by Edcer Escudero
This year’s senatorial race is visibly tame and listless. We don’t see or hear much of the familiar color, pomp and excitement that characterized past senatorial elections.
The raging black propaganda war between the two most talked about presidential bets – Liberal Party’s standard-bearer and Nacionalista Party’s super-rich candidate – has all but relegated to the background the scramble for the first 12 winning aspirants for the senate.
That’s just too bad, because the election of senators is crucial to the political stability of the nation. While the logical central focus of this year’s national polls should be on the presidential contest, which happens to have the most number of contenders in our country’s history, the senatorial fight deserves close attention and scrutiny as well.
It is generally accepted that the Senate is a good “training ground” for future presidents. History supports this contention. Six of the country’s fourteen presidents sat in the Senate before they moved over to Malacañang Palace – Manuel Quezon, Manuel Roxas, Carlos Garcia, Ferdinand Marcos, Joseph Estrada, Gloria Arroyo.
The 2010 senatorial race will go down in history as one with the biggest number of least qualified aspirants. We have, this year candidates whose qualifications, intellectual capacities and professional backgrounds are too much below the dignity and prestige of the office of the senator of the realm.
Six or so decades ago, Senate bets were men of impeccable reputation, unquestionable integrity and character. They had genuine love of country and sense of public service. They had nobility of purpose and indisputable moral values. They were highly respected in their chosen profession, and were looked up to by their countrymen. They were truly outstanding citizens with sterling leadership qualities.
Some self-styled political analysts have advanced the opinion that Filipino voters through the years have matured. That’s a myth. The last two senatorial rolls disprove such a viewpoint.
In the 2004 and 2007 elections, voters sent to the Senate people whose intellectual mediocrity and utter lack of relevant experience have converted the August Chamber into the Upper House of Misfits.
There are movie stars, a son and a daughter of a former senator, a former policeman, TV newsreaders, a multi-coup leader, a junior navy officer and a rich heiress. Their knowledge of legislative work and government ends where their ignorance begins.
Why, these “honorable” senators are not even fit to carry the attaché cases of the senators of the golden Senate era – Claro Recto, Camilo Osias, Arturo Tolentino, Gil Puyat, Lorenzo Tanada, Lorenzo Sumulong, Raul Manglapus, Soc Rodrigo, Emmanuel Pelaez, Manuel Roxas, Manuel Quezon, Quintin Paredes, Ferdinand Marcos et al.
During the golden era of the Senate, the qualifications for senator were intellectual capacity, integrity, vision, honesty, high moral values, love of country, competence.
Today, the qualifications for becoming a senator are:
• One is a whistle-blower
• One is a son or daughter of a former senator
• One is a wife of a former senator
• One is a military rebel who doesn’t respect the chain of command
• One is a street parliamentarian
• One is an entertainment celebrity
The quality of the candidates for senator in this year’s elections is the best argument in favor of the Senate’s abolition. Like the useless Bataan nuclear power plant, the Senate is a monstrous white elephant that has become a huge financial burden to Juan dela Cruz. It’s high time that we slaughter this kind of elephant.
