Senator Risa Hontiveros has filed a bill seeking to overhaul the party-list system by banning political dynasties and government contractors from participating in it.
Hontiveros filed the Revised Partylist System Act, Senate Bill No. 1656, which aims to bar members of political dynasties from becoming party-list nominees or representatives.
The measure also seeks to prohibit party-list nominees and sitting representatives who have direct or indirect interests in government contracts from holding party-list seats.
The senator said the proposal is intended to stop the use of the party-list system by powerful families and contractors who exploit it to gain political influence. “Kung gusto nilang rumaket, huwag nilang gamitin ang partylist system.”
According to Hontiveros, the bill seeks to reclaim the party-list system for ordinary Filipinos who have been pushed out of political representation by individuals and groups using the system to consolidate power.
A counterpart measure, House Bill No. 7074, was also filed in the House of Representatives by Akbayan Party-list lawmakers Reps. Chel Diokno, Perci Cendaña, and Dadah Ismula, together with Dinagat Islands Rep. Kaka Bag-ao.
The House measure mirrors the Senate proposal and seeks to strengthen the party-list system by preventing it from being used by entrenched political and economic interests.
The filing of the measures comes as lawmakers revisit long-standing concerns over the capture of party-list seats by political clans and business groups, more than three decades after the Constitution mandated the regulation of political dynasties through an enabling law.
