MANILA — House Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte 1st District Rep. Sandro Marcos said the anti-political dynasty bill recently approved on final reading in the House of Representatives is not yet final and may still be revised during bicameral conference committee deliberations.

In a report, it said that Marcos was referring to House Bill 8389, which seeks to prohibit relatives up to the second degree of affinity or consanguinity from running for public office within the same jurisdiction.

The measure was approved on third and final reading on June 3 with a vote of 267-20-7.

Under the House version, relatives within the second degree may still run and hold office simultaneously, provided they serve in different jurisdictions. This means, for example, that a husband may serve as provincial governor while his wife serves as district representative of the same province.

“I am of the opinion and we have seen it… If we make that bill strict; constrictive, mawawala ang suporta ng (it will lose support in the) Lower House,” Marcos said.

He acknowledged the presence of political dynasties within the chamber, adding, “Let’s call it a spade a spade. There are a lot of political dynasties in the House, and I’d be an idiot if I said I wasn’t from one either. Let’s be honest with ourselves here,” said the eldest son of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Marcos noted that his relatives include Senator Imee Marcos, House Speaker Martin Romualdez, and Ilocos Norte Vice Governor Mathew Manotoc.

“Hindi naman ‘yan ‘yung ginawa dahil ‘yan ang gusto namin na ipasa na bill (We didn’t do that because that’s the bill we wanted to pass). Ginawa namin ‘yan (We did that) because that was the limit to gather enough support from the lower chamber,” he said.

He added that the Senate is unlikely to adopt the House version, and that further changes are expected during bicameral conference committee discussions.

“Now, I highly doubt that the Senate will adopt the House version. When they pass their version, there will be a bicameral conference and there will be another opportunity to amend,” he said.

The Senate version of the bill, approved at the committee level in February, proposes a stricter ban that would prohibit relatives up to the second degree from holding or running for office simultaneously, regardless of jurisdiction.

Marcos said the House needed to pass its version to advance the measure to bicameral discussions, where differences between the House and Senate proposals will be reconciled.

“It was really a matter of getting it through already, for the House to pass it, to get the conversation started. This is not the final result of what the bill would be. Hindi po ito batas (This is not yet a law),” he said.