A walkout that walked over its own principles
What changed, honorable senators? It was neither the technology nor the Constitution.
Daily TribuneWhat changed, honorable senators? It was neither the technology nor the Constitution.
A valuable mentor used to tell me whenever I’d storm out of the living room during a family argument. “Hindi ka ba marunong makipag-usap (Don’t you know how to talk things through)?”
She’d say, “Ang daling umalis. Ang hirap manatili at ipaglaban ang sinasabi mo (Leaving is easy. It’s hard to stay and fight for what you believe in).”
She was right. Walking out feels powerful for about three seconds. Then you’re just standing in the kitchen, alone, while everyone else continues the conversation without you.
The Senate minority probably never had a guru like mine.
Their walkout over online voting wasn’t really a stand for principles. In a nutshell, it was a retreat from it. In case they forgot, the evidence against them isn’t buried in some secret archive. It’s right there in the Senate’s own records, which have gathered digital dust like an old tweet, and hoped nobody would scroll far enough to find it.
Netizens put in more work with their thumbs.
In July 2019, Senator Ping Lacson and Senate President Franklin Drilon filed Proposed Senate Resolution No. 51 to allow then detained Senator Leila de Lima to participate in plenary sessions through teleconferencing.
They argued that denying remote participation “unduly deprived” millions of Filipinos of representation. It sounded reasonable.
Then February 2021 came. Drilon, together with Senators Risa Hontiveros, Kiko Pangilinan and Ralph Recto, filed Proposed Senate Resolution No. 658. This time, they wanted remote participation expanded beyond plenary sessions to include committee hearings, electronic communications and digital platforms.
Back then, remote voting was a democratic innovation. It was necessary, humane, and a triumph for representation in the legislative institution.
Fast forward to today. Suddenly, online voting is an institutional abomination. They proudly claimed that it is a threat to democracy that is worth walking out over.
What changed, honorable senators? It was neither the technology nor the Constitution. Not even the Senate rules — which, by the way, already institutionalized hybrid sessions through Senate Resolution No. 43 during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Only the politics changed. If we’re being real, principle doesn’t wear a mask. Convenience does — and calls itself a hero, wearing a cape to save its own skin.
The Minority has every right to question safeguards, transparency and implementation details. Those are legitimate debates worth having. But walking out while pretending the concept itself is unprecedented? While acting like remote voting just fell from outer space last week?
People are fed straight-up dishonesty — equally worse as insulting the public’s memory.
Netizens remember who filed what. They remember who argued what. Filipinos remember because we live in a country where political amnesia benefits the powerful, so we’ve trained ourselves to keep receipts.
The Majority 13 was right to call out the double standard. And Senator Imee Marcos was blunt about something else too — because while we’re talking about Senate honor, she actually commented about it.
“Parati kaming sinisisi na ibinaon daw namin ang dangal ng Senado. Ang totoo, nawala ang dangal ng Senado nung pinagtatakpan yung mga mastermind ng flood control, nung hininto yung Blue Ribbon [Committee hearing] (“We’re always blamed for burying the Senate’s honor. The truth is the Senate lost its honor when it covered up the masterminds behind the flood control scam, when it stopped the Blue Ribbon investigation),” she was quoted as saying in a recent media forum.
That one hit right in the gut and actually hurts. Former Blue Ribbon Committee chairperson Panfilo Lacson couldn’t secure enough signatures to sponsor the partial committee report on the flood control corruption scandal — after former minority members refused to sign and allegedly urged others to do the same.
The same people who once championed remote participation now suddenly find it unacceptable. The same people who stopped an anti-corruption investigation now posture as defenders of institutional integrity.
We can’t blame the many who asked — was it a distraction disguised as a walkout?
One thing about democracy that’s uncomfortable to admit is that it requires staying in the room. Not stomping out for cameras, not filing resolutions you’ll later pretend never existed, not covering for corruption, and then pretending to care about the process.
It requires arguing, fighting for uncorrupted principles inside the chamber with your colleagues, with the record intact and contradictions laid bare.
My guru was right — “ang daling umalis.” But the real work — the hard, messy, unglamorous work — is staying and debating. That goes with being held accountable for what was said yesterday and what is being said today.
The Senate Minority walked out on that job. And worse, they walked all over their own words and principles.
