I admire Robinhood Padilla for his guts. Neophyte senator yet he wanted nothing for himself but the chairmanship of the upper house committee on constitutional reforms and revision of codes. WOW. I heard and saw from the distance Padilla few times because he was married to a Sicangco girl from our neighborhood. Never I imagined him seated in the upper house and crossing mitts with seasoned colleagues.
In the olden days of the senate, it was either Senators Arturo Tolentino or Jovito Salonga, both known constitutionalist were the choices to chair the said committee which by tradition reserved for luminaries. Our cabalen, Rogelio de la Rosa a matinee idol and king of the silver screen of yesteryears was a colleague of the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. in the senate and it never crossed his mind in presiding in that committee. I am just wondering what Senators Koko Pimentel and Sonny Angara have in mind when Padilla will start defending his bill during the plenary. That I believe will push him to his very edges.
Senator Lito Lapid is an ardent believer of the late Senator Genaro Magsaysay who can be credited to the ‘No talk, no mistake’. Kaya naman tahimik lang ang mama from Porac. He can be credited anyway for sourcing funds for big ticket infrastructure projects like the Porac-Angeles intersection flyover, continuation of the sports complex in barangay Pampang in Angeles City, municipal building in Porac and few more others. All the time Lapid knows his limitations and boundaries. His silence resonates during plenary.
I keep mentioning this in my many articles that were printed in the editorial section of this paper. I can’t fully understand by until the Filipino voters stop sending the qualified in the hallowed halls of an institution reserved for the intellectuals, statesmen and patriots. The likes of Miriam Defensor Santiago, Nene Pimentel, Blas F. Ople, Joker Arroyo and Juan Flavier? And earlier, there were members of the upper house like Arturo Tolentino, Ambrosio Padilla, Lorenzo Tanada, Claro M. Recto, Lorenzo Sumulong, Gil J. Puyat, Raul Manglapus, Roseller Lim, Alejandro Almendras, Benigno Aquino, Francisco Soc Rodrigo, Helena Benitez, Eva Estrada Kalaw and more. All heavyweights. ( Whom can you consider as heavyweights in the current composition of the Senate? )
Like many of us, I expected voters in the May 2022 elections will be more discerning and vote those most qualified. Candidates who are intellectually prepared, statesmen and patriots. They really love our country. Not those perks and privileges of a senator. In my ballots when I went to the polls were Gilberto Teodoro, former Philippine National Police General Guillermo Eleazar, Chiz Escudero, Risa Hontiveros, Migz Zubiri, Chele Diokno and Richard Gordon. I didn’t vote for Mark Villar because I am not in favor to see mother and son in the senate. Likewise, didn’t vote for Jojo Binay because his daughter Nancy is already there. Same thing I Ike Alan Peter Cayetano but his sister Pia is still an incumbent. I skipped the name of JV Ejercito because Jinggoy was also in the running. You ay scratch your head and look towards Heaven, and maybe you’ll ask: Lord what happened?
The senate is one of the enduring political institutions which started in Rome. As I googled, it will disclose that more than five hundred years earlier names like Caius Bruttius,Orestes, Marcus, Cicero and those brilliant men in white robes argued and debated passionately with the best interest of Rome at heart. No nincompoops. And there were no PDAF or pork barrel in those ancient times. And in this modern times, the so-called SOPs which in reality is kickback draw popular figures like movie stars, athletes, TV and radio personalities to vie for a senate seat.