Privileged mammal

THAT I am. Whenever I launch into one of my litanies, my friends always listen. And when they make a case against me, I listen, too. That is an unspoken privilege among friends.

In Congress and in the Council, you have to get majority of its members to allow you to take the podium and say your piece uninterrupted. But heck if you think your esteemed peers won’t shoot you down after.

Councilor Edison Bilog’s speech on the “done deal” Athletic Bowl development breezed by me Monday afternoon. Partly because it was in Filipino (I share the sentiment of Councilor Nick Palaganas) and partly because I’ve already read the speech beforehand and I was thinking, “Nothing new.” Frankly, I was unimpressed.

However, it was Councilor Elmer Datuin who brought my question to light when he asked why Bilog made no mention of the attempted bribery. Something, as Datuin claimed, Bilog already brandished to media and Facebook earlier.

What followed, according to SkyCable’s kuya Andrew Pinero, was the most watched council session ever.

Several of the councilors were offended saying Bilog’s statements also put them in a bad light while Councilor Richard Cariño stressed the process the proposed development will have to go through even before it could be called a “done deal.”

Vice Mayor Daniel Fariñas put it simply. The speech, in a way, overstepped the council’s authority over matters as this one. And he had to put things in perspective. It was jumping the gun.

And to a lot of viewers, it seemed the gun could now be pointing to Councilor Bilog. Short of committing a political suicide even as he kept stressing he isn’t politicking. He lost some friends back there at the Council and I doubt if he will be given the same privilege again, unspoken or otherwise.

Yes, it was like putting the carriage ahead of the horse. And there’s a reason why a kutsero never stays in front of his horse.

There is a great chance of the kutsero getting trampled by the horse if he goes ahead of it. And this is not the animal’s privilege.

It is just being what it is – a mammal with no peripheral vision. A horse.