Here's to Hoping

To the Senate President, 

Shame on you! Shame on you  for even merely entertaining the idea of distributing those funds to your senator friends. Shame on you for tainting the honorable office that you hold. Mostly, shame on you for demeaning yourself. I was beginning to look up to you after your incredible speech during the impeachment trial. Now, those expectations just dropped a hundred degrees below zero. I am sorry that I might cause you some hurt if you ever get to see this. I am sorry that you are old enough to not change. And I am sorry that your better judgement might have gotten lost somewhere in the books and papers you have piled up. Maybe it's somewhere in your gloomy office at PECABAR *yes I've been there a few years ago on a career trip*. Mostly though, I am sorry that I think this way of you and you probably don't even deserve it. But what would I know, I'm still learning.

Forgive me for this ungraceful note, but I think it is just for you to hear such a criticism especially at this time when expectations have run higher and higher than they ever have. I thank the President for that. I was hoping to see the same illustrious performance from the senate, but then again, the people there still do not seem to know what being a senator truly means. Again, I apologize for tarnishing your reputation even more, but this is not my intention.

Prudence and honor are merely some of the compositions that I look for in a statesman. Sadly that does not seem to be present in many of our legislators. I do not hope to offend any more than I might already have. But you know how the Tagalog saying goes, "bato bato sa langit, tamaaan huwag magalit." I believe that our ancestors came up with that idiom for a good reason. However, as to you sir, I expect no hurt because I want to believe that a Senate President does not have anything to be embarrassed or ashamed of. I still want to believe that. And I am hoping that I will soon learn to. I am hoping that soon, I will come to have some form of faith in the legislature.

I am nothing but disappointed in what transpired in that session. The President's headlining comment made my day then. I seriously hope not to see anymore setbacks from this branch than it has accumulated. But to me, the lowest point of that confrontation was the mere fact that it had to happen at all.

First  of all, why doe the Office of the Senate President give out such funds to other members of the senate? For what use is it? I should think the answer is obvious but I refuse to state it out loud because I said, I wish to gain even a shred of faith in this branch. And it is proving to be more difficult than I had hoped. Those funds were initially meant for what? I was under the impression that members of senate had a pork barrel as well because it was to "aid in executing projects as approved in legislature". Though what these projects are I have no idea. Perhaps I should care to ask the common passerby. Or perhaps the little man crossing the street carrying a rice sack filled with assorted items to his home on the corner of the side walk next to the decrepit street light. Or I could be wrong. Perhaps those funds were meant for the internal operations and daily functions of your office? Please do educate me on this matter.

Either way, I need a very basic answer to a very basic question. What were those funds of the office for? Why were they distributed to members of the senate? And, perhaps most important for this sparked all the controversy, why were the amounts distributed uneven as to the four members? You might not see this, but I am hoping for an honest and honorable answer good sir.

Second of all, why did you retaliate during the interrogation? Being the intelligent man that you are and the knowledgeable lawyer I know you to be, why on earth would you answer that way?

In criminal law, it is common knowledge that flight is an evidence of guilt. To this end sir, that manner of speech you did shows a retaliation that tries to escape from a problem. I am not sure if this lackluster defense of yours is due to your age, but nonetheless, your honor should have spoken true for you. And with that I pity you. I pity you for despite the riches you have gained, which I know you will also try to disguise, the end of your graceful career  as a statesman will always be tarnished with your ungracious evasion of that question.

I am sorry Mr. President. I am sorry your peers at the senate hoped to remove you from your position. I am sorry nothing is going well for you now. But when you get to see this, and I am hoping that you do, I hope you come to realize that at the end of all this, nothing is more worth than living for the betterment of all. Nothing, sir. Nothing.


Hoping for more enlightened days,


Czarina

True Colors are Shining Through

Forgive me for the very cynical attitude that I usually put in my entries. But could you blame me for doing so when I live in a country where politicians center their arguments during sessions in congress on personal debts? If you have not heard of the news, then by all means, feel free to search around for articles on the recent confrontation between two Philippine senators during session. Particularly ones that pertain to their arguments on personal debts, when the session was meant to have been for discussing the unnecessary expenses from the Office of the Senate President.

I might have said too much already. But just to give you a brief background, here's the gist. The Senate President was being accused of distributing the exclusive funds of his office to other members of the senate. Based on their arguments, it appears this is a usual practice of the office. The distribution-- its occurrence, and the amounts released--, it would seem, is based purely on the Senate President's discretion. However, on the recent distribution, a few members of senate revolted stating the funds they were given were outrageously less than those given to others. Because of this, they  confronted the Senate President and questioned his action of distributing his office's funds "unnecessarily".

