By CESAR JOLITO III
The Bacolod City council has adopted a resolution strongly urging the immediate enactment of a Comprehensive Anti-Political Dynasty Law, citing the urgent need to enforce a long-standing constitutional mandate aimed at ensuring equal access to public office.
The measure was authored by Councilor Celia Matea Flor, who said the absence of an enabling law has rendered the constitutional prohibition against political dynasties ineffective for decades.
Flor stressed that while the 1987 Constitution clearly mandates the state to prohibit political dynasties, no comprehensive law has been passed to define and regulate them.
She pointed to the pending bill in the Philippine Congress, which seeks to bar spouses and relatives up to the second degree of consanguinity or affinity from simultaneously running for or holding elective posts in the same jurisdiction, whether at the national or local level.
The proposed measure also outlines enforcement mechanisms to be implemented by the Commission on Elections.
As chairperson of the city council’s committee on women, gender, family, and childcare, Flor cited empirical data showing the extent of dynastic dominance in Philippine politics, with political families accounting for about 87 percent of provincial governors, 80 percent of district representatives, 67 percent of House members, and 53 percent of mayors nationwide.
She warned that such concentration of power undermines fair political competition, restricts access to public service, and perpetuates patronage and inequality.
Flor also noted that a recent public hearing on the bill held in Bacolod City drew broad community support and was fully endorsed by Mayor Greg Gasataya, underscoring local demand for reforms that expand political participation and strengthen democratic governance.
Copies of the approved resolution will be forwarded to the Office of the President, the Senate, the House of Representatives, the Commission on Elections, and other concerned national agencies for their information and appropriate action./CJ, WDJ