It is common knowledge that one of the main branches of our government with the primary function of making laws and altering or repealing them, is the Legislative branch, or better known as the Congress of the Philippines. It is also of common knowledge that Congress is bicameral in nature as it is composed of two chambers: the House of Representatives also known as the Lower House and the Senate, a.k.a. the Upper House.
The House of Representatives has been called the Lower House obviously because it is actually composed of members of lesser mental caliber and narrower perspective as they are elected only by people within a particular district or area or as party-list representatives of a particular sector. And as it is now happening, we have seen that the Lower House seems to be living up to its name as it is mostly composed of people of lower stature who can easily be swayed and whipped into action or inaction especially by whoever is in power.
Hence the framers of our various charters past and present deemed it wise to have an Upper House of the legislative branch of government, more familiarly known as the Senate. Its members are elected by the electorate of the whole country so they are supposed to be the cream of the crop, honorable, wise and learned statesmen and women who will ensure quality legislations for the good of the nation and for the promotion of public welfare and interest. In fact the Senate was conceived by the framers of our Charter, and considered by many of our people, as the breeding ground for the presidency.
During the incipient stages of our democratic republic, we really had those kinds of senators envisioned by our Constitution. Unfortunately, over the years, the quality of membership in that body has slowly deteriorated. Right now, we have a Senate composed of people who have utterly failed to live up to such high expectations. Most of them are exactly the opposite of the kind of senators contemplated by the Charter. It seems that there is no more difference between the Upper and Lower House of Congress. Both the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Republic of the Philippines are now looking more and more like one big circus. In fact some say that our Senators are worse than the members of the House of Representative in the performance of their functions.
The latest spectacle displayed by two Senators tangling with each other in connection with the on-going investigation of the Blue Ribbon Committee on the pork barrel scam, graphically showed us the kind of senators we now have. Those who observed the proceedings really felt sad as it dawned upon them while watching the whole show that our Senate now is mostly composed of indicted plunderers, former showbiz celebrities, coddlers of the scam mastermind, one time hatchet man of the martial law regime, members of political dynasties and pretenders to the seat of the presidency of this country. None of them appears to have that aura of “statesmanship.â€
By coincidence or not, while the proceedings was being televised, the internet came up with a barrage of posters apparently addressed to the electorate of this country with the message which says “Stop Electing Idiots in 2016.†It is just really hard not to connect that message to the “show†being aired at about the same time on the proceedings at the Senate session hall before the Senators go into another recess for the Lenten season.
The muckraking between two Senators somehow brings to the fore once more the waste of time and money entailed by the investigation into the pork barrel scam conducted by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee. Undoubtedly the investigation has turned into a political exercise where the opposition and the party in power are throwing mud at each other like in election campaigns. Much of the taxpayers’ money are wasted in this useless investigation which involves only politicians belonging to the opposition. Obviously this is not the kind of investigation that shows the sincerity on the part of this administration in its much ballyhooed fight against corruption. It does not prove at all P-Noy’s straightforward way (as in matuwid na daan) in cleaning the government of graft and corruption.
If P-Noy is really sincere in this regard, he should be the first one to order the Commission on Audit (COA) to look into and report to the public how he spent his own pork barrel allocation when he was a Congressman and later on a Senator. And if he really did not avail of such pork barrel, COA must have such record and could have readily publicized it to erase all doubts. Indeed, if P-Noy really has not availed of the pork barrel during his stint in Congress, he should have requested COA to report that out.
Hence to avoid further waste of time and the peoples’ money, as well as to stop all these publicity about the pork barrel scam, the Blue Ribbon Committee should stop its investigation. Such investigation is not necessary and may only jeopardize the successful prosecution of the case. In fact it is even affording those implicated enough ammunition to prepare for its defense or prolong the case. This is a case that can be fairly and credibly resolved through a judicial, not a political process. The ball is now in the hands of the Ombudsman and eventually the Sandiganbayan. They are the legal and more competent agency who can decide the case and rule on all issues like who can be state witnesses among those involved and who are more credible, both as to their personality and their testimony.
* * *
Email: attyjosesison@gmail.com