Well, if I were these senators, I really would feel like I was ripped off and deprived of my right to those funds! I mean, a quarter of a million is a very long way from the two million the others got! 

As to the Senate President, shame on you! Shame on you  for even merely entertaining the idea of distributing those funds to your senator friends. Shame on you for tainting the honorable office that you hold. Mostly, shame on you for demeaning yourself. I was beginning to look up to you after your incredible speech during the impeachment trial. Now, those expectations just dropped a hundred degrees below zero. I am sorry that I might cause you some hurt if you ever get to see this. I am sorry that you are old. And I am sorry that your better judgement might have gotten lost somewhere in the books and papers you have piled up. Maybe it's somewhere in your gloomy office at PECABAR *yes I've been there a few years ago on a career trip*. Mostly though, I am sorry that I think this way of you and you probably don't even deserve it. But what would I know, I'm still learning. (the extensive part of this paragraph/ letter is posted in the next entry)

As to the four senators, and well, the other silent ones as well, I really hope you do know what a senator's career description is. At the very least that is my expectation of you. That is my expectation of you as the senators of today. My expectations of a senator in general are different. But I wouldn't bother posting them here because I know you wouldn't bother knowing either.

But kidding aside, I do think the manner the Senate President answered the inquiries thrown at him was very ungracious and lack-luster. I am very disappointed in him to say the least. I am very disappointed in all of them. But I guess my expectations should not have been raised too much. After all, the President of the Philippines cannot control their actions, nor their election. *ehem!*

Speaking of which, I do commend President Aquino for his take on this incident in senate. It seems he is very frustrated that he can do nothing  to alleviate the dirt from this branch of government. I share your sentiments Mr. President. I truly do. However, you, dear Filipino citizen reader, can.

The race for the senatorial  elections is in a few months. Oddly enough, I have only begun to see media advertisements of these candidates just a couple of weeks ago. I guess that show how effective the new election policy on advertisement banning is. Thank you to whoever pushed for finally implementing this and to the people who worked on it. Now I don't have to switch channels as much as I used to during campaign periods.

If you haven't seen their commercials yet, try watching out for them on your local channels AT YOUR OWN RISK!
I cannot provide a link to any video as none is available at this time

I appreciate the fact that they're trying to portray them selves as "simple approachable and goodwilled" people. However, I also appreciate the fact that I know advertisements are just that. They're advertisements. Meaning they convey the image that is expected of the viewer to like. Translation, what you see in TV is probably not true. Some of them perhaps convey a genuine image of the product, yes. But I forgot one thing. This is politics. What are the products in their advertisements? I honestly am not sure.

If you do watch their advertisements you will find a common trend. Used to be it was "helping the poor by doing charity work" or "giving to the poor their basic needs". What happened to the poor in those advertisements? I do not know. I'm guessing they're still poor given the fact that senate hasn't even come up with a good enough legislation these past few years to boost the economy.  That or those people were just really good actors, or the media just never sensationalized other works of legislation. Lately though the new theme of these commercials is "helping the Filipino get better jobs" and "enriching the Filipino living". Any difference? YES! It appeals more to the middle class and those who are in the lower brackets of society. Why the change? Because people finally realized all the falsities in the previous ones. This one seems more realistic does it not? YES! But that does not mean they will materialize. As I said, an advertisement is merely and advertisement.

I warned you in the beginning of this entry that I tend to be very cynical.

That aside though, I am not saying do not vote. That is a very irresponsible thing to do. I clearly remember one of my professors stating recently that "Voting should not be a right. It should be a responsibility, an duty, an obligation." I could not agree with him more. This might give you something to think about too, and I really hope it does. I remember my sister also telling me, "if you keep thinking every single one of them deserves no spot in office then nothing will happen, and no one will ever vote." On that note, I encourage you to choose very very carefully who to vote for.

So, the next time you see their faces and names plastered with wide smiles across your screen, try to do the following:
1. List down their names
2. Search for ANY, and I mean any, entries about them on the internet.
3. Read all those pertaining to them on official and unofficial publications
4. Build a credential list on them. Type this in if you want
5. Make a mental criticism on their capabilities to intelligently write and construe the law. Also, take note of those who are husbands, sons, daughters, siblings or wives of any existing politician.
6. Take note of these the next time you see any ads pertaining to them, or them in person.
7. Vote based on these notes. Please choose ones that care enough, and know the ways of the law.



With that, I leave you with a quote I cherish on politics from one of my favorite books:
"I ask you, what could the woman do, left by the death of her husband with five little children, and two families who though only of grasping the crown? I am surprised she didn't do worse."- Henry IV, Confessions of Catherine de Medici



Charmed,


Czarina