Senator Nancy Binay has one wish this Chinese New Year and that’s for the members of the Congress to end what she called “parliamentary bullying.”
Binay appealed to her colleagues in Congress “to forgo engaging in the lowest levels of unpleasantries and regressive civility—diminishing and humiliating the Senate.”
“Sad to say, the behavior of some of our colleagues in Congress has fallen too far below the standard that the public expects from members of the legislature. The bullying, the absurd spats, the unnecessary remarks have brought shame on both houses of Congress,” Binay said in a statement over the weekend.
Binay made the call following the “baseless accusations” thrown against Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva by a member of the House of Representatives.
For the past weeks, the Upper and the Lower Houses have been engaged in the word war amid the controversial push for the People’s Initiative to amend the 1987 Constitution.
Binay said the brawl in the Congress “has become the political equivalent of the tabloid talk show—the Face-2-Face.”
“It's simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that politics bring out the worst in us. Di naman konstitusyon ang problema. Kadalasan, mga politiko mismo ang problema (There’s nothing wrong about the Constitution. Oftentimes, the problems are the politicians themselves),” she pointed out.
Binay lamented the “unreasonable, immature and unacceptable behaviors” do not stand on the side of accountability and moral responsibility as public officials.
“Aren't we all expected to uphold the highest standards of integrity and trust? We need to take a good long hard look at ourselves if we are indeed spotless or walking the halls of Congress with our dirty feet,” she said.
“It is downright shameful to see members of Congress denigrating themselves by allowing juvenile instincts to overtake their more rational judgments, and abusing free speech for slander,” she added.
Binay underscored that the parliamentary bullying has become toxic and continues to fade people’s trust in the lawmakers.
“The people don't want serial bullies in government. Ang gusto ng tao yung matino at maayos na paggogobyerno. We owe them that,” she stressed.
She then urged her colleagues in the Congress to leverage a positive change instead of “shamelessly throwing mud at each other.”
“As representatives of the people, if we are really serious about change, why can't we all work for a positive work culture in our respective institutions,” she said.
Binay urged fellow lawmakers to push a serious intent to revive a positive Philippine parliamentary culture and be better public servants.
“I appeal to everyone to stand down and go back to work. Change should start in our institutions, and I do hope we all can get the people's respect back,” she said.
“Before calling for any change, let's become better public servants first. I think that's the most patriotic thing we can do for our country and people,” she added.