Anti-dynasty version passed is what got biggest support — Sandro Marcos

MANILA, Philippines — The anti-political dynasty bill passed by the House of Representatives may not be the most ideal version, but it was the one that got the most support from lawmakers, Majority Leader Ferdinand Alexander Marcos said on Wednesday.

Marcos, in an ambush interview, was asked about allegations that the anti-political dynasty bill passed by the House, as contained in House Bill (HB) No. 8389, does not restrict dynasties but even encourages them.

The House official said that the concerns are warranted, but he clarified that the version they came up with was the one acceptable to lawmakers, who, he admitted, are mostly members of dynasties themselves.

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“Those concerns are actually very warranted and I understand where the people are coming from.  But for us […] as Majority Leader, it is part of my job — you always have to check what the numbers are for each bill, especially if it is a Ledac (Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council) priority.,” Marcos said.

“And again, let’s call a spade a spade, there are a lot of political dynasties here in the lower House.  You know I’d be an idiot if I said I wasn’t from one either, let’s be honest with ourselves here.  So it’s not, we did not do that because that’s the bill that we want approved, we did that because that was the limit as to the support that we could garner from the lower chamber,” he added.

According to Marcos, he talked with different political parties as to the extent of their support for the anti-political dynasty bill, and they came to the conclusion that HB No. 8389 was the most acceptable version — and any more stringent measure could have lost backing.

Besides, Marcos said that the bill is neither a law nor the final version, as the proposal was meant to just kickstart conversations into the measure.

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“And it becomes a consultative dialogue between the leadership and the party leaders to check how much support there is for that said bill.  I am of the opinion and we really saw that should you make that bill stricter and more constrictive, the support from the lower House goes away,” Marcos said.

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“It was really a matter of getting it through already, that let us pass this at the House level to get the conversation started.  This is not the final result of what the bill will be.  It is not yet a law, this is just the version that we in the lower house were able to produce and garner support for,” he added.

Marcos believes that the House’s version would not be the same as the Senate’s, which means that it would be up for amendment and another set of deliberations at the bicameral conference committee.

“I highly doubt that the Senate will adopt the House version, so they will have their own debate, own provisions, and their own version,” he said.

“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,” he added.

Last June 3, before the House adjourned its session, HB No. 8389 was approved on third reading, with 267 lawmakers present voting in favor of the measure.  Only 20 voted against the bill while seven abstained.

HB No. 8389 was largely based on the measure filed by Marcos and House Speaker Faustino “Bojie” Dy III.  However, there were concerns that the bill has been “watered-down.”

As early as March 3, members of the Minority said that they will not support the measure as it was supposedly “watered-down” and may even worsen the status quo.

Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice withdrew his HB No. 2037 from the list of the bills that would make up the substitute measure, back when the House committee on suffrage and electoral forms was discussing the matter.

The Makabayan bloc — composed of ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio, Gabriela party-list Rep. Sarah Elago, and Kabataan party-list Rep. Renee Co — also confirmed in a separate statement that they will be withdrawing their support for the committee’s anti-political dynasty measure.

On Tuesday, several business and advocacy groups urged the Senate to junk the House version of the bill, as it supposedly seeks to protect political clans instead of dismantling them.

The groups reasoned out that HB No. 8389 seeks to ban relatives within the second degree of consanguinity and affinity from holding elective posts in the same level of government, but allows members of a clan to simultaneously run for positions at the national level, Congress, province, and city or municipality.

“We strongly reject HB 8389. We call on the Senate to refuse to act on this measure and on the President to veto it should it reach his desk,” the groups said in a joint statement.

But on Tuesday also, Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong — chairperson of the House committee on suffrage and electoral reforms — disputed allegations that the House version of the bill was “watered-down.”

“On the contrary, it actually addresses the very core problem of the monopoly of power exercised by one family within one locality,” Adiong said in a television interview, transcripts of which were sent to reporters.

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“In fact, the proposed anti-political dynasty will already affect more than a thousand current positions occupied by families or relatives within second degree of consanguinity,” he added. /mr