.com