Weaknesses

What happened at the House of Representatives, some of whose consequences continue to remain unresolved to this day, is a symptom of the many institutional weaknesses that undermine and impede our political maturity as a nation. Not even the lesser evil of electing a better speaker in Gloria Arroyo vice the rude and dictatorial Pantaleon Alvarez can mask the weakness.

While it is true, as Lito Atienza explained, that the pre-SONA session was the only time almost the entire House membership can be gathered, the fact that not only did the upheaval nearly derail the SONA itself, it also showed the entire episode to the whole world. It was the Luneta bus hostage crisis all over again, only that the protagonists were infinitely better dressed.

But the symptoms of weaknesses were not confined to the House of Representatives. They swept over to the Senate, or at least to the most self-righteous of the lot. Leading the charge was Grace Poe, who apparently thinks to this day that her adoptive father, the late movie star Fernando Poe Jr., won the presidency in 2010 except that he was cheated by Arroyo.

Poe should know it is one thing to claim cheating and another to prove it. But the allegation has never been proven and Poe knows that. What she does not know is that prior to the allegation, which was at the time the Filipinos went to the polls, the choice in front of them was very clear.

It was a choice between an experienced, highlyeducated, highly-qualified leader and, ah, well, a movie star. Even if that star’s popularity can carry him along some way, it would be an insult to the collective intelligence of the Filipino people to suggest, as Poe continues to do so, that they would rather entrust their future to the clutches of uncertainty.

Many things have been said against Arroyo, and Poe, in reaction to the upheaval at the House, continues to repeat them. Worse, she repeats them absolutely without basis. For the record, Arroyo has not been convicted of anything, and it is one of the bad things about our runaway democracy that people like Poe are allowed to libel her continually with impunity.

But while what Poe thinks of Arroyo is a matter of opinion and not of fact, her meddling in the affairs of a co-equal in the chamber of Congress reflects a complete lack of respect and ignorance of what is expected of her, not as a private person, but

‘It was a choice between an experienced, highly-educated, highly-qualified Leader and, ah, well, a movie star.’

as a senator.

Senators made of sterner stuff and finer character did well to keep to themselves, or in private, what they thought about what happened. That it was only Antonio Trillanes and JV Ejercito who joined Poe is an indubitable reflection of the kind of company those tested under pressure and crisis keep. They cracked under the weight of their own biases.