MANILA: Church groups in the Philippines welcomed a new law that bans for the first time political dynasties in the country.

President Benigno Aquino signed on Jan. 19 a law that prohibits young people, who have relatives holding elective positions in government, from seeking a seat in the Sangguniang Kabataan or youth council.

The youth council is a legislative body composed of elected young people who formulate policies and implement government programs and projects for the youth.

Most of those who are elected to the council, however, come from prominent political families and clans that have the capacity to mount a campaign during elections.

Authors of the new law have expressed apprehension that the youth council would become a virtual playground for political dynasties.

Political dynasties, which have been banned by the Philippine Constitution, are composed of families whose members have been holding political power for generations. Sometimes, several family members occupy government posts simultaneously.

The country's Catholic bishops have been vocal in criticizing what it described in a 2013 pastoral letter as the "widening practice" of political dynasties in the country that "breed(s) corruption and ineptitude."

Even as the country's Constitution prohibits political dynasties, no law has been passed to implement the prohibition, until Aquino, who comes from an influential political clan, signed the law governing the youth council.

The law states that youth council officials must not be related to any incumbent elected national or local official.

Rep. Kaka Bag-ao, one of the authors of the law, said it is "the first and only law that has an anti-political dynasty provision."

"When it comes to preventing political dynasties from monopolizing power and resources in our communities, the best place to begin is in the [youth council]," said Bag-ao in a statement.

"It's the only law that nips political dynasties in the bud," said Henrietta de Villa, chairwoman of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting, a church-backed election watchdog.

She, however, expressed hope that the law will be strictly implemented. "We will monitor its strict and undiluted implementation," she said Jan. 20.

The bishops' Commission on Youth also welcomed the new law.

"It was a good decision," said Father Conegundo Garganta, executive secretary of the commission.

Gio Tingson, chairman of the National Youth Commission, said in a statement that the provision against political dynasties in the new law "is an important step toward empowered and meaningful youth participation in governance."--Ucannews.com