EDITORIAL - Not a birthright

The Supreme Court has been asked to compel Congress to carry out its constitutional mandate of passing a law against political dynasties.

Over the past four decades, this congressional act of omission has allowed dynasty building to reach egregious proportions, sabotaging the system of checks and balances needed for the health of governance and democracy.

Today dynasty building is no longer limited to succession. Instead, immediate family members serve all at the same time, occupying elective posts at every government level in their turf, from the barangay to Congress, with more relatives getting appointive positions.

Even the 24-member Senate now has four sets of siblings serving concurrently. The House of Representatives also has spouses and their children sitting simultaneously, with the party-list used as a backdoor for more relatives to join the gang.

While Supreme Court action on the petitions is awaited, two senators have separately filed bills seeking to break the ever-tightening stranglehold of dynasties on political power.

Sen. Robinhood Padilla has revived a bill that he filed last year, seeking to bar relatives from running in the same election for any office in the same city, municipality or province, or in the party-list race.

It was touted as the first-ever anti-dynasty bill, but its impact was diluted by Padilla’s earlier praise for the report that former president Rodrigo Duterte and his sons Paolo and Sebastian would all be seeking Senate seats in the 2025 race.

While the Senate bids didn’t push through, all three Dutertes won elective posts last May: the father as mayor of Davao City, with Sebastian as his vice mayor, and Paolo winning his third term as 1st district congressman. Padilla has since issued other public pronouncements about his undying loyalty to the Dutertes.

Another senator has filed a separate anti-dynasty bill. Sen. Francis Pangilinan seeks to ban dynastic succession in elective posts among relatives up to the second degree of blood or marriage ties. He also wants them barred from running simultaneously for different elective positions within the same province, legislative district, city, municipality or barangay.

“Political power and public service must never be treated as a birthright. But for decades, without an enabling law, our democracy has been hijacked. This bill is long overdue. Leadership should be earned, not inherited. Every Filipino deserves a fair and equal shot at serving the nation,” Pangilinan said in explaining his bill.

“This is not just a legal fight – it’s a democratic one. We must make room for new voices, new leaders, and genuine public servants. Because democracy dies when power is passed around like property,” he said.

If Congress rejects such arguments, the Supreme Court must see their soundness and step in.