The Constitution is explicit in its intent to abolish political dynasties. During the 1986 Constitutional Commission, Prof. Emmanuel Nolledo described political dynasties as a “social malady.” No doubt, Nolledo personally witnessed the proliferation of political dynasties prior to the drafting of the 1987 Constitution.

Regrettably, when Corazon Aquino acquired vast powers after the People Power Revolution, the constitutional prohibition against political dynasties became more of a scarecrow than an enforceable safeguard. The Commission failed to include specific implementing provisions against political dynasties. The Constitutional Commission could easily have inserted a provision—perhaps no more than ten to fifteen words—that would have made the anti-dynasty policy self-executing. But they did not. Why? Because many of the incoming victors fresh from the revolution had family members who believed, at the time, that their surnames carried political magic.

Among these were the Aquino family, the Binay family, the Guingona family, and others ad infinitum. Cory Aquino herself may have been contemplating the future of her family’s political legacy. Perhaps she envisioned her only son, Benigno Aquino III, eventually succeeding her, with the Filipino people viewing it not as dynastic succession but as an exception born out of gratitude for the sacrifice of their family patriarch in service to the nation.

Another reason the anti-dynasty provision was left non-self-executing may have been the expectation that the media would serve as the principal critic of political families whose dominance violated the spirit of the Constitution. Cory Aquino and her anti-Marcos allies relied heavily on journalists and columnists who, by track record, had been deeply critical of political dynasties during the Marcos era. However, many of those prominent columnists—such as Max Soliven and Joe Guevara—have long since passed away and were replaced by a new generation of opinion writers whose principles, some critics argue, are less steadfast.