Big boys do cry, or why Senator Magsaysay wept after the Senate vote on 2nd envelope

Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr. wept in open court last Jan. 16 after the Senate voted 11-10 against the opening of the second evelope containing the alleged P3.3-billion deposit of President Estrada in his "Jose Velarde" account with Equitable PCIBank.

He went up to the podium after the vote and, with tears welling in his eyes, embraced Senate President Aquilino Pimentel Jr. who resigned his post in disgust with the vote. Sen. Loren Legarda was also visibly emotional about the vote.

"I wept out of frustration and helplessness," Magsaysay told The STAR.

Magsaysay, who had been a picture of strength and courage in the Senate, said that he could not help but weep because with the vote, the Senate had tarnished its previously revered image as an institution.
"The Senate is the real loser!" he said, as if measuring each word, while lamenting that the vote has already resulted in what he called "free fall" of the peso against the dollar.

Before the vote, Magsaysay mentioned on the floor the revered names who graced the halls of Congress: Lorenzo Tañada, Claro M. Recto, Jovito Salonga, Jose B. Laurel, Gerardo Roxas, and Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, the martyred brother of Sen. Tessie Aquino-Oreta.

"I had hoped that by mentioning those distinguished senators, the incumbent senators would rise up to the occasion and prove themselves worthy of the legacy those senators had left – baka sakaling makonsiyensia," Magsaysay said, almost in a whisper.

Magsaysay also mentioned his father and namesake, the late President Ramon Magsaysay Sr., who was well loved by the people despite his simplicity because of his honesty and integrity. He said that he owed his election in great part to the public reverence for his father’s name, and that he has always been trying to be worthy of his father’s name.

Magsaysay said that there might still be a way for the current Senate to recover its "tarnished" image.

"Maybe, those who voted against opening the evelope should reconsider. Anyway, the country already knows the contents of that envelope," he said.

And if no senator reconsiders his "anti"-vote?

"Then, maybe, we should all resign. That might be the only way left for us," Magsaysay said. – Efren Danao