Anti-political dynasty bill seen as ‘almost cautious’ to break the system, analysts say

THE PHILIPPINES’ long-delayed attempt to ending political dynasties risks amounting to little more than a symbolic gesture unless it meaningfully disrupts family-based succession in power, analysts said over the weekend, as President Ferdinand R. Ma

rcos, Jr. urged lawmakers to prioritize the passage of such the measure. Ed

erson DT. Ta

pia, a political science professor at the University of Makati, said the proposed anti-political dynasty bill, filed by House Speaker Faustino G. Dy

III and House Majority Leader Ferdinand Alexander A. Ma

rcos III, both scions of political families, appears deliberately cautious — a sign, he said, of the political constraints imposed by a Congress dominated by dynastic interests. “Whe

n I read the anti-political dynasty bill, my reaction was not excitement but recognition,” Mr. Tapia sa

id via Facebook Messenger. “The lan

guage felt careful, almost cautious, as if written with a clear awareness of the institution it must pass through.” Political dy

nasties have long shaped Philippine politics, with power concentrated in families that dominate national and local offices through successive or simultaneous terms. House Bill (