Mamamayang Liberal Party-list Representative Leila de Lima and members of the Makabayan bloc have withdrawn their authorship of the proposed anti-political dynasty measure recently approved by the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms, saying the substitute bill falls short of the Constitution’s mandate.
De Lima declared she could no longer support the committee-approved version, insisting that Congress must pass a “genuine” anti-dynasty law.
“I will withdraw my co-authorship of the substitute bill on anti-political dynasty that was approved at the House committee level. I refuse to be part of a measure institutionalizing dynasties,” she said.
“Apat na dekada na itong isinusulong ng ating Saligang Batas, kaya hindi pwedeng mema lang, mema-isabatas lang, pero iiral at mamamayagpag pa rin ang iilang pamilya sa pamahalaan,” she added.
ACT Teachers Party-list Representative Antonio Tinio, Gabriela Party-list Representative Sarah Elago, and Kabataan Party-list Representative Renee Co echoed her stance, rejecting what they described as a watered-down version of reform.
“We cannot support a bill that merely regulates political dynasties instead of prohibiting them—which is what the Constitution explicitly commands,” the lawmakers said in a joint statement.
“Article II, Section 26 of the 1987 Constitution does not say ‘regulate.’ It says ‘prohibit.’ Any enabling law that falls short of outright prohibition is not reform—it is a mockery of the Constitution, and we refuse to be party to it.”
The bloc further claimed the substitute bill was deliberately crafted to preserve the dominance of political clans.
“Hindi kami magpapagamit. Halos apat na dekada nang nilalabag ng Kongreso ang mandato ng Saligang Batas. Ngayon, mas malala pa: Gusto nilang lumabag dito sa pamamagitan ng isang batas na nagpapanggap na sumusunod,” they said.
“Ang tunay na layunin nito ay protektahan ang mga pamilyang makapangyarihan, hindi ang mamamayan. Tama na ang paghahari ng iilan. The people deserve real democracy, not a regulated oligarchy with a reform label slapped on it.”
The committee-approved measure prohibits spouses and relatives within the second civil degree of consanguinity or affinity—whether legitimate or illegitimate, full or half-blood—from simultaneously holding certain elective positions.