If you want to run for office, it is enough that you’re functionally illiterate. For as long as you can read and write, it doesn’t matter whether or not you can understand.

The proliferation of lawmakers who are dumb and stupid proves this. Every Congress, we see people from all walks of life try their luck to secure senatorial and congressional seats, bound by one common denominator — their seeming inability to comprehend even the basic ABCs of lawmaking.

When I was working for the late Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago and later as a consultant to other apropos offices, I was up close and personal with these idiots who obviously make a mockery of our legislative processes.

In fact, I remember one senator who, in fairness, actively participated in congressional hearings and floor deliberations but was blatantly clueless as to what was happening and what he was doing.

He would go through the motions by reciting the speeches prepared by his staff, sometimes even literally reading everything that was in there, including instructions like “turn to page two” or “smile and look confident.” Sometimes still, he would ask questions which he had previously asked and would only know about it because his staff had told him so.

In another case, the secretary of an old senator phoned us, asking for an advance copy of the supposed questions Senator Miriam would ask during interpellation late in the afternoon. Her boss was the sponsor and main author. So we sent her the questions. A few minutes later, she called again, asking whether we could also provide the answers and perhaps translate them into Filipino. Miriam, finding the request amusing, gave her go signal while taking pity on such a poor, unfortunate soul, whose only mortal sin is that he is dense and ignorant.

Last year, I attended a Senate inquiry on a measure that seeks to provide access to public information. The chair of the committee, who incidentally used to be a popular action star, proceeded to ask each resource person to read the position paper of the agency or sector he represents while combing his mustache in the process. He did not ask any probing questions or inquire further about the measure. Clearly, he didn’t know any better and was even somehow spaced out while pretending he was listening. He simply adjourned the hearing, saying he would prepare the committee report.

These are just a few anecdotal examples of how the Senate has declined over the years. For the benefit of the younger generation, there used to be a time when the majority of the seats were occupied by illustrious lawyers and professionals. The likes of Claro M. Recto, Lorenzo Tañada, Jovito Salonga, Arturo Tolentino, Joker Arroyo, Nene Pimentel and Miriam Defensor Santiago come to mind.

Today, the Senate is the home of celebrity senators such as Robinhood Padilla, Jinggoy Estrada, Bong Revilla and Raffy Tulfo. While I do not doubt their sincerity and, to a certain extent, their credibility, they are a far cry from their counterparts of days gone by.

The Constitution sadly only requires Filipino citizenship, possession of the minimum age requirement, and the ability to read and write as qualifications to run for public office. In one recent case, in fact, the Supreme Court emphatically declared that no law can impose additional requirements by striking down a provision in the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act that requires senatorial candidates to undergo a mandatory drug test as a prerequisite to running.

This means that unless we amend the Constitution, there is no way we can expand the basic demands of public office. This is why the onus is on us, the electorate, to vote and choose wisely — which, of course, is lamentably not happening considering that our elections are personality-based and usually not anchored on fitness, experience, and capability.

To be honest, it’s odd that while meager jobs require some academic requirements, here we are stuck in a system that enables the unqualified to lord it over in public service.

Maybe, instead of holding an election, the Comelec might as well submit the electoral contest to a mere raffle draw. At least there, the competent ones have a greater chance of winning.