A coalition of 31 business and civic groups is turning up the heat on Congress, demanding passage of a “genuine” Anti-Political Dynasty Law and warning that watered-down reforms will only cement family monopolies in power.
In a joint statement dated February 12, the groups said nearly four decades after the 1987 Constitution mandated a ban on political dynasties, lawmakers have yet to deliver an effective enabling law. The delay, they argued, has allowed political power to remain concentrated in a handful of influential clans, fostering corruption, deepening inequality and sidelining ordinary citizens.
While acknowledging House Bill No. 6771, the coalition said the proposal fails to meet constitutional intent. The measure, they noted, allows succession, substitution, switching and rotation among relatives across government posts and election cycles.
“In reality, HB 6771 is a pro-dynasty measure,” the statement said. It pointed out that the bill preserve rather than dismantles entrenched political monopolies.
The groups framed dynasties as more than a political issue, calling them a structural governance problem with economic fallout. Some dominant families, they said, also control local franchises and private businesses, tightening their grip on both public office and economic life.
“Public office is not a family inheritance — it is a public trust bestowed by the people and exercised for the common good,” the coalition said.
Among its proposals: a ban on relatives within the fourth civil degree from simultaneously or consecutively holding elective posts, subject to limited exceptions, and a mandatory cooling-off period of one full electoral cycle.
If Congress stalls, the coalition urged citizens to consider a People’s Initiative, insisting that merit — not lineage — must decide who governs.
