Smooth Transition in the Senate

It’s all over except for the acclamation. On July 24, the date of the President’s State of the Nation Address, the Senate will witness a smooth transition between Senate President Franklin Drilon and incoming Senate President Manuel Villar. Villar, who ran and won with the tagline, “Sipag at Tiyaga”, will be inheriting a Senate branded as a destabilizing influence by no less than the Office of the President.

From LP to NP, from an oppositionist Drilon to a more moderate Villar, it would be interesting to see whether Senate independence will continue to assert itself amid the flotsam and jetsam of political conformity. The best way to test the waters, so to speak, is Senate action on the Security Engagement Board, a bilateral defense agreement with the United States apparently initiated by our own government that would enable the two allies to cooperate on matters extending beyond the traditional definition of defense and security. Personally, I would rather that the Senate asserts its mandate on behalf of the Filipino people to scrutinize this agreement. Will it do so under a Villar presidency? The incoming senate president is not exactly fond of the world’s lone superpower. It would be interesting to see whether such an assertion would take place.

As to the outgoing senate president, he allowed the Senate to function as the people’s sentinel against executive abuses. Legislative work should not be the sole basis of judging Senate performance. I would rather have these hearings on human rights continue until the military agents cum abductors surface to public jeers rather than see a slew of unfunded laws. The truth is the present Senate has less intellectual sheen. The Lower House, on the other hand, is occupied by a majority of mystics who are allowed to frolic in the Enchanted Kingdom, an invitation restricted to those who have mastered the choreography of Chacha.

The Palace tried to couch its language, not wanting to be seen as overly interested in Senate leadership issues. After all, it had succeeded in castrating a co-equal branch of government through Executive Order 464. But wait, the Supreme Court has ruled this illegal. Once this ruling is reiterated with finality, the probes will start anew and contempt orders will have to be issued against those reluctant to appear. The new Senate President cannot stand in the way of these probes. If he does, his reign in the Disenchanted Kingdom will be short-lived. However, he also has a duty to get more administration measures passed, to make for a more productive Senate. Thus, the leadership transition may be smooth but the journey will never be trouble-free. Villar as Senate President will have to take sides, and enunciate clearly, and at times, forcefully, the position of the Senate on myriad issues. This burden comes with a price — he is also a re-electionist. No doubt the people will watch whether its sentinel has dropped its shield, because of this transition. Incoming Senate President Villar will have to walk the tightrope between Senate independence and the need to pass urgent priority measures. In these troubling times, the two may not necessarily be conjoined. Leading the Senate under such circumtances is a difficult and perhaps, lonely task, and this blogger wishes incoming Senate President Villar the best of luck.