It cannot be overstated how messed up the Philippines is. People might claim that is racism or a stereotype or even deflect and say what about (name of country.) Sure, government around the world is corrupt with notably the USA being run by a cabal of pedophiles and Satan worshippers who sacrifice their cares to a Great Owl every summer amongst the Redwoods of California at Bohemian Grove. But we aren't talking about the USA, we are talking about the Philippines. Don't deflect.
One of the reasons the Philippines remains in a rut is political dynasties. Everyone with a lick of sense recognizes political dynasties are a massive problem that consolidates power and wealth in the hands of a few. The Romualdez family from Tingog is representative of this problem.
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| https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2025/07/18/2458938/romualdez-family-now-holds-three-house-seats-yedda-joins-20th-congress |
Yedda Romualdez is set to join her husband and son in the 20th Congress through automatic party-list succession after a series of resignations cleared her path to become Tingog's third nominee.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) certified her succession on July 16, creating a Romualdez family trio in the House of Representatives. Martin Romualdez, the presumed next House speaker, represents Leyte's first district, while their 24-year-old son, Andrew Julian, is Tingog's first nominee.
Tingog won three seats in the May elections, finishing third in the party-list race.
Comelec Chairperson George Garcia informed House Secretary General Reginald Velasco in a letter on July 16 that the poll body was greenlighting the proclamation of Yedda as Tingog's third representative in the House.
"As a Certificate of Proclamation has already been issued to TINGOG Party-list on May 19, 2025, kindly consider this letter as the equivalent certification which may be used to effect the necessary steps in relation to the appropriate representation of said Party-List in the House of Representatives," Garcia said in the letter to Velasco.
Yedda's return to the House follows the resignation of the third nominee Marie Josephine Diana K. Calatrava, who stepped down for "personal circumstances," according to the resolution of the Comelec law department, which reviewed the party-list nominee changes and recommended its adoption.
Two other Tingog nominees had earlier resigned after winning party leadership positions. Initially, the party-list's fourth and fifth nominees, Alexis V. Yu and Paul S. Muncada, stepped down on June 18 following their election as party leaders under Tingog's bylaws, clearing the path for Yedda's succession.
Yedda ran as Tingog's sixth nominee during the May midterm elections. She was initially fielded as the first nominee before her son Andrew replaced her as the party's top pick in February.
After all these resignations, the Comelec law department recommended on July 15 that Tingog's nominee list be updated with Yedda considered as "Nominee No. 3," citing Republic Act No. 7941's automatic succession provision for party-list vacancies. The COMELEC en banc adopted these recommendations on July 16.
Yedda and her husband Martin Romualdez previously served in the 19th Congress as a powerful duo that virtually controlled all key levers of House operations. Martin, the president's cousin, wielded a supermajority as House speaker while Yedda chaired the accounts committee that managed the House's internal budget.
Besides the husband, wife and son Romualdezes, Sandro Marcos — Martin's nephew and Marcos' eldest son — is also part of the 20th Congress. He previously held a senior leadership position as senior deputy majority leader despite being a first-time lawmaker.
This family is not just a bunch of randos. They are related to President Marcos as Martin Romuladez is his cousin. Martin was first elected to the House in 2007 and he was elected for a second term. Next, he followed the path of all Filipino career politicians and ran for the Senate when his time in the House was up but he lost. He then bided his time and ran for the House again in 2019 where he is now employed.
His wife and son have joined him in the House but his wife is no stranger to politics as she worked hand-in-hand with her husband in the 19th Congress controlling all House operations. No family should wield such power. That is why politicians perennially preen before the cameras announcing plans to end political dynasties.
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| https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2025/07/19/2459036/2-senators-seek-end-political-dynasties |
Two senators aligned with major political parties have filed bills seeking to end the grip of political dynasties on power.
Francis Pangilinan of the Liberal Party and Robinhood Padilla of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan have separately filed bills aiming to enforce the constitutional ban on political dynasties.
“Political power and public service must never be treated as a birthright. But for decades, without an enabling law, our democracy has been hijacked. This bill is long overdue. Leadership should be earned, not inherited. Every Filipino deserves a fair and equal shot at serving the nation,” Pangilinan said in a statement yesterday.
“This is not just a legal fight – it’s a democratic one. We must make room for new voices, new leaders, and genuine public servants. Because democracy dies when power is passed around like property,” he added.
In Pangilinan’s bill, a “political dynasty relationship” is defined as one “when the spouse or any relative within the second degree of consanguinity or affinity of an incumbent elective official, runs for public office to succeed or replace the incumbent.”
A political dynasty also happens when “one runs for or holds any elective local office simultaneously with the incumbent within the same province, legislative district, city, or municipality and within the same barangay or barangays within the same legislative district,” added Pangilinan’s bill.
A dynasty relationship exists “where two or more persons who are spouses, or are related to one another within the second degree of consanguinity or affinity run simultaneously for elective public office at the national level, or at the local level within the same province, legislative district, city, or municipality, and within the same barangay or barangays within the same legislative district, even if neither is so related to an incumbent elective official,” read the bill.
According to Pangilinan’s proposed measure, a candidate with political dynasty ties can be disqualified by the Commission on Elections (Comelec), or the House of Representatives, Senate, and Presidential Electoral Tribunals.
Pangilinan cited the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), which estimates that 71 of 82 provincial governors, and eight out of 10 district representatives, are members of political dynasties.
Even the Senate where he belongs “remains heavily influenced by dynastic figures, with several family tandems retaining or gaining seats,” Pangilinan said.
Pangilinan expressed alarm at the PCIJ’s report of 18 “obese dynasties” or those with five or more elected relatives.
“Political dynasties, deeply rooted in the country’s history of wealth concentration, remain a defining and intensifying feature of the Philippine political landscape. Securing public office increasingly requires substantial personal wealth, effectively limiting viable candidates to those from established political and elite families. This trend has significantly strengthened over the past two decades,” Pangilinan said.
In Padilla’s bill, a political dynasty relationship is also defined as existing “where two or more persons who are spouses or related to one another within the fourth civil degree of consanguinity or affinity run simultaneously for elective public office within the same city and/or province, or as nominees to any party-list, even if neither is so related to the incumbent elective official.”
The Comelec may also motu proprio disqualify a candidate who has political dynasty ties, according to Padilla’s bill.
The problem is a bill is not required to ban political dynasties. The constitution already prohibits them.
Article 2 SECTION 26. The State shall guarantee equal access to opportunities for public service, and prohibit political dynasties as may be defined by law.
https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/constitutions/1987-constitution/
But there is a caveat. "Prohibit political dynasties as may be defined by law." That means there needs to be implementing law which defines what what a political dynasty is.
And that caveat demonstrates what is wrong with the 1987 constitution. It sets up broad social programs which requires laws to be passed which implement those programs. While that is problematic in itself since a Constitution should be limited to setting up the framework of a government, it is even more troubling that in 38 years the government has not passed a law to enact this constitutional provision. Perhaps defining a dynasty is not only difficult but limiting someone from serving in the government because of who they are related to would be a violation of their rights. Perhaps, in their zeal, the authors of the 1987 constitution overstepped their bounds.
Ultimately the decision of who occupies high office is the responsibility of the voters. Sadly many of them either don't care or are uninformed. And that ignorance and listlessness is exactly what the politicians who run the hell that is the Philippines are counting on.
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