MANILA – President Rodrigo R. Duterte said he is in favor of the anti-political dynasty provisions as proposed by the Consultative Committee (ConCom) he created to review the 1987 Constitution.
“A few of the principled men, I would say, want this kind of thing about dynasty abolished. I am for it,” Duterte said in his speech during the general assembly of the League of the Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) in Manila Hotel on Tuesday night.
Duterte, however, expressed doubt whether the ConCom’s anti-political dynasty recommendations would be adopted by Congress in the proposed federal form of government under the new Constitution.
“The problem is will it be approved? Because in our country, after a politician finished his term, they would ask the son or the wife (to run),” said Duterte, father of incumbent Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.
Recently, the ConCom unanimously voted to prohibit the succession of an incumbent official’s relatives up to second degree of consanguinity or affinity.
The body also agreed to limit the number of positions that members of a family can hold to only two — one national and one regional or local.
The proposed anti-political dynasty provisions will cover barangay positions.
Former Chief Justice and ConCom chairman Reynato Puno has expressed hope that lawmakers will adopt the anti-political dynasty provisions as pre-requisite for the shift to federalism.
“Personally and I have said it, the prohibition against political dynasties is a sine qua non requirement, a condition precedent before we shift to federalism and the rationale for that is self-evident,” Puno said in a press conference last Tuesday. (Jelly Musico/PNA)
