Political Dynasties In The Philippines

Perhaps the earliest mention of “political dynasties” in contemporary Philippine society can be found in the 1986 constitution, article III “Declaration of Principles and State policies”, sec. 26 “The State shall guarantee equal access to opportunities for public service, and prohibit political dynasties as may be defined by law.” Now, how does the law defined political dynasty? One “proposed” definition is this: a situation where persons related to each other within the third civil degree of consanguinity or affinity hold elective offices simultaneously or the same office successively in a region, legislative district, province, city, municipality, or barangay. This definition, although it has gained wide attention in Congress, was never included in the revision of the omnibus election code (Sison, 1997). The constitution states that freedom to run for government positions should be granted to everyone and not to only one family. The privileged to public service and political affiliations regardless of race, gender, and religion are observed in most democratic societies. However, most of them are embracing the pattern of dynastical governance. The calls for the banning of political dynasties starting with the Senate and the House, down to the local governments have been around since the restoration of Philippine democracy in 1986. Legislators of the country proposed an anti-political dynasty law. Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago proposed Senate Bill No. 2649 or the