THE 16th Congress adjourned Wednesday, Feb. 3, as the campaign period for the May national and local elections near. It was, I would say, a tumultuous final session for the House of Representatives because of the lobby to override President Noynoy Aquino’s veto of the bill that sought to increase by P2,000 the pension of Social Security System (SSS) pensioners. Senior citizens who sat in the gallery resorted to shouting when it became clear Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares’s override move failed to get any traction in the House.
In Congress’s other chamber, Senate President Franklin Drilon, who is up for reelection, had the last word when he ticked off the achievements of the Senate, which he headed since 2013. From then up to now, the chamber approved 284 measures, 116 of which were passed into law. But that won’t be what this Senate would be remembered for (Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile claimed many of the bills passed were of local application).
When I close my eyes and focus on this Senate, what I remember most is, first, the arrests of Enrile and Sens. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. and Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada for plunder. For the first time in Congress’s history, three senators fell in an all-out campaign against corruption.
It wasn’t just the Senate whose members faced graft charges following the surfacing of whistle blowers led by Benhur Luy who exposed the widespread anomalies involving the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF). Many past and present members of the House of Representatives were also brought to court by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Office of the Ombudsman.
But back to legislation, or on the bills that lawmakers did or didn’t pass. I say the 16th Congress will be remembered more for titillating its constituents. Because the PNoy administration styled itself as promoters of the straight path (“daang matuwid”) of governance, sensitive measures were allowed to roll in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. These include the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill, the anti-political dynasty bill and the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).
Because in the first half of PNoy’s term the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) bill finally became law, hopes were high that the measures I mentioned earlier would also sail through later. But the FOI and the anti-political dynasty bills languished for years in both chambers of Congress with lawmakers, sensing that passing the measures would not be to their best interests as public servants and politicians, played the teasing game instead. They pretended to be serious in tackling these when in reality most were against these.
But what is the most frustrating for me is the failure of Congress to pass the BBL, which would have been a game-chager as far as the secessionist rebellion in Mindanao is concerned. Everybody was high on it until the Mamasapano, Maguindanao encounter happened and the May 2016 elections neared.
The Mamasapano clash killed 44 Special Action Force (SAF) troopers and the Moro rebels ended up becoming an object of hate. BBL became collateral damage. Meanwhile, lawmakers saw the widespread anger as an opportunity to grandstand and get pogi points from voters.
But I agree with Prof. Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, a member of the peace panel in talks with Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels. The death of the BBL does not mean an immediate breakout of the war in Mindanao. The peace talks will continue and hopefully, under better climes, another BBL-like measure will finally make it through Congress.
That, though, is dependent on who the people will elect as president in May. It will be up to the next administration to pursue the talks and push these to their desired conclusion. But if a president with the temperament of a Joseph Estrada is elected, a full-scale war could erupt again in Mindanao.
(khanwens@gmail.com/ twitter: @khanwens)