Time to abolish the Senate

This is without prejudice to the "guilt or innocence" of national security adviser Norberto Gonzales in whatever it is that the Philippine Senate, in excess of its legislative functions, wants to determine by way of yet another of its endless inquiries.

Gonzales, under relentless Gestapo-like interrogation, succumbed to the pressure and had to be hospitalized. But not before the Senate, acting as prosecutor, judge and executioner, cited him for contempt and ordered him detained.

Why the Senate, which is not a judicial body, has the power to issue subpoenas and order the arrest of uncooperative citizens, I can never understand, especially since with regard to its official and main function of legislation, it is found damnably wanting.

For all its arrogance in everything else, this Philippine Senate has only five pieces of legislation to its name, hardly the kind of track record to justify the huge expense of keeping the chamber alive.

Over the past several months, because both senators and congressmen have fallen in love with congressional inquiries, the nation has been treated to the most arrogant display of power by real people on live television.

Citizens, from whose taxes are taken the salaries, pork barrel, perks and other expenses to maintain Congress, are reduced to worthless individuals by the very people who are supposed to be their representatives.

There used to be a time when to be invited to the Senate or the House of Representatives as a resource person for a congressional hearing or inquiry was a testament to one's importance. A congressional invitation was something to cherish and be proud of.

Now, it is something to be dreaded. To be invited to a congressional inquiry means a person will have to be humiliated, shamed and stripped of even the most basic of his human dignity, live before the cameras and the entire nation.

A guest of the Senate or the House gets scolded and insulted, often because what he has to say does not conform to the preconceived notions of the inquisitors, who do not have the slightest idea what legislation and diplomacy is all about.

The present Philippine Senate is the worst ever in its history. Its composition makes anyone with some sense of pride and honor puke. It is a sacrilege to even think they now share the same revered air in a chamber once people by the likes of Aquino, Roxas, Salonga, Diokno.

Now we have Jinggoy and his mama, Lito Lapid, Bong Revilla, Mr. Vilma Santos, Mr. Sharon Cuneta, Ping Lacson, Jamby Madrigal, etc. With very, very few exceptions, there is nothing "senatoriable" among the senators.

Yet these are the same senators who think so highly of themselves a "guest" is not even allowed to explain himself while being interrogated. Senators who do not know if they should be senators or judges, like to cut guests off with a curt command "yes or no!"

One time a senator, supposedly a lady of good upbringing, asked a police officer if he did not require a psychiatric examination. What kind of questioning is that? And what kind of person would ask such a question?

Again, this is not about the "guilt or innocence" of Norberto Gonzales, the Philippine national security adviser. This is about the utter inability of the Philippine Senate to be fair, decent and humane.

There is a saying in Cebuano that applies to our senators, and it goes like this: "Ang langaw, makatungtong sa kabaw, mas labaw pa sa kabaw (a fly on the back of a carabao thinks of itself as superior to the animal)."

Well, because they have been elected to the Senate, many of our senators think they are superior to everyone else. They think they are even bigger than the Senate by assuming other functions that are clearly the preserve of other institutions. Time to abolish the Senate.