CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (MindaNews / 21 February) — The House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms is working to finish, consolidate, and pass the Anti-Political Dynasty Bill before Congress adjourns for the Lenten break.
Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong (1st District, Lanao del Sur), committee chair, said the committee needs to consolidate 24 different bills — including those filed by former House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez — into a unified measure before the break, which begins before March 30.
“All the proposed bills have anti-political dynasty provisions in common. It is just a matter of what degree of consanguinity will be adopted in the measure,” he told reporters during a press conference on Friday following the third and final leg of the public hearings here on the proposed law.
Adiong said the consolidated House bill would then be transmitted to the Senate for bicameral conference discussions and could be highlighted in President Marcos’ State of the Nation Address (SONA) in July 2026.
He added that the Anti-Political Dynasty Bill is among the priority measures identified by the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) under the Marcos administration.
Responding to accusations from supporters of Vice President Sara Duterte on social media that the hearings were aimed at her family, Adiong said the measure is not a targeted attack on specific political clans.
“We are just fulfilling the mandate of the 1987 Constitution to define and prohibit political dynasties,” he said.
Adiong also clarified that discussions on the Anti-Political Dynasty Bill will not affect the ongoing impeachment proceedings against Vice President Duterte in the House of Representatives.
The committee has concluded public consultations in Cavite, Cebu, and Cagayan de Oro, the final leg.
During Friday’s consultation at the University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines gymnasium here, supporters of Representatives Lordan Suan (2nd District, Cagayan de Oro) and Deputy Speaker Yevgeny Emano (2nd District, Misamis Oriental) were transported to the venue.
Lawyer Beverly Musni, of the Union of People’s Lawyers in Mindanao, said that despite the crowd being transported to the event, she appreciated that many attendees were fisherfolk, vendors, and women from various villages and towns.
“At least now, they know that there is such important legislation being discussed,” Musni said.
The Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms and People’s Participation, chaired by Senator Risa Hontiveros, held its own public hearing on the Anti-Dynasty Bill at Xavier University last Thursday, attended mostly by students. (Froilan Gallardo / MindaNews)
