Drilon’s Senate

In the same way that a statement of praise from Gloria Arroyo is a kiss of death to one’s credibility, a diatribe from Malacañang is badge of honor.

On the change of Senate leadership from Franklin Drilon to Manuel Villar, presidential chief of staff Mike Defensor said, “if Senator Drilon had remained an ally, the political crisis that faced the President would have been tempered even if we don’t have the numbers.”

We are thankful that Drilon abandoned Arroyo at the start of the “Hello Garci” controversy. How he protected the Senate’s independence from Malacañang’s unrelenting attempt to make it its rubber stamp just like Jose de Venecia’s House of Representatives more than made up for error he committed in that infamous offer of Iloilo hospitality to Arroyo.

We are grateful to an “obstructionist” Senate for obstructing Arroyo’s destruction of democracy.

In his farewell speech at the sine die adjournment last Thursday, Drilon said: “I do feel a certain pride in what we in the Senate had done to help maintain stability in a tumultuous political season.”

Drilon reminded the public of the important pieces of information uncovered during the budget hearings which explain why Arroyo tried to render the Senate inutile with her EO 464, prohibiting government officials from attending congressional investigations without presidential permission:

“One of the highlights of these budget hearings was the discovery that funds recovered from the Marcos’ ill-gotten wealth were allegedly withdrawn by the Department of Agriculture and diverted to uses other than that provided under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law.

“There were serious allegations that P100 million from the Marcos fund was part of the P728 million fertilizer fund scam surreptitiously used in the election campaign of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

“On March 6, 2006, the Senate’s Committee on Agriculture investigating the fertilizer fund scam came out with a committee report and found certain agriculture officials culpable for mis-spending and pocketing fertilizer funds intended to benefit rightful farmer-beneficiaries. Findings of the independent Commission on Audit validated the committee report. Our findings are now with the Office of the Ombudsman.”

Drilon also recalled the hearings on the NorthRail project which was “another classic example wherein the Senate was able to inform the public how transparency was sacrificed for the sake of expediency and vested political interests.”
EO 464 was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. Same thing with the fascistic Calibrated Pre-emptive Response and Proclamation 1017, a sly attempt to impose martial rule.

Drilon said: “Our nation heaved a collective sigh of relief on the High Courts decisions. No matter how you look at it, the Supreme Court’s sobering actions were a vindication of the Senate’s efforts to preserve democratic practices and traditions so cherished by our people.”

“In the end,” he said,” the Senate stood like a formidable rock by the bay against the red-faced molehill along the river.”

Malacañang’s lying machine has not stopped. Presidential spokesman Ignacio R. Bunye the other day continued to blame the Senate on the non-passage of the 2006 budget. Senate slashed P64 billion from the P1.053-trillion proposed budget to which Arroyo reacted vehemently, threatening to veto the budget bill.

“The gridlock caused by the Senate has hindered confidence in our economy, stunted opportunities for growth with social equity and hampered the pursuit of national security because of several key pieces of legislation that are gathering dust in the upper chamber,” Bunye said.

This is the budget story, according to Drilon: “Knowing that the national budget is a vital tool for government to successfully execute its plans, programs and priorities, the Senate, through Senate Resolution No. 47 passed on November 9, 2005, constituted itself into a Committee of the Whole to consider the proposed budget for 2006.

“Note that Malacañang submitted its proposed national budget two months late, while the House, fiddling with Charter change initiatives, took its time and transmitted the proposed budget to the Senate only in March this year. Nevertheless, after two weeks of marathon sessions, we managed to approve the FY 2006 General Appropriations bill.

“We made a strong collective stand for a leaner budget by removing the funds which could not be justified by the executive department and would have been used indiscriminately as pork barrel of the Palace, among which principally are the Kilos Asenso Support Fund and the Kalayaan Barangay Fund.”

Bunye used the non-passage of the budget bill to once again pitch for Charter change, Arroyo’s strategy to remain in power forever. “This situation is the clearest and best argument for a shift to a unicameral system that fuses the Executive and Legislative powers on one chamber, for which we now have a growing momentum for support,” he said.

Drilon had anticipated this. He warned that after they passed Resolution No. 77, expressing the sense of the Senate that the signature campaign to introduce changes to the Constitution through Barangay Assemblies initiated by the Department of Interior and Local Government is illegal, ” Expect no quarters given, no holds barred. I see a well-orchestrated, well-funded but insidious campaign for Cha-cha rising in crescendo in the next month or so.”

Drilon said “If I had incurred the ire of the present administration because of my steadfast commitment to preserve and promote democracy, there never will be an iota of regret in my heart. It was a decision that had nothing to do with my political life, but a decision I made in defense of democracy.”

We will always remember “Drilon’s Senate” with pride and gratefulness.