Speaker Bojie Dy and the President’s son, Majority Leader Sandro Marcos, jointly filed a bill prohibiting political dynasties on Wednesday, December 10, officially kickstarting the House majority’s bid to pass a measure that — on surface level — goes against their political interests.

It came after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. “instructed” Congress to approve a piece of legislation defining dynasties.

The five-page proposal, excluding the explanatory note, defines a dynasty as the “concentration and dominance of elective political power by persons related to one another.”

It describes a political dynasty relationship as an existing family connection between an incumbent elected official and anyone related to them up to the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity.

This includes not only a politician’s spouse, parents, children, and siblings, but also grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces, cousins, in-laws, and great-grand relatives.

Banning this kind of political dynasty relationship — on paper — appears to be a nightmare for lawmakers, many of whom are dynasts themselves.

Dy and Congressman Marcos’ proposal, however, has some interesting caveats:

• It does not prohibit cross-level or cross-jurisdiction dynasties.
• It does not prohibit a dynast from immediately succeeding an incumbent relative in the next election.
• It is silent on party-list abuse by dynasts.

Prohibition only on government level or territorial jurisdiction

The bill specifies what political dynasty relationship is not allowed. It bars relatives:

• of national elective officials from holding other national elective posts
• from running for the same congressional office in a legislative district at the same time
• of provincial elective officials from holding other elective posts in the same provincial government
• of municipal or city elective officials from holding other elective posts in the same municipal or city government
• of barangay elective officials from holding other elective posts in the same barangay

In short, the prohibition is based on territory or government level.

How does this affect our current dynasties? Using the Marcoses as an example, these people can hold the same posts at the same time:

• a Marcos can hold one national position (president, vice president, or senator)
• another Marcos can hold one provincial position (governor, vice governor, or provincial board member)
• Marcoses can hold as many legislative district seats as possible
• Marcoses can hold as many city or municipal seats as possible as long as there is only one official per locality

Dy, who declared 16 relatives in government, is not extremely affected by his proposal, since his other brothers represent separate legislative districts in Isabela, while his son and daughter-in-law are also mayors but of different localities.

Rotation allowed

The bill also does not seek to address the longstanding ill of successive dynasties.

The problem in the Philippines is that when a politician is constitutionally barred from seeking a fourth term, his relative runs for office to succeed him.

It’s the kind of political strategy that allowed the Ynareses of Rizal to stay in power in the capitol for 33 years, or the Dimacuhas of Batangas City for 37 years.

There are 11 anti-dynasty bills filed in the 20th Congress. The versions filed by Makabayan and Akbayan include provisions that explicitly prohibit immediate succession.

Silent on party-list hijacking

The bill is also unable to address the hijacking done by political dynasties in the party-list system. The provisions in Dy and Marcos’ bill will not prohibit a dynast from accepting a party-list nomination while his relatives are holding congressional office.

Watchdog Kontra Daya has said that 40 out of 156 party-list groups that ran in the 2025 elections have links to dynasties.

It is important to note that this is how former speaker Martin Romualdez was able to expand his grip on power in the House — it has been a family affair for him. While he represents Leyte’s first district, his wife Yedda and son Andrew Julian are representatives of Tingog Party List. Yedda’s uncle Raymond Mendoza is also a congressman representing TUCP or the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines.

It is understandable, however, why Dy and Marcos filed a mild anti-dynasty proposal, whether or not they have a genuine interest to actively push for this reform.

Congress, composed of political families who have perpetuated themselves in power for decades and have no desire of slowing down, have been allergic to any anti-dynasty proposal, despite the Constitution saying that their political existence is prohibited. A stronger bill will face massive pushback, so House leaders will try to aim for a middle ground.

There is still merit in this bill. For one, it prevents future joint bids (governor and vice governor) for the capitol, such as the Bersamins of Abra, the Pinedas of Pampanga, and the Singsons of Ilocos Sur.

But even if an anti-political dynasty hurdles the House of Representatives, it will face rough sailing in the Senate, where one-third of lawmakers — the Tulfos, Cayetanos, Villars, Estrada-Ejercito — are siblings.

It will always be a herculean task despite a nudge from the President, whose approval numbers continue to decline. — Rappler.com