Definitions, issues

Dictionary. “A family that establishes and maintains predominance in a particular field, in this case politics, for generations. A dynast is a person who founds or belongs to a family powerful in a particular field.”

Sen. Panfilo Lacson’s take. “A political dynasty only exists when members of the same family serve simultaneous terms of office, whether in national or local levels. It seems unbecoming to see father-and-son, siblings, and husband-and-wife in one plenary.”

Lacson is referring to a clear dynastic situation developing in the Senate after the 2013 elections. The chamber already has an existing brother-sister act and recently saw a mother-son tandem. “It would be worse if they hold sway in the same province or in the same town as governor and mayor. That in my own view is at least a clear definition of a political dynasty,” he says.

Since he defines a political dynasty as occurring only if members from one family serve simultaneous terms, Lacson clearly does not see any contradiction in his son, Jay, running for vice governor in their Cavite home province in 2013.

Sen. Miriam Santiago’s interpretation. In her Senate Bill No. 2649, Santiago says a political dynasty exists “when a person who is the spouse of an incumbent elective official or relative within the second degree of consanguinity or affinity of an elective official holds or runs for an elective office simultaneously with the incumbent elective official within the same province or occupies the same office immediately after the term of office of the incumbent elective official.

“It shall be deemed to exist where two or more persons, who are spouses or are related within the second civil degree of consanguinity or affinity run simultaneously within the same province, even if neither is so related to an incumbent elective official.”

Still searching for a legal definition of what the Constitution regards as political dynasties to be prohibited by law.

The Senate committee on electoral reforms, led by Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III, is looking for a definition of what a political dynasty is.

Don’t define it by law. Let the voters decide what relationships define a political dynasty and punish the candidates by not voting for them.

Opposition to constitutional prohibition of political dynasties in elective positions. However, Eric Alvia of the National Movement on Free Elections said stopping a family from fielding more than one member for political office could be detrimental as it could deprive the country of the services of a competent leader. Alvia said he was for letting the voters decide.