Supreme Court OKs petitions pushing Congress to pass anti-dynasty law

HIGHEST COURT. File photo of the Supreme Court of the Philippines.

Photo by Mark Z. Saludes

SC spokesperson Camille Sue Mae Ting explains that Article II, Section 26, of the 1987 Constitution mandates the country's legislative bodies to pass a law that will prohibit political dynasties

AT A GLANCE

• The Supreme Court of the Philippines has ordered Congress to enact a law prohibiting political dynasties, citing a constitutional mandate.
• The Court emphasized that Congress must define what constitutes a political dynasty and the scope of the prohibition, with no specific deadline for the law's passage.

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MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court (SC), in a landmark decision, granted the petitions that seek to compel Congress to pass a law against political dynasties.

“The Court directed Congress to comply with its mandatory constitutional duty to enact an anti-political dynasty law at the earliest opportunity, define political dynasties, and determine the scope of the prohibition,” SC spokesperson Camille Sue Mae Ting said in a press conference on Wednesday, September 16.

Ting explained that Article II, Section 26, of the 1987 Constitution mandates the country’s legislative bodies to pass a law that will prohibit political dynasties.

“The State shall guarantee equal access to opportunities for public service, and prohibit political dynasties as may be defined by law,” says the provision.

According to Ting, the failure of Congress to pass the said law will constitute grave abuse of discretion. The spokesperson, however, said Congress must define what constitutes a political dynasty, as well as define the scope of prohibition.

There is no deadline set for Congress to pass the law, Ting added.

This ruling stemmed from a number of petitions filed by several groups in the last years seeking to ban political dynasties.

In 2024, lawyers led by former Philippine Bar Association president Rico Domingo filed a petition with the High Court, asking it to compel Congress to pass the said law.

The following year, former Supreme Court justices Antonio Carpio and Conchita Carpio-Morales, and Christian Monsod, one of the framers of the 1987 Constitution, filed a similar petition before the High Court.

The 2025 ruling is a complete opposite of the SC’s previous ruling on political dynasties. In 2013 or more than a decade ago, the High Court denied a petition against political dynasties, ruling that the prohibition on political dynasties requires an enabling law under the Constitution. – Rappler.com