Carpio: Grave abuse of discretion by political dynasties more patent now

With more political dynasties in Congress and local government units and the 'patent abuse of discretion' by these clans, an anti-dynasty law should now be passed, former Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said.

Carpio is the lead convenor of the 1Sambayan Coalition, one of the groups that filed a petition asking the Supreme Court (SC) to direct Congress to enact a law against political dynasties.

The petition cited Article II, Section 26 of the Constitution, which states that “the state shall guarantee equal access to opportunities for public service and prohibit political dynasties as may be defined by law.”

The former magistrate was asked about the chances of their petition and how it would not end up like the previous petitions seeking to compel Congress to pass an anti-dynasty law.

“The passage of time [of the 1987 Constitution] is 38 years now; more political dynasties in Congress (about 80%) and LGUS (50%); increasing pork barrel in annual budget enacted by Congress. The grave abuse of discretion is clearly patent now,” Carpio told GMA News Online.

In a 2013 ruling, the SC denied the petitions filed by a group led by former Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr. and then senatorial candidate Ricardo Penson compelling Congress to enact an anti-political dynasty law, citing the separation of powers of the judicial and legislative branches.

The SC also dismissed a similar petition filed by businessman Louis Biraogo for lack of merit.

The percentage mentioned by Carpio came from a 2022 study, which used data gathered from 2006- 2018 and survey data on business-government linkages. 

“When analyzing the entire Philippines, the above-mentioned 2022 study found that the presence of "fat dynasties" is directly linked to higher poverty incidence,” the petition read. —LDF, GMA Integrated News