MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) should set “ethical standards” in accepting candidacies of aspirants who come from political dynasties, senatorial aspirant and former Rep. Liza Maza said on Friday.
According to Maza, Comelec could use the existing provisions of Republic Act No. 10742 or the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Reform Act and Bangsamoro Electoral Code to ban political dynasties.
“So there is already enabling law, and that is our position that affirms even legally that political dynasties should be prohibited, and we are calling on Comelec to set the standard using already these laws in place. The ethical standards in approving candidacies for Senate and other positions,” Maza said in a mix of Filipino and English at a forum.
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Section 10 of the SK Reform Act states that an SK official “must not be related within the second civil degree of consanguinity or affinity to any incumbent elected national official or to any incumbent elected regional, provincial, city, municipal, or barangay official.”
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Meanwhile, Article III Section 9 (d) of the Bangsamoro Electoral Code mandates that “[n]ominees submitted by a political party shall not be related to each other within the second degree of consanguinity.”
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Maza, a senatorial bet under the Makabayan coalition, then reaffirmed her stand against political dynasties and mentioned that the coalition will file disqualification cases against prominent members of political dynasties in the country who are running in the 2025 elections.
“We are also calling on Comelec because we already have a provision in our Constitution that says that there should be no political dynasty in our country,” Maza added.
Although the 1987 Philippine Constitution prohibits political dynasties in order to “guarantee equal access to opportunities for public service,” no law has been passed to enact the takeover of political dynasties in the country.
INQUIRER.net reached out to Comelec chairman George Garcia on his statement regarding Maza’s call to which he responded: “We really need a law to do that as provided for in the Constitution.”
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