(First of two parts)
Thirty-eight years. That is how long Congress sat on Article II, Section 26 of the 1987 Constitution, which directed it to prohibit political dynasties “as may be defined by law.” The framers wrote it expecting action within a legislature or two. Instead, every Congress found reasons to defer—committee referrals that went nowhere, substitute bills that died on second reading, and the quiet solidarity of incumbents who understood, without saying so, that the status quo served them well.
I wrote in “Enabling the Anti-Dynasty Mandate,” Inquirer, Dec. 27, 2025, that the numbers explain why. Studies consistently show that 75 percent of district representatives, 85 percent of governors and nearly 67 percent of mayors are dynastic, with dynastic candidates winning by larger margins than nondynastic counterparts.
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From 1988 to 2019, the share of families controlling multiple positions simultaneously rose from 19 percent to 29 percent, with roughly 170 positions added per election year. A legislature so constituted has limited institutional incentive to legislate itself out of existence.FEATURED STORIES
