Clergy back Supreme Court petition to end Filipino political dynasties

A 2022 study by the Ateneo School of Government found that nearly 80 per cent of Filipino parliamentarians belong to political dynasties. 

Eleven Filipino clergymen signed a petition to the Supreme Court demanding action against the dominance of political dynasties in the Philippines.

The clergymen – four bishops and seven priests – made the submission alongside other prominent figures, including two former Supreme Court justices, on 31 March. 

The petition urged the 15-member Supreme Court to direct Congress to create a law banning political dynasties, as mandated by the Philippine Constitution of 1987.

Reform advocates argue that Filipino legislators have stalled this anti-dynasty law because most of them also belong to political dynasties. Several wealthy families control most political activity in the country.

Political scientists and historians have long identified political dynasties as a unique aspect of Filipino politics. In political dynasties, “many politicians try to transform their electoral offices into lasting family assets”, according to historian Alfred W. McCoy in the book Anarchy of Families. This has widened inequalities in the relatively-young, still-developing democracy.

A 2022 study by the Ateneo School of Government, a Jesuit-run institution, found that nearly 80 per cent of Filipino parliamentarians belong to political dynasties. 

“We now have a government filled with elective officials whose primary qualifications are neither their character nor their competence, but rather their luck in the genetic lottery,” the signatories said in their 48-page petition. 

The “sheer shameful official inaction” by Congress to bring an anti-dynasty law into effect has resulted in “the worsening grave poverty of our people”, they said. 

Bishop Gerardo Alminaza San Carlos, Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo of Kidapawan, Bishop Crispin Varquez of Borongan, and Bishop Broderick Pabillo – the four prelates who signed the petition – are known for taking a stand on socio-political issues. Their participation in this Supreme Court case aligns with the stance of the local Church on political dynasties.

In a pastoral letter in 2013, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines said: “As monopolies in business, monopolies in politics limit the entry that can bring in new ideas and offer better services. Political dynasties breed corruption and ineptitude.”

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