December 10, 2025
MANILA – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday directed Senate President Vicente Sotto III and Speaker Faustino Dy III to prioritize bills seeking to end political dynasties that have held sway for decades and are blamed for most of the country’s economic and sociopolitical ills.
The President also identified the Party list System Reform Act; the Independent People’s Commission Act; and the Citizens Access and Disclosure of Expenditures for National Accountability (Cadena) for inclusion in Congress’ list of priority bills.
Marcos, who is facing the biggest crisis yet of his administration stemming from the public works corruption scandal, asked Sotto and Dy to “take a closer look at the four bills and prioritize their passage as soon as possible,” Palace press officer Claire Castro said, without providing other details.
The President sat down with congressional leaders, including Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri and his son, Ilocos Norte Rep. Sandro Marcos, during a meeting of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (Ledac) in Malacañang on Tuesday morning.
READ: Makabayan pushes for genuine reform as Marcos tags priority bills
The President himself belongs to one of the country’s so-called fat dynasties, the type that has several members of a clan holding elective positions simultaneously.
Apart from son Sandro, his clan members in politics include his sister, Sen. Imee Marcos; first cousin, former Speaker and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez; cousin-in-law, Tingog party list Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez; nephew, Tingog party list Rep. Julian Andrew; first cousin, Ilocos Rep. Angelo Marcos Barba; and cousin-in-law, Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco.
Dynasts’ role in scandals
The others are Marcos’ nephew, Ilocos Norte Gov. Matthew Joseph Manotoc; cousin-in-law, Ilocos Norte Vice Gov. Cecilia Araneta-Marcos; cousin, Laoag City Mayor Michael Edward Keon; and cousin Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez.
Sotto and Dy are dynasts themselves, with family members and relatives elected either as a congressman, mayor, vice mayor, or councilor.
“If you look at those involved in the corruption scandals, either they are part of a political dynasty or they are related to a political dynasty,” Akbayan Rep. Percival Cendaña said at a human rights forum, articulating the reason for the ban on dynasties.
While this may not be the “ultimate solution to corruption,” the ban is an important first step to accountability and good governance, he said.
Cendaña, Akbayan party list colleagues Chel Diokno and Dadah Kiram Ismula, and Dinagat Rep. Arlene “Kaka” Bag-ao are the principal authors of House Bill No. 5905 seeking to ban political dynasties. It is pending at the committee level as of Nov. 18.
It was filed a day after Dy urged the lower chamber to take up the antidynasty bill to help restore public trust in government. Dy came under scrutiny after his statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth showed he has 16 relatives in various government posts.
Hollow unless marked urgent
If passed, it would bar any person related within the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity to an incumbent elective official from holding or running for any elective office, whether national or local, unless the incumbent official is ending his or her term within the same election year.
Mamamayang Liberal party list Rep. Leila de Lima said Marcos’ directive still rang hollow at this point, since if he did not certify the bills as urgent, it would send a stronger message to Congress to speed up the bills’ approval on second and third reading.
Congress is set to adjourn for the holidays on Dec. 20 and will resume sessions on Jan. 19, 2026.
“It seems like the people’s order is to certify these as urgent, but what was presented to us are PR priority bills,” De Lima said.
Cendaña agreed: “A cornered politician will cling to the promise of reform. The President should show his sincerity. Simply ‘prioritizing’ these bills is not enough. He should certify these bills as urgent ASAP!”
Lameduck president
ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio, Gabriela Rep. Sarah Elago, and Kabataan Rep. Renee Co said that while they were prepared to work on the measures, “failure to pass these long overdue legislation, despite the President’s apparent push, will affirm Marcos’ status as a lameduck president going into his final years in office.”
Antipolitical dynasty bills in the Senate have also yet to gain traction.
Political dynasties are banned under Section 26, Article II of the 1987 Constitution, but Congress has yet to pass an enabling law to enforce it.
Antidynasty measures have been filed in nearly every Congress but have never advanced. Most members come from political dynasties.
Ranjit Singh Rye, a political science professor at the University of the Philippines Diliman, said any push for major reforms in the second half of the administration might be seen as a “deodorizer” ahead of the 2028 presidential elections.
“But this move enables the administration to craft a narrative of good governance, responsiveness, and reform-oriented leadership at a time when succession politics are beginning to intensify,” he told the Inquirer.
“Even if the bills face legislative resistance, the very act of championing them already allows the President and his allies to position themselves as advocates of political modernization and institutional strengthening,” he added.
But whether Marcos’ move becomes mere “political fragrance or substantive reform” depends on whether the President’s allies in Congress would match his political will, Rye said.
“The power to transform these proposals into genuine reform—or reduce them to mere political symbolism—lies squarely in the hands of lawmakers. What happens next will determine whether this moment becomes a breakthrough or another missed opportunity in our long struggle for political modernization,” he added.