EDITORIAL - Conduct unbecoming

Monday’s session has to be one of the lowest points in the annals of the Senate. Though the chamber has rules barring senators from insulting colleagues at least on the Senate floor, name-calling became the order of the day, topped by the vulgar remark of Senate Minority Floor Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. about newlywed Sen. Mar Roxas.

Pimentel must have been bored or was trying to be funny, though women were certainly not amused. Or he might have been miffed after being described by Sen. Jamby Madrigal, an ally of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, as part of Sen. Manny Villar’s “choo-choo train.” But Madrigal has had periodic bouts of bizarre behavior, while Pimentel, as one of the senior members of the chamber, is expected to know better. Statesmanship and wisdom do not grow with age in that chamber.

Yesterday, after two days of trying in vain to secure a vote to censure Villar over the C-5 controversy, Enrile and his colleagues finally buckled down to the many urgent legislative tasks that need final congressional action before the two chambers adjourn next week for the start of the campaign period.

In between rushing to pass urgent bills, senators should take a second look at their rules of conduct, so that members of the 15th Congress will not reinforce public perception that the legislature is packed with boors and amateur clowns.

The points raised in the official Senate report on the C-5 issue have been known since last year — refuted by Villar at a press briefing, insisted on by his critics, refuted again, and so on, like political football. After the recent partisan debates, the Senate has become a poisoned environment for unearthing the truth. Villar is a strong contender in the presidential race in May, while Enrile heads a party whose standard-bearer, deposed President Joseph Estrada, is not only trailing Villar but is also seeing his survey ratings slipping. Villar, censured or not, will just have to await the people’s verdict.

The recent sessions should remind those who will become part of the 15th Congress that they need to review their rules, including those on parliamentary conduct. If senators want to be called “honorable,” they should show that they deserve it.