Expect dynasties to sabotage People’s Initiative against them

Shame on House Speaker Bojie Dy and Majority Leader Sandro Marcos. They railroaded an anti-dynasty bill that’s actually pro-dynasty.

Dy comes from the largest and Marcos from the mightiest political dynasties. At the height of public clamor against dynasties, they had the temerity to co-author a sham bill. Their pliant committee on suffrage shut out 21 genuine anti-dynasty measures. Only their version reached plenary debates. Last week, 271 of 318 congressmen, or 85 percent, approved that version.

Dy listed 16 family members in office in Isabela province in May 2025. One son was vice governor; another son and a daughter-in-law were town mayors. Two nephews were congressmen like him. Others in position were another daughter-in-law, two brothers, a sister-in-law, a niece and more nephews.

Sandro is the son of President Bongbong Marcos. His aunt Imee is senator. His first cousin, Imee’s son, is Ilocos Norte vice governor. BBM’s first cousins Martin Romualdez is Leyte congressman and Alfredo is Tacloban mayor. Martin’s wife and son are also in Congress; Alfredo’s son is vice mayor. BBM’s cousin-in-law is Ilocos Norte governor and a nephew is congressman.

BBM and Imee are estranged. The Dy-Marcos bill will bar only the obvious: family members as president, VP and senator. No more close kin inside the Senate, where four pairs of siblings presently sit.

But Dy and Marcos crafted their bill in order to retain all their present kinsmen in Congress and local office.

At the Senate is a proposal that isn’t any better. It originated as a strict anti-dynasty bill up to the fourth degree of consanguinity and affinity, but was watered down to only second degree. When reconciled with the Dy-Marcos bill, the result is obvious: politics will continue as family business.

Mapapa-P.I. ka.

“P.I.” is not the Tagalog cussword. P.I. is People’s Initiative. It is the citizenry’s direct enactment against dynasties – because Congress has shirked on its constitutional duty to do so for the past 39 years.

People’s Initiative under RA 6735 lets citizens propose or reject outright legislation without relying on Congress. At least three percent of voters in each of 254 congressional districts and 10 percent nationwide should sign. Majority of votes in a plebiscite completes the process.

Dapat Isa Lang Movement is leading a People’s Initiative against political dynasties.

There should only be one national and one local official per family, it says. National means president, VP, senator and district or party-list congressman. Local means governor, vice governor, provincial board member, city or municipal mayor, vice mayor, councilor, barangay chairman and councilman.

Covered are relatives up to the fourth degree of consanguinity and affinity: spouses, parents, offspring, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, uncles and aunts, nephews and nieces and first cousins, even if illegitimate or cohabiting.

No succession or switching of positions. Plus six-year rest period for president, VP, senatorial hopefuls within the family, and three years for other positions.

Dapat Isa Lang is gunning for seven million signatures, a little more than 10 percent of 68.5 million registered voters in Election 2025. It has piloted signature drives in Cabanatuan, Naga and Zamboanga cities. Volunteers are being recruited to ensure the three percent per district, Atty. Alex Lacson told Sapol-dwIZ Saturday.

A P.I. signatory must write down his full name, barangay where he votes, congressional district, city or municipality and province. Comelec local officers will authenticate them.

Dapat Isa Lang is developing an online signature software for Comelec approval and use. Presentations will be made within two months, Lacson said. If manual, the signature drive might extend till year-end. If online, it can be finished before October.

Other organizers of Dapat Isa Lang are retired Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio, ex-Comelec commissioner Louie Tito Guia, “running priest” Fr. Robert Reyes and P.I. Coalition Against Dynasties members Alexander Cabrera, Miguel Karlo Abadines, Carlo Gino Africa and Eirene Jhone Aguila.

In 2020, at least 80 percent of Congress and 75 percent of local offices were held by dynasts, former Ateneo School of Government dean Ronald Mendoza stated. It has worsened since then, De La Salle dean Julio Teehankee added. Twenty-five percent of party-lists has been infiltrated, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism reported.

The Supreme Court has weighed in on the issue, said Prof. Rico Domingo, former Philippine Bar Association president. In a ruling on April 10, 2026 the SC upheld Comelec’s disqualification of a Sangguniang Kabataan candidate for being the offspring of a barangay councilman.

The SC did not just uphold the SK Law’s prohibition against dynasties. It chided Congress’ failure to enact an omnibus anti-dynasty law as required by the 1987 Constitution’s Article II, State Principles, Section 26.

P.I. can usher in new politics. National budgets can be devoted to genuine programs. No more P1.7-trillion fake and faulty flood control projects. Local governments can be made to work for constituents’ interests. National and local dynasts can no longer collude to misuse taxes.

Expect dynasts to resist, however. They will spend stolen money and use local Comelec connections to sabotage P.I.

P.I. will be a great battle for a brighter tomorrow.

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