MANILA — A Catholic bishop and priests calling for good governance joined an online signature campaign Wednesday seeking legislation to curb political dynasties, saying public office must remain a trust of the people.
Bishop Elias Ayuban Jr. of Cubao said the campaign should not be viewed as an attack on any politician, family or political party, but as a question of concentrated political power.
“Public office must never become a family inheritance. It is a public trust entrusted to the people,” Ayuban said at the launch of the digital signature platform at the Obispado de Cubao in Quezon City.
The Dapat Isa Lang movement’s platform allows qualified voters to review a proposed Anti-Political Dynasty Act and submit signatures and required documents online.
The campaign follows a Sept. 16 Supreme Court ruling that Congress has a mandatory constitutional duty to enact a law prohibiting political dynasties after 39 years of inaction.
Under the proposed measure, relatives within the fourth civil degree of consanguinity or affinity would be barred from simultaneously or successively seeking or holding elective public office.
Ayuban, who is also the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Parañaque, said the Church’s role is not to tell voters whom to elect but to form consciences, provide truthful information and encourage responsible participation.
“Political participation is part of our responsibility for the common good,” he said.
Father Robert Reyes, convenor of Clergy for Good Governance, described the campaign as a moral concern involving the common good rather than a partisan political battle.
“This is not a political fight. It is a moral fight, a fight for the good,” Reyes said, adding that public office should serve the people rather than remain concentrated among political families.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines endorsed the Dapat Isa Lang initiative in a Sept. 25 pastoral statement, describing political dynasties as a moral and ethical concern.
The movement, launched in May, seeks at least 7 million signatures, or 10% of the country’s registered voters, for the proposed people’s initiative.
Ayuban said the campaign should help Filipinos recover the meaning of public service, where leadership is “not something to be inherited, but something to be entrusted.”
