Sunday column: The 14th Congress

Memories of the Thirteenth Congress did not edify the way Bonifacio’s bolo would if entrusted unto our hands even for just a minute. We hold it at arm’s length knowing that it could not even muster a quorum to pass key legislation in its last four days of existence. We have seen senators and congressional representatives come and go, through history’s revolving door. Tomorrow, we shall bare witness to the opening of the 14^th Congress, still hoping for the best but knowing that the quality of our leaders does not shine as brightly as those whom we’ve met in the past.

My first government job was as a researcher in the Office of Senator Ernesto Herrera. That job entitled me to a desk and a modest paycheck augmented by the opportunity to listen in to congressional hearings and debates on various issues and concerns. I loved the old Senate! They held sessions at the Executive Building along Taft Avenue. The white edifice stood solemnly with its stately pillars, red carpet, and ornate ceilings. One would not dare show up in its doorway wearing frayed jeans and a round-collar shirt even if he or she were a senator. It was just not done.

Senators Jovito Salonga and Neptali Gonzales, who both became Senate Presidents, chose their words carefully, ascertaining that their string of words must tilt ever so gently in favor of wit, soul, and wisdom. The neophytes like my former boss, Senator Herrera and Senator Joey Lina, were challenged to show up at work, well read and energized, eager to charge at the windmills of sovereign debates. It was like a classroom except even the teachers were eager to learn from one another. Back then, if a senator was unprepared to defend his bill, it was better for him to stay away because his enlightenment on the Senate floor can come at a very high price.

Today, I see fragmented institutions and very few worthy intellectuals. The House of Representatives has so many factions but the most acceptable Pied Piper is always the one annointed by the Palace. The Senate, by virtue of the people’s mandate, should have been opposition-dominated and thus, opposition-led. Political spin about which faction or individual surrendered the Senate to the administration side will have little traction now that the 14^th Congress is underway. I believe that performance and content – not the usual political spin and gimmickry- will drive the nation’s journey to 2010. This then puts the most compromised among the contenders immediately on the losing end.

I anticipate that the State of the Nation Address of President Gloria Arroyo tomorrow will focus on her legacy agenda underpinned by the need for peace and unity in the country. I expect that the stories of the 14^th Congress will be replete with the usual verbal skirmishes but that this shan’t matter much to the average Filipino who has more urgent problems to worry about than the petulant behavior of politicos.

The new opposition bloc in the Senate excites me, however. Senator Trillanes is an extraordinary straight-talker. Senator Mar Roxas is exceedingly credible in the economic and fiscal front. Senators Biazon, Lacson, and Pimentel are old hands in exposing fraud of all kinds and shapes. Senator NoyNoy Aquino will be under daily pressure to bring honor to his brilliant father’s memory. Senators Loren Legarda and Jamby Madrigal have their own advocacies to fight for. If they present a united front, the administration solons and so-called independents in the Senate would have little room for rest and complacency.

The previous Congress that we knew too well, and the new Congress that opens tomorrow can be two different creatures. The Lower House can still reinvent itself as fissures among factions lead to checks and balances within the ranks. The Senate with its humdrum rhetoric and ghostwritten speeches must unleash a collective arsenal of wit, soul, and wisdom. Only then can both chambers increase its audience share and claim more airtime than the gory murders, rapes, and suicides that grace primetime news. I look forward to the 14th Congress. I ask our legislators to make us proud for having chosen well in the last elections.