Marcos vs dynasties? Palace explains what changed
In a move that caught many by surprise, President Marcos directed Congress on Tuesday to prioritize the passage of four progressive bills—the antidynasty bill, the Independent People’s Commission (IPC) Act, the Party-list System Reform Act, and the Citizens Access and Disclosure of Expenditures for National Accountability, or the Cadena Act.
Mr. Marcos himself comes from a political clan, and as a presidential aspirant in 2022, had defended the system of political dynasties.
So what prompted him to change his stance?
Changed landscape
The President wants to stop the abuse of power and strengthen Filipinos’ rights to choose their leaders, according to Palace press officer Claire Castro at a briefing on Wednesday.
“The political landscape has changed. We see politicians who are abusing their power and manipulating the law. The public is demanding a fairer system,” Castro said.
“The President wants to strengthen the power of the people … and he wants Filipinos to be able to choose leaders based on merit, and not on their family names,” she added.
‘All about performance’
Asked if the President was confident that the antipolitical dynasty bill would hurdle Congress despite most lawmakers themselves hailing from political clans, Castro said, “That is why the instruction of the President is for them to thoroughly study the legislation so that we will have a proper definition of what a political dynasty is.”
Mr. Marcos’ father and namesake, Ferdinand Marcos Sr., was the longest-serving president of the Philippines.
His son, Sandro Marcos, is currently serving as the representative of Ilocos Norte, while his sister, Sen. Imee Marcos, holds a seat in the upper chamber.
Mr. Marcos’ cousin, Martin Romualdez, served as Speaker before he resigned due to issues of corruption related to flood control projects.
When he was running for the presidency in January 2022, Marcos questioned moves to make political dynasties illegal.
“What if that’s what the people want? The perception is that political dynasties are bad, which is not necessarily the case. You are targeting a specific group in society. Politics is all about performance,” he had said then.
Constitutional mandate
But if his turnaround leads to the enactment of an antidynasty law, he would accomplish what six presidents across four decades had failed to do.
The 1987 Constitution calls for a ban on political dynasties, under Article II, Section 26: “The State shall guarantee equal access to opportunities for public service and prohibit political dynasties as may be defined by law.”
Congress, however, has failed to pass an enabling law to enforce this constitutional prohibition.
At least eight antidynasty bills are now pending in the House, majority of which seek to define political dynasties up to the second degree of consanguinity or affinity, covering politicians and their spouses’ immediate extended family—siblings, children, parents, grandparents, and grandchildren.
Good sign
The Makabayan bloc, however, seeks a broader ban—up to the fourth civil degree of consanguinity, which will extend the prohibition to great grandchildren, nephews and nieces, uncles and aunts, first cousins, great-grandparents, great-grandchildren, granduncles and grandaunts, and grandnephews and grandnieces of politicians in office.
For, Sen. Bam Aquino, Mr. Marcos’ seeming change of heart on political dynasties is a good sign.
“Honestly, before that news yesterday, I would have said, ‘it might really be difficult.’ But coming from yesterday’s pronouncements that it has the support of Malacañang, we’re hoping that can be a good signal for all legislators to push for and approve it at the soonest possible time,” Aquino told reporters on Wednesday.
“And if it’s certified urgent, that would be very welcome. But it’s not necessary at this point. In fact, it has no committee report yet,” he added.
Other lawmakers want the President to go further. In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Akbayan Rep. Percival Cendaña dared Mr. Marcos to certify the four reform bills as urgent and not just as priority legislation, if he is serious about his anticorruption drive.
Without the certification, it would look like the administration is just “trying to save face,” Cendaña said.
Mamamayang Liberal Rep. Leila de Lima echoed this sentiment.
“We remain disappointed that the proposed IPC/ICAIC (Independent Commission Against Infrastructure Corruption) bill and antipolitical dynasty bill were NOT certified as urgent,” she said on Tuesday, adding that “time is of the essence” in moving against the massive corruption and theft happening in government.
Meaningful legacy
According to Ranjit Singh Rye, professor at the Political Science Department of the University of the Philippines Diliman, pushing for institutional reforms right now is the “politically safer” route for the President.
“In my view, for President Marcos it is not anymore about being popular but about doing what is right. The President is now focused on securing a meaningful legacy,” Rye told the Inquirer. —WITH A REPORT FROM TINA G. SANTOS
