It had to take an Earthquake

It had to take an earthquake to stop senators from bickering. For weeks, they had been at each other’s throats. Mindanao gets a shattering shake of a quake; then, the senators stop. On one hand, it is relieving that they have all calmed down. On the other hand, I somehow miss the action which to some extent, was exciting.

Did they really stop? Or is this just a pause? Something tells me that this is just a ceasefire and after this, bombs will again be launched and intercepted, with debris falling on the public walking on the streets, much like what happens between Iran and Israel and other Middle East nations. By the time they stand again on the podiums, we might again be shocked by the twists and turns of the thickening plot of the soap opera that is the Senate of the Republic of the Philippines. That could be sooner because the President has called for Congress (which includes the Lower House and the Upper House which is the Senate) to act on priority legislative measures which include the National Center for Geriatric Health.

Amendments to the Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (GASTPE) Act, Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS) Act, Amendments to the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act (UAQTEA), Last Mile and Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged and Conflict-Affected Areas (GIDA) Schools Act, Amendments to the Masustansyang Pagkain Para sa Batang Pilipino Act, Anti-Political Dynasty Law, Presidential Merit Scholarship Program, and

• Such other measures aimed towards strengthening social protection and uplifting the lives of the Filipino people (gmanetwork.com).

Wow! That’s quite a long list of things to do there.

“Dakulun palan gibuhun, tapos nagparadurulak saka nagpara-absent pa kamo.”

Some of these laws really would help Filipinos on health and education. I don’t think there’s nothing political on that list; well, except for the Anti-Political Dynasty Law. But, that’s actually anti-political. No self-serving politician would want to fast-track that, unless the provisions could be circumvented and coiled for egotistical ends. Now, if these had been what the Senate should be doing, change in leadership, accusations of push of charter change towards term extension, introduction of new rules , walkout, absences, and livestreaming were all disruptions. Well, we have some idea why the Senate suddenly took a turn towards that specific string of events; and that has something to do with the House of Representatives transmitting the articles of impeachment against the Vice President. That is somewhat telling of the priorities of the senators who initiated the change of leadership, accusations of charter change, introduction of new rules, absences and all other related events. Hey, there’s a lot of stuff to do, changing the senate presidents and committee chairmanships would just disrupt the processes. Hey, there are a lot of things to do, is presenting allegations of charter change as important as those? Hey, there are many things to do, do we really need new rules for electronic voting?

I’m trying to be objective here and not let bias get the better of me, but, you can’t help but smell the stink. The timing of the changes, and the level of fierce fervor in pushing for new rules, in pushing for the Blue Ribbon Committee hearing to supposedly present these so-called 18 Marines/Bodyguards. Let’s presume that a group of senators, in good faith, with purest of intentions, in the spirit of justice, for correction of corruption, for the promotion of good governance, provided the 18 Zaldy Co body guards a platform to present their version of a “true” story. But, why is this “truth” so questionable and replete of inconsistencies. First, according to reports, just calling them, “Marines” poses some problems, because although some of them may have been Marines at some point, a good number of them were allegedly dishonorably discharged. So, some of them were allegedly into some monkey business already. Okay, okay, that doesn’t make them liars automatically. According to the allegations, a certain priest was delivered with suitcases of cash in a church (supposedly a Catholic church) along Mindanao Ave. It turns out no church exists along Mindanao Ave. Allegedly, initial affidavits contain names of Senators Legarda and Villar siblings, but their names would allegedly disappear on later affidavits. Senator Raffy Tulfo presented a comprehensive list of inconsistencies in the testimonies.

So, they’ll be meeting for the later part of this week; that is, if the Cayetano group comes. Who knows what they have in store for the Filipino people?

Proverbs 14:31: "Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God."