WordWell

(I will be transferring all my blogs here to Blogspot.com)

Former Joseph Estrada was close to being deified at the height of his election in 1998. He was the perfect man for the job: an inveterate drunkard, a dropout, and a movie actor who you can graciously accost to attend your sister’s wedding. He made history as the first president to be deficient of moral ascendancy, when tales of palatial love nests built for his mistresses and millions of payoffs from jueteng lords were brought to public.

As his impeachment proceedings were aired, television stations found a new moneymaking program aside from telenovelas and cheap local soaps. People bought the rumor, glued to the boob tube in time for the congressional investigation, and consequentially ratings soared up. Immediately the Senators have also found a novel way raking in pogi points. By doing much posturing, being unreasonably irascible, and whimsically snapping at witnesses, they were hailed the new heroes of the government, the new hope of the people.

And thus Erap must have done another history when he left Malacanang in 2001: a fully made up Senate turned showbiz hub.

When Juan Ponce Enrile inherits the Senate presidency from Manny Villar this week, he is handed down with a legislative body composed of superstars and divas in designer suits. He must be familiar with the sight of solons-slash-thespians in his midst, because as he turns inwardly he must have realized he is one of them and that they are one of him: hungry for popularity, hankering for photo ops, and eager for exposure.

Thus Enrile is burdened with the biggest problem confronting the Upper House now - its fondness to theatrics and sensationalism.

The signs are all around him. Senators do not stop desecrating the hallowed halls of the Congress by unabashed display of smugness to strengthen name recall. Turn your TV now and you will see them shoving cosmetic products. They are now flagrantly enticing you to try their approved brands of instant noodles, toothpastes, and detergents. By 2010, visiting your voting precincts will be like going to your sari-sari store. By 2016, visiting your voting precincts will be like going on a shopping spree.

The problem with the Philippine Senate is that it leaves so much freedom on the conduct of investigators during legislative hearings. And the problem with senators becoming product endorsers is the same: they are not liable to any prohibitions. Well, they are not problems to start with. In societies that place high standards of ethical judgment, laws are not needed to tell solons what to do and importantly, what not to do. That leaves you to thinking just what kind of society do we have. In governments that value integrity above all else, laws are needless and redundant as politicians exercise - without being told to by law or by force - decency. That leaves you to thinking just what kind of government have we enshrined.

Lest people forget and lest our new Senate President forgets, the Senate is not a studio where pouting and flaunting are welcome and legitimate. Lest people forget and lest our new Senate President forgets, the Senate is a sweatshop where legislative hearings are simply that, legislative. They are conducted so that laws are crafted. Laws that could either absolve a 700-billion scam, or send big-time looters to jails. Laws that liberate us from electing thieves as national leaders. Laws that could fertilize hectares of farmlands, send millions to schools, and distribute opportunity and hope to the poor.

Senate probes are performed in aid of legislation, not for standing ovation.

~ by emelito-torres on November 28, 2008. Tagged: Juan Ponce Enrile, senate