Wish for dynasty ban

The first ever parliament election that would be held in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Mindanao (BARMM) this coming Sept. 14 will see the maiden application of the Anti-Political Dynasty provision. The Bangsamoro Electoral Code restricts individuals from holding or running simultaneously if they are related to each other up to the second degree of consanguinity or affinity.

Acting as the interim parliament for the autonomous government, the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) approved in March 2023 the passage into law of the Bangsamoro Electoral Code that included, among others, the Anti-Political Dynasty provision.

BTA Parliament Bill No. 29 prohibits individuals related within the second civil degree – whether full or half-blood, legitimate or illegitimate, including spouses – from running for local positions in the same province, city, municipality or barangay, with procedures in place to resolve cases involving related candidates.

The BTA Parliamentary Bill No. 29 likewise requires candidates to declare in their certificate of candidacy that they are not related within the prohibited degree to any incumbent local official running in the same locality. Under these measures, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is tasked with enforcing the rules and rejecting certificates of candidacy (COCs) that violate the second-degree ban.

New bills, however, have been introduced in the BTA seeking to amend their Electoral Code and the Local Governance Code of the BARMM to remove these family-relationship restrictions. Petitions were filed at the Supreme Court (SC) for temporary restraining orders (TRO) to stop the region’s anti-dynasty provision.

Actually, the first-ever Anti-Political Dynasty provision took effect and was implemented under Republic Act (RA) 10742, or the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Reform Act of 2015. Section 10, or the “anti-dynasty clause” of RA 10742 required that a candidate for the position in the SK must not be related within the second civil degree of consanguinity or affinity to any incumbent elected national office, or to any incumbent elected regional, provincial, city, municipal or barangay official, in the locality where they seek to be elected.

In a ruling handed down in April this year, the SC affirmed the Comelec disqualification against youth candidate in the October 2023 for violating provisions of the SK Reform Law’s “anti-dynasty” clause.

The High Court upheld that such “breathes life to the constitutionally enshrined policy of the sovereign to prohibit political dynasties.”

Unless stopped by the SC, Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia vowed to exactly carry out this Anti-Political Dynasty clause that would be tested in the maiden elections for the 80 members of parliament (MPs) of the BARMM. Once officially constituted, the BARMM Parliament will henceforth be the permanent legislative body to replace the BTA.

The installation of the BARMM Parliament will complete the implementation of the formal Bangsamoro peace pact of the Philippine government with former Muslim secessionist rebels in Mindanao.

While preparing for the BARMM Parliament, the BTA remains embroiled in scandals and controversies involving incumbent BARMM officials. The BTA validated major issues at the Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education (MBHTE), whose minister, Mohagher Iqbal, was sacked last week following the Commission on Audit (COA) findings of massive fraud in the agency.

The Committee on Finance, Budget and Management (CFBM) findings at the end of deliberations on the 2026 BARMM budget reflected continued delays in execution and fund utilization at the MBHTE, including 75.21 percent allotment, 47.81 percent obligation and 44.04 percent disbursement as of Aug. 31, 2025.

The MBHTE’s budget totaled P26.49 billion, the largest share of the P114-billion BARMM budget for 2026, in a bid to prioritize education reform, higher education operations and technical skills development for the Bangsamoro people. The report cited BARMM’s functional illiteracy rate of 38.3 percent, way above the national average of 30.6 percent and the highest among all regions. The performance of teachers in BARMM was identified as low-performing, with the region ranking 34th out of 39 nationwide.

The dropout rate in BARMM colleges reaches 90 percent, far exceeding the national average of 35.39 percent. Only 18.7 percent of college-age students in BARMM are enrolled in higher education, the lowest participation rate in the country compared to the national average of 28.7 percent.

Major supply gaps persist: 277,817 learners lack textbooks; 567,946 armchairs are needed and 757,379 learners have yet to receive learners’ kits. The unit cost of armchairs, at P5,049, raised concerns that require justification and comparative analysis. A lack of up-to-date inventory for armchairs and weak tracking systems for learners’ kits increase the risk of duplication and inequitable distribution.

Classroom construction showed mixed progress: 1,330 of 2,289 projects have been completed. Delays in school building implementation are attributed to land disputes, unsafe working conditions, coordination challenges and complexities of national devolution.

Meanwhile, Garcia disclosed the Comelec will tap public school teachers and classrooms as voting centers in the BARMM Parliament elections. During our Kapihan sa Manila Bay news forum last Wednesday, Garcia announced the Comelec will release by this week the list of candidates running for the BARMM Parliament elections who filed certificates of candidacy last May 5 and qualified.

In the Bangsamoro Parliament elections, Garcia cited, 50 percent will be contested for the party representatives; 40 percent district representatives and 10 percent sectoral representatives. At least 10 percent of the MPs, with two seats reserved for non-Moro indigenous peoples and settler communities, Garcia added, will be for sectoral representatives while women, youth, traditional leaders and the Ulama will each be assigned one seat.

Complying with the SC ruling that upheld the opt-out of Sulu, Garcia noted, six seats were re-allocated to the 32 parliamentary districts across the provinces and areas of the Bangsamoro region as follows: Lanao del Sur, nine seats; Maguindanao del Norte, five seats; Maguindanao del Sur, five seats; Basilan, four seats; Tawi-Tawi, four seats; Cotabato City, three seats and Special Geographic Area, two seats.

With the lead of SK elections and soon in the BARMM Parliament polls, the Comelec Chairman could only wish the Anti-Political Dynasty clause would inspire the 20th Congress to pass into law the enabling law at national level before the May 2028 elections.