Miriam hits ‘publicity hungry’ colleagues

Pro-administration Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago criticized her own colleagues at the Senate for playing to the media and making the most out of inquiries "in aid of legislation."

Santiago gave this assessment of the Senate’s investigations on jueteng, the "Hello, Garci" tapes, Venable LLP contract and the NorthRailway project, which are carried live by a major cable television network and a number of TV and radio stations nationwide.

Santiago said senators and politicians really want to conduct the investigations because these are covered by TV, radio and print, and they get to see their faces in the papers and in the evening news.

The senators like it "if they are able to put their faces right in front of the TV cameras," she said, but once the session will be close-door, no one will bother to come.

"They are turning it into a media event," she said.

Santiago, a second-term senator who herself is rich in sound bites, also said the present crisis has put the entire country and the citizenry in a "stalemate," with everyone waiting for the next move in the Arroyo administration’s own "reality show."

The stalemate in society is because everyone is waiting for who will be the next president, she said, but that according to the Constitution, we should all be at peace for six years or until the next head of state is elected.

Santiago said most of the senators only want publicity which is why they are prone to calling inquiries. But she stopped short of saying that the hearings were "in aid of publicity," rather than "in aid of legislation."

"It’s like they are getting free publicity," she said in Filipino. — Christina Mendez