The meek are growing spines

Before the pandemic, one of the most pathetic political cop-outs was Sen. Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel 3rd, son of Aquilino "Nene" Pimentel Jr. Those who were familiar with Nene Pimentel's long and deep involvement in the anti-Marcos struggle can't square off his principled fights and his son and namesake's conformism and timidity. Nene started very early in the struggle against Marcos' authoritarian rule. As a young delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1971-1972, he and a few other delegates opposed at every turn machination to set up Marcos as a president-for-life through the subversion of the Constitution. Nene was elected to the Batasang Pambansa in 1984 and used that post to indict the Marcos government all the time.

The older Pimentel never traded principles for compromise even while in power. During the 1986 snap presidential campaign, he was the self-proclaimed "body-man" of eventual President Corazon "Cory" Aquino, ready to take a bullet for her. Yet, in the vote on the RP-US Military Bases Agreement, Nene, then a senator, defied President Aquino and voted for abrogation.