[OPINION] A circus called the Senate

It was tragicomedy, to say the least, reminiscent of that iconic scene from the film Gone with the Wind, showing Scarlett O'Hara running desperately, in her headstrong survival instinct, declaring she would never want to go hungry again, even if it means she has to lie, steal, cheat, or kill.

Dela Rosa’s return to the Senate was cheered and jeered; It was supposed to add more votes to the coup led by Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano seeking to oust Senate President Vicente Sotto. Cayetano got the votes, but dela Rosa’s long-awaited homecoming and the attending run-and-chase footage eclipsed the revolt.

By the time dela Rosa reached the plenary, he was visibly agitated. The camera zoomed in and provided a much clearer view: There he was on the floor, standing alongside Sen. Cayetano.

He was furious, raising his voice and fist with one of his fingers bruised, he said, because he had to fight it out with some of the pursuing NBI agents, led by lawyer Melvin Matibag, a known Duterte lieutenant-turned NBI chief of the Marcos Jr. administration. Imagine the trash and traces the battle had left on the stairs.

That was last Monday at the Senate, supposedly an august hall, a deliberative body where its members once upon a time tackled what was right and wrong about this country with neither fear nor favor until, of course, one day it was shut down with the declaration of martial rule. 

Reality TV

The public was not watching an action film on Netflix shot at some dark alleys; it was not a scene from Maynila sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag showing Julio Madiaga (played by Bembol Roco) cornered by his pursuers: “Sa bawat latay kahit aso'y nag-iiba. Sa unang latay siya'y magtataka. Sa ikalawa, siya'y mag-iisip. Sa ikatlo, siya'y magtatanda. Sa ika-apat, humanda ka.”

Those two scenes were worlds apart, to be sure, coming from different circumstances. Julio is no Bato.

While Julio was talking about a man’s threshold of tolerance for violence, dela Rosa talked about his pursuers having no respect for the Senate as an institution. 

Who’s talking? He may not have taken part in summary execution, but did he stop it from happening? Nothing breeds lawlessness than the lawless enforcement of the law. 

But like Julio, Bato now felt he was under siege. Bato had disappeared and came back fuming. "Push me one more time, but be ready?" 

There must be a better way to arrest a sitting senator?

When then-NBI director Gen. Alfredo Lim showed up at the Senate in February 1990 to arrest Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile on charges of "rebellion with murder and multiple frustrated murder" for the failed December 1989 coup against former president Corazon Aquino, everybody felt tense. People were waiting for a fight-or-flight scenario inside the chamber.

Sen. Enrile yielded peacefully. So did Senators Leila de Lima and Antonio Trillanes in their time. There was no violence. They had to; nobody was—and still is—above the law.

Who is clueless?

That gala at the Senate last Monday was full of surprises and twists. Until then, the public had no idea if Trillanes, an ex-Navy soldier and one of the country’s most celebrated coup plotters, and the NBI agents knew all along that dela Rosa would suddenly come out of his hibernation that Monday afternoon.

Neither did the public have any idea if Trillanes and the NBI agents knew that Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano would lead a coup, though this Senate shake-up had been going the rounds for many, many months. 

The coup was a game-changer; it apparently spoiled the arrest script and thus probably triggered the chase to arrest Dela Rosa, as if there was no tomorrow.

But was dela Rosa also clueless about the presence of Trillanes and the NBI agents? His vote was beyond the required number to stage the Senate shake-up.

Of clowns and plagiarists

That the Senate shake-up was meant to face head-on the House impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte was a giveaway. It was choreographed, not a product of a confluence of events, not of independent actors seeking a reversal of fortune. 

By itself, the Senate has carved out over the past many years that image of a circus. Some of its members were jokers and clowns, tagged plagiarists, vote buyers, accused of plunder, and suspected murderers and coup plotters. 

It has become a tragedy for people who knew the old chamber when it was peopled by the likes of the Rectos, Tolentinos, Tanadas, Dioknos, Mitras, Pimentels, Arroyos of this world, who lived like Caesar’s wife. 

The added protagonists Trillanes and Matibag, both obviously wanting publicity, did not make things any better in that Monday’s circus.

Victim is comic

Dela Rosa didn’t say he disappeared because he was a victim of injustice, unlike Sen. Ping Lacson, when he faced murder charges and hid for 15 months until a court dismissed the complaint. He must have been trying to woo public sympathy, but his appearance only provided the tragicomedy twist in it, but it hurts.

The circus at the Senate was one awful thing; the televised show at the other legislative body, the House of Representatives, dominantly celebratory, was another.

At the House, an overwhelming majority of 257 lawmakers voted to impeach Sara, while 25 others voted against and nine abstained. So many lacked elegance in criticism. 

The no-holds-barred, free-for-all public statements on social media of so many other people who mattered and others who probably don’t were another thing. It is bloody. So many have been suffering verbal diarrhea.

Of bias and prejudices

All the angry men and women active in social media are mostly partisan, purveyors and keepers of their own truth. But is the truth based on available evidence the truth itself? Can anyone recognize the truth if it is not his own version? 

People see what they want to see. The problem lies when people cannot keep intact their moral ascendancy, even to their perceived political enemies. People dish out their opinion, unmindful of the facts.

That awful show at the Senate triggered some people to say, “Philippines, it is very difficult to love you” the moment they heard of the shake-up. Other comments were even below the belt.

Who can control the people’s rage? Rage, that first word in Homer’s Iliad, a collective expression or display of anger of people demanding accountability from their leaders. Haven’t they, b****y as they all are, waited for Sen. dela Rosa to show up?

But rage is likewise one of the prime movers of the social media platform, of lies and engagement. Lies are peddled systematically.

So many sounded agitated, so said their supporters in chorus, but the other side of the public found them equally agitating.

Not clickbait

But justice is not clickbait, and in this country, where everybody with access to a social media platform becomes an instant juror, truth is an instant casualty. 

The Senate coup was another night of the long, long knives! Was it a comedy? Or a tragedy? Is tragedy the mirror of comedy? Who looked silly? Naive? Wrong?

Who is the real winner? The circus was a continuing struggle between truth and lies in this country. Here’s hoping that the Senate shakeup may finally uncover the truth about the plunder of public funds involving all government officials, not just Vice President Sara Duterte.

Otherwise, all the mockery, all the sound and fury, all that tragedy is the people's misfortune!

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the opinions of PhilSTAR L!fe, its parent company and affiliates, or its staff.