Manila, March 17 -- Lanao del Sur 1st District Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong on Tuesday pushed for the passage of a bill banning political dynasties, saying Congress can no longer afford to ignore a clear constitutional directive.

"Today, we have the opportunity to make history. Today, we fulfill a long-standing constitutional mandate, 40 years in the making," Adiong, chair of the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms, said in sponsoring House Bill No. 8389 before the plenary.

The measure - principally authored by Speaker Faustino "Bojie" Dy III and Majority Leader Ferdinand Alexander "Sandro" Marcos, with 173 other lawmakers as coauthors - seeks to implement a provision of the 1987 Constitution that has remained unenforced for fou...