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The Philippines probably has the only Senate in the
entire world whose members are elected nationwide. In other
countries, senators are elected by districts, provinces, or in those
with federal governments, by states. Since they have a national
constituency, many senators consider themselves at par with the
president.
President Manuel L. Quezon
initiated the shift from senatorial districts to a nationwide
constituency to make the Senate a training ground for future
presidents. It is no wonder then that a number of senators are
eyeing 2010, although I wonder if they have had thorough training at
the Senate.
Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago
acknowledged that the itch to become president is a “chronic
disease” among senators. She ran for president in 1992 before her
election as senator, but she maintains that she has already been
cured of this “chronic disease.” She said that she has already
overextended her stay in politics. She is expected to resign from
the Senate next year if she gets elected to the International Court
of Justice.
Gordon, the early bird
In many committee hearings
conducted by Sen. Dick Gordon, his resource persons had to wait for
him for up to an hour because he was usually late. This is why I
sometimes call him “the late Gordon.” Well, there is one area
where Dick came in ahead of all senators—in the declaration of
availability for 2010.
I see nothing wrong with Dick’s
early admission of his presidential ambitions. His candidness in
declaring his interest in the presidency is admirable and worthy of
emulation. I know that other senators are merely playing coy but
they are expected to take a stab at Malacañang in 2010. Aside from
Gordon, those expected to run for president are Senate President
Manuel Villar, Mar Roxas, Ping Lacson and Loren Legarda.
Even without their declaration a
la Dick, some senators had already started their campaign for 2010
with the convening of the Fourteenth Congress on July 23. This was
most evident in the division of the Senate opposition in supporting
SP Villar. Sen. Chiz Escudero, a Villar supporter, said that some
opposition senators did not want Villar to retain his post because
they wanted a level playing field in 2010. The opposition could have
controlled the Senate had they stood by Villar but no, they wanted
to replace him with Senate Minority Leader Nene Pimentel who is no
longer casting a moist eye at Malacañang. In the Senate, the
training ground of future presidents, presidential ambitions hold
sway over the desire to keep the opposition united.
The itch to become president may
be a chronic disease among senators, but Senator Miriam says this
ailment is not without any cure. The antedote?
“Poll surveys and funds,” she
replied. “They will be jolted to their senses once they rate
poorly and once they find out that they could not raise at least P3
billion to fund their campaign and to protect their votes.”
No more heights for Joker to
scale
Sen. Joker Arroyo prevented the
early confrontation between the administration and the opposition
senators in the majority by rejecting the chairmanship of the
blue-ribbon committee, which eventually went to opposition Sen. Alan
Peter Cayetano.
As blue-ribbon chairman in the
Thirteenth Congress, Joker handled all investigations with an even
hand. If Cayetano and Ping believe otherwise, then all they have to
do is reopen the Jose Pidal case which they had been citing as an
example of a blue-ribbon hearing that had no closure. They had
raised so much noise over the Jose Pidal issue before and after the
election. Now that they are in charge, they owe it to the people who
believe in them to pursue the case. I remember that Senator Ping had
claimed to have in his possession tons of evidence on Jose Pidal. If
this is so, then he should unload it, especially since a fellow
opposition senator is at the helm of the blue ribbon.
The refusal of Joker to head the
blue ribbon or any other standing committee is a big loss to the
Senate. But come to think of it, a committee would not give any
added luster to the political stature of Joker. He needs no
committee to show his worth as a senator. He had already proved
everything that needs to be proved by a statesman. I dare say that
there are no more heights for Joker to scale.
efrendanao2003@yahoo.com
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