Friday, October 24, 2008 Seares: Congress inquiries: hate, love By Pachico A. Seares News Sense
PEOPLE are turned off by congressional investigations.
Inquiries by the Senate or the House are often used as platform for grandstanding, with legislators preening and huffing and puffing before TV cameras.
And nothing much happens after all the noise and hype. The aid to legislation for which they're pursued is hardly seen.
The posturing repels not just the "guests" invited or subpoenaed to the investigation but also the public that watches the bullying. It's no hearing: Legislators already think the officials grilled are guilty as sin.
In yesterday's session of the Senate committee on foreign relations, Sen. Miriam Santiago's insults stung not just the high government officials called to explain the millions of cash seized from a PNP officer in Moscow. They also offended people who wanted good manners to go with tough questioning.
The nature of legislative inquiries severely limits results. They don't find probable cause of a crime. The crooks stay free. And the aid to legislation is not clearly seen by a jaded public.
Delivering the blows
Yet, there's a conflicting feeling. People in a way also love legislative inquiries.
The hearings give glimpses of how the legislators can tyrannize such high officials as the PNP chief, DILG secretary, or DBM director.
Nowadays when public officials often get away with high crime, the jabs inflicted at a legislative hearing are savored by
people who wish they were delivering the blows themselves.
It's vicarious and feeds on sadistic impulses. Yet, watching the bloodletting may be the next best thing to seeing the corrupt rot in jail.
