Risa Hontiveros said Monday that couples running for office at the same time, regardless of gender, would be prohibited under the proposed Anti-Political Dynasty Bill.
Hontiveros made the statement during a public consultation on the measure in Marilao, Bulacan.
The senator clarified that the proposal would cover not only legally married spouses but also unmarried partners who share the same household and publicly identify as a couple, including LGBTQIA+ couples married abroad.
“Even if they are not married in church or in a civil ceremony, as long as they live in the same household and present themselves as a couple,” Hontiveros said.
Under her version of the bill, such couples would be barred from seeking government posts simultaneously.
Meanwhile, Marilao Mayor Jem Sy proposed that if relatives are to be restricted from running at the same time, the prohibition should extend up to the second degree of consanguinity or immediate family members, including parents, children, siblings, grandparents, and others.
Sy clarified that she only intends to prevent relatives from running simultaneously, not from serving consecutive terms.
The Senate is also examining cases in which relatives hold government positions after winning in different election cycles, including siblings currently serving in the Senate.
“Even if you said there are four pairs in the Senate, in the current Congress, two of them are authors of the Anti-Political Dynasty bill,” Hontiveros said, adding that they expressed during hearings their intent to expand political space beyond their own dynasties.
In the House of Representatives, similar proposals seek to extend the ban up to the second degree of consanguinity, including measures authored and sponsored by Edgar Erice of Caloocan.
“Grandparents, children, grandchildren, siblings, and their spouses. If not up to the second degree, it will create confusion. An Anti-Political Dynasty law would become unenforceable and unimplementable,” Erice said.
