Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa was not the hardened former Philippine National Police chief last Monday when he finally reached the Senate floor.
After a scuffle outside the building with National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents who were out to serve an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC), he and his coterie made a run for it, racing up the stairs, scrambling and scurrying like rats being chased by a cat.
Then, on the floor, where a leadership coup was unfolding, he practically whimpered like a child, telling everyone of the ordeal he had suffered trying to get in.
Now here was a man, a rogue for all we know, a man of the law, a senator of the land, whose shadow had not graced the august halls of the building where all the commotion erupted one sunny Monday afternoon.
What made you show up today, sir? Someone had the gall to ask.
The reply? “Pag wala ako, hinahanap n’yo ako. Ngayong andito ako, tinatanong n’yo bakit (When I was gone, you were looking for me. Now that I’m here, you ask why).” If this is how our leaders address real problems, it’s no wonder we are where we are today.
He also said, “Kailangan ko mag-attend (I needed to attend).” He needed to return to the Senate after months away to cast a vote in a leadership change that shifted power to pro-Duterte allies.
The minority bloc needed 13 to topple Senator Tito Sotto from the Senate presidency, and Bato showed sterling loyalty by risking life and limb, embarrassment, even a scraped knee, to get in that all-important vote.
How fortunate for our country were our senators and representatives to show such solid fealty to country and countrymen, am I right?
Instead, we have someone who had been “in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao,” showing up and feeling quite peeved for being “disrespected” in the very institution he had been duly elected to serve. Respect begets respect, shall we remind the ladies and gentlemen of the Senate?
What’s going to kill this country are its laws, a convoluted, slow justice system, and people in power who are buffoons.
This is where we are — and the despicable turn of events at the Senate on Monday gave us a very clear view of what is ailing our land. While ordinary Pinoys have been sunk in problems related to the shrinking peso, our extraordinary leaders are deep in the throes of power plays.
For decades, Filipinos had hoped for change. For years, the people tried to bring about change. And for these past months, we have seen the worst of our fears come to life.
Weak as its critics may call the Marcos administration, its perceived lack of control has perhaps let our most painful problems come to light. Corruption had long been rearing its ugly head, gobbling up all good intentions. Unrestrained, ever spreading (because our laws seem to be designed only for the most shrewd and clever among us), corruption has bred this political comedy we have been seeing all too often.
The latest episode has so far been the height of comedy for us, humor-fueled Filipinos. It has revealed a cast of characters so adept at navigating the law that they can even lead themselves to act so righteously when the law comes out to bite them.
Then they conveniently cite “due process” when cases against them show how they may have circumvented the law when they were in power. Bato clearly has no faith in due process or he would have faced inquiries instead of going into hiding.
This rigmarole is all about the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte, whose refusal to account for her office’s actions had toppled the scales against her. Tests of loyalty had been made, and now we await the next episode in this game of outplay, outwit and outlast.