By Danilo P. Padua, PhD
Must be a good investigator, have a keen eye on new developments, not necessarily good looking but must have good projection on TV, can dish out controversial or arresting but ‘safe’ statement from time to time, must be calloused to people’s incisive criticisms, and have the guts to make off-target comments. Passable acting is an advantage. No need to be cerebral. These are the new qualifications of congressmen and senators!
Gone are the days when members of Congress are really statesmen, debating on issues with proper decorum to really craft important laws to benefit the people. Then, Congress was really venerable, with equally highly esteemed members. Now, one can hardly hear or read in newspapers the phrases, ‘august chamber’ or ‘hallowed hall of congress’. It seems there is nothing august or hallowed in our Congress anymore.
We just take a look at what is happening in our current bicameral houses. Or even a couple of the immediately preceding ones. There are senators and representatives who are bent on bringing down people that includes a chief justice and a sitting president, instead of focusing on their primary function of minting laws.
Lawmaking is no longer the main preoccupation of Congress. Its members have arrogated unto themselves investigative power (in aid of legislation, kuno) which is otherwise belonging to units like the police force, NBI, CIDG, etc. It is sickening that when anything of media value crops up, however mundane it maybe, a senator or a congressman will always be heard suggesting for an investigation. It is more fun in congress now! It should be included among the local ‘tourist attractions’. Maybe we should call our congress the highest investigative council but it is no longer a co-equal branch of the government since its lawmaking activity is already greatly diminished.
Our supposed lawmakers easily utter words and phrases, in full view of a worldwide viewing public, that are “uneducated” or not backed up by solid, tenable facts and therefore unbecoming of respected lawmakers.
Makes one wonder really why we still have what we call the lower chamber (house of representatives) and the upper chamber (senate). It is a big waste of money now to have them. They investigate with a lot of media funfare but at the end of the day, no law was accordingly crafted. It was a case of self-gratifying and grandstanding of the lowest order.
Currently, there is the Marawi crisis. The threat there is for real. Our people-Christian and Muslim alike-are fighting hand in hand to defuse the threat. Martial law was declared throughout Mindanao to contain and end the crisis. And what do some of our congressmen and senators are shouting? Of all things, they would like to investigate why Martial law was Mindanao-wide! What a bunch of intelligent monkeys. To the credit of some, like senator Gordon, he sees the crisis as a positive to advance economic development and progress as well as cultural renaissance of the Maranaos in the city. Its effect will be long term, according to him, but on a positive note.
If only our lawmakers start drafting real laws that will pro-actively advance people’s welfare, there will be less need of investigations as people will be more satisfied, more at peace. Instead of making laws such as anti-ambulant vending, why not pass laws that will create and provide jobs to the people like the ambulant vendors? Instead of laws immediately banning the cutting of trees, why not have laws that will first encourage the people to plant more trees and make a livelihood out of those trees so they will not cut them. Anything of that sort should result to less problems for law enforcers, and maybe crises such as that in Marawi could be averted.
Meantime, our lawmakers should stop their penchant for investigations. Leave that to the mandated bodies and use their results in crafting laws. They will become more productive. Anyway, there are committee hearings or stakeholders meetings. They should create laws that are pro-people, not anti-people – laws that will breathe more life, so to speak, to the people. By the way, if the qualifications cited at the beginning of this piece, fit future candidates for the senate or congress, we should beware of them. I, for one, will not vote for them since they will just be burdens for taxpayers.
**
Congrats to Ms. Nora Hill Evasco of BSU for landing in the top 5 in the last licensure exam for agriculture. Congrats too to the other 112 new agriculturists from the same school. For the last agriculturist board exam, BSU churned out the highest number of passers among the more than 100 schools offering agriculture course nationwide. The university was never out of the top 4 schools in the total number of passers every year since the board exam was instituted. **
