Comelec official: Antidynasty law should leave no loopholes
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will have a hard time implementing a ban against political dynasties, particularly if the enabling law is ambiguous and full of loopholes, one of its officials said at a Senate hearing on Thursday.
“It is difficult for the Comelec,” said lawyer Renato Magbutay, the poll body’s regional director for Northern Mindanao (Region 10) and Soccsksargen (Region 12).
“It is very hard for the Comelec to implement a law if the one passed is ambivalent, contains ambiguities and is prone to loopholes. That is what makes it difficult,” Magbutay told the Senate committee on electoral reform which is holding public consultations on what would constitute the ideal antidynasty law.
“But if the law is ironclad, as Sen. Kiko [Pangilinan] said, ironclad and foolproof, then it will be easy for the Comelec to implement. That is the Comelec’s assurance,” he added.
According to Magbutay, the poll body can implement the prohibition even in areas with a peace and order problem like Muslim Mindanao, but he suggested that law enforcers, like the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines, still need a law to define implementing rules.
Under Article II, Section 26 of the 1987 Constitution, the State is mandated to “guarantee equal access to opportunities for public service, and prohibit political dynasties as may be defined by law.”
Constitutional guarantee
But the ban has remained largely unimplemented over the last 39 years because Congress has not passed any law that defines political dynasties.
Pangilinan agreed on the need for stronger provisions in such a law, but he emphasized that it was just as important for Comelec to have political will.
“Because the issue, for example, of vote buying is against the law, and Comelec is charged to execute the law and disqualify those who are involved in vote buying. So political will is also required,” he said.
Since the enactment of the 1987 Constitution, lawmakers have tried to propose antipolitical dynasty legislation in both the House and Senate with little success.
Many pending bills
These include Pangilinan’s Senate Bill No. 1765 filed in 2018 and House Bill No. 6771, proposed by Speaker Faustino Dy III and Ilocos Rep. Alexander Marcos, both of whom are political dynasts themselves.
HB 6771, which defines political dynasties and bars the relatives of officials up to certain degrees of consanguinity or affinity from simultaneously running for or holding public office, appears promising because President Marcos, also a political dynast, asked Congress to prioritize the measure.
In the Senate, there are now seven antipolitical dynasty bills, including Senate Bill No. 1854, or the Anti-Political Dynasty Act of 2025, by Sen. and Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda, mother of incumbent Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros, chair of the Senate committee on electoral reform, said the hearing was the fifth and last consultative meeting on antipolitical dynasty bills in Mindanao. It was held at Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan in Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental.
In her closing speech, Hontiveros stressed that the panel does not intend to discredit prominent families around the country.
“When there is a political dynasty, corruption is most likely widespread. It is easy to hide greed and wrongdoing when those who are supposed to conduct a check and balance are family members as well. When there is a dynasty, poverty is often deeper. Wealth does not flow to the people,” she said.
