Circuses and slaughterhouses

During a budget hearing, Rep. Mitos Magsaysay, a staunch ally of former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo, gave Secretary Ricky Carandang a severe tongue-lashing, complete with hand gestures and finger-pointing.

 Carandang provoked the ire of Magsaysay by asking whether a question she asked required his answer — a clear insult to her face. But whether Carandang deserved the dressing down or not is beside the point.

 The fact is, hearings and investigations conducted by either house of Congress have now become shameful showcases for the worst displays of abusive behavior and bad manners by senators and congressmen.

 Magsaysay could have risen above the insult with the finesse worthy of her name and upbringing. Or if she really ached to cut Carandang down to size, especially since as a former TV anchor, he was as bratty as they came, she could just have gently nudged him about basic niceties.

 To be sure, that Magsaysay and Carandang belong to opposite sides of the political fence almost already ensures an inevitable clash. But avoiding the expected fireworks would have shown where the finer qualities of either of them resided.

 In the end, nobody emerged a better person from the encounter. And while reports said the two supposedly made up behind the scenes, who are the two really fooling? Congressional hearings have become virtual circuses, and a slaughterhouse for the legalized murder of character.

 Over at the Senate, things are not any better. In fact they are even worse. The Senate has just detained an accountant of Rep. Ignacio Arroyo, brother-in-law of you-know-who and thus fair game for every legislator lusting to publicly humiliate and scalp political victims.

 In the ongoing investigation into a helicopter deal involving Arroyo and the Philippine National Police, Senator Panfilo Lacson moved to have the accountant detained, calling her a liar for no other reason than that her answers did not match the conclusions he has already formed.

 If Lacson already knew the real deal and had the evidence, why did he not file charges in the proper court? Why did he still find it necessary to parade people in public? Just so he can strip them of their dignity? Where is due process and presumption of innocence?

 Congress is not a trial court where legislators can pass judgment on the innocence or guilt of people. It can only invite guests and resource persons who it must accord due courtesies and respect, not subject to the worst kind of arrogance and verbal abuse.

 And to think many of the legislators who are most unforgiving of their guests are worse than the people they mercilessly humiliate. At least Magsaysay has not had any brush with the law. But Lacson? One can almost puke listening to him grill his guests.

 Worse, when asked by reporters when the detained accountant can be freed, Lacson replied it depended on which side of the bed he wakes up in the morning. How alarming that a senator can equate individual freedoms and the right to due process with his personal mood in the morning.

 But then, Lacson is just running true to form. One cannot expect someone who was once on the run from the law to be truly appreciative of how the law works. And that is where the irony lies, because he is a maker of laws who, incidentally, everyone must address as “honorable.”

 For sure, Congress is not giving up its power to conduct hearings and investigations. But while hearings may be necessary for legislation, investigations haven’t lived up to expectations. As an aid to legislation, the record of investigations in the making of laws is zero.

Clearly there are only two things these investigations are good for. One, they vastly improve the public exposure of otherwise underperforming solons. Two, they prove the perfect tool to harass political enemies.