To the LOSERS belong the spoils

THE spoils of armed or political conflicts normally belong to the victor. Alas, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano learned the hard way that this isn’t always the case. While this political dictum is religiously followed in the House of Representatives, it’s not written in stone in the Senate.

Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez of Davao is reaping the fruits of the victory of his party’s presidential candidate, Rodrigo Duterte. Alvarez is just one of only three PDP-Laban congressmen in the incoming 17th Congress but his lifeline to Duterte is enough to convince an overwhelming majority of his colleagues to back his quest for House Speaker. Well, this is to be expected in the House. After all, congressmen certainly know which side of the bread is buttered. Or, as the more cynical among us would say, “Where the carcass is, that’s where the vultures are.”