The Supreme Court on Sept. 16 ordered the Senate and House of Representatives to pass an anti-political dynasty law, ruling that Congress' 39 years of silence on an explicit command in the 1987 Constitution amounts to "grave abuse of discretion," according to a Philstar.com report. Malacañang said the following day that it backs the ruling — even though the administration's own legislative allies are the ones who have spent nearly four decades not writing it.
The Court granted, unanimously, a set of petitions filed in 2025 by civil society groups and individuals seeking to compel congressional action under Article II, Section 26 of the Constitution, which directs the state to "prohibit political dynasties as may be defined by law." No enabling law has ever been passed. In the mandamus ruling, penned by Justice Ramon Paul Hernando, the Court wrote that the constitutional provision "is not merely an aspiration but a constitutional command," according to Philstar.com's report on the decision.
Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen was quoted warning that political dynasties can "entrench inequality, weaken accountability, limit electoral competition and voter choice," while Justice Henri Jean Paul Inting affirmed that Congress has "a clear constitutional duty" that is enforceable through mandamus — a legal remedy ordinarily used to force a government body to perform a duty it has no discretion to refuse.
The ruling lands awkwardly for the House, which in June became the first chamber in Philippine history to pass an anti-dynasty measure on final reading — House Bill 8389, with 267 votes. Pulpulitiko reported at the time that five of the bill's original co-authors withdrew their support, calling the final version "watered down," and that business and civil society groups found it allowed relatives beyond the second degree of consanguinity to hold office simultaneously across different levels of government, with no limit on succession or position-swapping within a family. That bill has been idle in the Senate ever since.
Reaction from lawmakers was swift. Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong, who sponsored the House measure, called the ruling a "constitutional wake-up call" and said "Congress must finish the anti-political dynasty law now," per Philstar.com. Sen. Risa Hontiveros urged colleagues to resume plenary deliberations, offering to share legislative groundwork already done to speed up passage. Malacañang, for its part, said only that it backs the Supreme Court's position — a considerably easier position to hold than actually voting a strong version into law.
What the ruling does not do is set a deadline. The Court rejected indefinite postponement but left Congress to determine its own timetable — the same discretion lawmakers have exercised, to no legislative result, since 1987. Nor is it clear whether "finishing" the law means reviving the House's already-passed, critic-flagged version, or starting over with language closer to what reform advocates have sought for two decades. The Senate leadership had not issued a substantive response as of this report.
Context: The anti-dynasty mandate has outlived five presidents without an enabling law. President Marcos listed it among 24 priority bills he pushed at an August LEDAC meeting — a pledge Pulpulitiko noted was one of several similar promises from earlier sessions that went unenacted. During the House floor debate in March, Minority Rep. Erwin Erice accused Marcos of "empty talk" on the issue, and a Pulpulitiko analysis at the time observed that the House's substitute bill was co-authored by Sandro Marcos and a member of the Dy political family — dynasties, in effect, legislating on dynasties. Whether a Supreme Court mandamus changes that political incentive, rather than just its legal exposure, is the open question the ruling itself cannot answer.
Sources
- "SC directs Congress: Pass anti-dynasty law," Philstar.com, Sept. 17, 2026
- "Marcos backs Supreme Court's urgent call for anti-political dynasty law," Manila Bulletin, Sept. 17, 2026
- "Dynasty bill timeline up to Congress," BusinessWorld, Sept. 17, 2026
- "Philippine Supreme Court to Congress: Act now on political dynasties," Khaleej Times