Euthanasia by absentia

While everybody was paying more attention to the C-5 controversy at the Senate, Congressman Mark Cojuangco of Pangasinan was busy working himself towards a heart attack.

Up to the last session day of Congress, Cojuangco has been hoping against hope that the House of Representatives would make an extra effort to finish pending bills on the floor. However, Cojuangco, who passionately believes in the merits of reviving the Bataan Nuclear plant, was not the only member of Congress who found themselves shut out when acting Speaker of the House Eric Singson decided to end the session due to a lack of quorum.

In a fit of fury and indignation, Cojuangco managed to send his blood pressure far enough to cause him to slump back in his seat. Fortunately, Mark Cojuangco merely had a bout of hypertension and in fairness to Eric Singson the decision to close the session was more of a mechanical and ministerial act related to quorum, rather than malicious intent to bust Cojuangco’s BP.

The fact is, in the Philippines, our Congress is one gigantic aquarium of vested or conflicting special interests. The declaration of a “Lack of Quorum” was merely a formalization of many done deals, where members of Congress already made promises or commitments to support or oppose a particular bill or law by simply stepping out of the session hall.

We may as well call Congress, the House of Magicians because they have given new meaning to the phrase “Now you see it. Now you don’t!” I guess Mark Cojuangco was the last to know that the magicians in Congress had already agreed to do their collective vanishing act.

Days if not weeks before the ultimate blockade, Congressman Edcel Lagman and supporters of the Reproductive Health bill already knew that the RH bill would never make it to the delivery room because many members of Congress were not willing or courageous enough to fight a bunch of aging celibate Bishops about sex and gynecological matters.

It was easier to kill the bill through euthanasia by absentia!

When Mark Cojuangco sponsored the bill on the nuclear plant, many of his colleagues did not want to tell him what they honestly thought of the nuclear plant because they did not want to ruin friendships or alliances and were more concerned about public criticism than the country’s future in terms of energy resources.

Alongside the nuclear plant proposal and the RH bill, another victim of “veto by absentia” or legislative euthanasia was the Freedom of Information Act. Even after weeks of desperate pleadings and appeals, The Freedom of Information Act is once again a broken promise or a fantasy. Truth be told, there is a silent opposition to the bill because just like the “Miranda Law”, the bill “can and will be used against you in a court of law”.

Asking for the passing of the Freedom of Information Act is almost equivalent to passing a “Freedom from Philandering Husband Act” otherwise referred to as a divorce law. None of the various philandering members of Congress or Senate would voluntarily agree to a divorce law because all the money they make or collect will have to be split with their ex-wife.

Until Congresswomen outnumber Congressmen 2 to 1, don’t expect any real empowerment for women!

It is truly sad that the best of proposed laws may make it to Congress, but oftentimes they die not for lack of merit or the strength of opposing arguments, but rather on the power and influence of vested interest. In a democracy that unfortunately is part of reality.

Those who got euthanized by absentia can take comfort in the promise of a telenovela; “May bukas pa”. There is still tomorrow. What bothers me is the crumbling character of our leaders and legislators who seem to have lost the important character of honesty.

Someone told me once:I can forgive a thief, because he may have stolen out of need. I cannot trust a liar because one day he can easily become a thief.

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I am seriously concerned for Noynoy Aquino more than for his Presidential bid. I am worried that he may soon find himself in a pit of regrets the way things are going.

With his ratings no longer as remarkable as before, I actually heard a suggestion from one of his supporters that they may have to evaluate if the “Cory magic” has started to fade. Then there is this persistence on making the campaign a battle between good and evil. Add to this the declaration that there is an unholy alliance between the Arroyo administration and Manny Villar.

Perhaps Noynoy should revisit his steps before he completely loses his way. Martin Luther King once said: those you would change you must first love.

How do you achieve this when everything you stand for is based on making a distinction between your goodness and your opponents’ evil or failings? A man who would step upon his enemies and declare to the world all their sins or shortcomings, in no way becomes a greater.   

Since day one, I have opposed the use of Ninoy and Cory Aquino as springboards or icons for Noynoy’s presidential bid. Not every nation has a Ninoy and Cory. Not every family has heroes in their history. One must never squander an inheritance that came at the price of a life as well as tears. It is a legacy and not just some tool they now dishonor by calling it “magic”.