EDITORIAL – For once, Way Kurat was a disappointment

There were as many reasons as there were people who stayed up late Monday night and until early Tuesday morning in front of their television sets to watch the unfolding drama on the floor of the House of Representatives.

The most prevalent reason was, of course, to see how leadership actually changes hands in Congress. Remember, Jose de Venecia, speaker for five long terms, in effect deprived most people the privilege of knowing how such change looks and feels like. Now they know.

Perhaps the second most prevalent reason was to see how their congressmen would vote and, if they were up to it, to hear their explanations. Most lived up to expectations and did not disappoint their constituencies. But some did limit themselves to a plain yes or no.

And then there were the flood of other reasons that did not measure up to the first two in terms of the depth of real interest in how politics plays out in the Philippines but were nevertheless compelling enough to force people to forego sleep.

There was, however, one wild card reason why people endured the long hours into the night and into the wee hours of the morning, a reason rooted in a desire to see something unexpected and interesting.

That wild card reason was to see how one person, out of the more than 200 congressmen on the floor, would vote. That person was no other than Compostela Valley Rep. Manuel Zamora, or " Way Kurat " to those who know him.

You see, Way Kurat is not your conventional congressman. He is an offbeat person, kind of weird, in the language of the young. He rides a bicycle to Congress or a tricycle if that breaks down. He holds office by his own garden beside the Batasan.

Who can forget the sight of him personally carrying ballot boxes when the House convened as an electoral tribunal? So he is someone to wait up for for his turn to vote, which can be excruciating since his name begins with a Z.

Alas and alack, the long exruciating wait proved to be for naught. For perhaps the first time, Way Kurat disappointed. Zamora went to the podium, took the mike in his hand and whispered " Yes " into it. That was all. He could have saved one entire sordid day.