Senate holds committee meeting on Anti-Dynasty Bill

By Trisha Matabalan, Philippine Canadian Inquirer

February 14, 2026

(Screengrab from Senate of the Philippines)

Philippines – The Senate held a consultative meeting and a public consultation on the Anti-Political Dynasty Bill on February 9, 2026.

The core issues they planned to discuss during the meeting included the degree of relationship, scope of prohibition, and the matter of whether or not the prohibitions should be simultaneous vs. successive. They further elaborated on whether the degree of relationship should only extend to the first degree (parents, children, spouses), or if it should move onto to the second (siblings, grandparents, grandchildren), third (aunt, uncle, nieces, nephews, etc), or fourth degree; if the scope of prohibition should only be on a national level and LGU officials; if it should be maximum (simultaneous and successive), middle (simultaneous only for national, simultaneous and successive for local), and minimum (simultaneous or successive only) levels for the simultaneous vs successive category.

Senator Risa Hontiveros presented the key questions of whether cross-prohibition (the prohibition between national and local) should also be included in the Bill, the definition of a district representative as national or local, and how the party lists, Sangguniang Kabataan (SK), and barangays should be categorized.

 “What are we against here,” Hon. Vico Sotto stated in his opening, “is the concentration of power in the hands of the few political elite na alam po natin na ‘yun na ang nangyayari sa ating bansa.”