Senate in a tizzy

Have the mounting conflicts and controversies causing the Senate to be distracted by the pre-election noise came much earlier than expected? Based on our experience in covering the political scene, the Senate usually loses its focus on legislative work soon after the President gives the State of the Nation Address in the year preceding an election.

The prognosis is that the onset of the “political distraction” season has come much earlier. As in now! And this syndrome has triggered fears that not much relevant legislation could be expected between now and when the new set of 12 Senators are sworn in after the May 2010 polls.

The fears appear to have been fueled by the ongoing probe by the Senate ethics committee on the complaint filed against Senator Manny Villar by colleague Jamby Madrigal. Villar has complained the probe on him has to do with his much earlier announced plans to run in next year’s elections for the presidency. Those pushing for the investigation of the Madrigal complaint, he lamented, are personalities who, like him, have plans to vie for the highest elective post in the land.

Madrigal appears to have confirmed Villar’s suspicions. Her recent media interviews seem to carry a consistent sound bite that if Villar can do what she alleges he has done with the national budget while still just a Senator, imagine what Villar can do with taxpayers’ money if he becomes President.

The controversies hounding Villar before the ethics committee have already triggered other conflicts which threaten to aggravate the Senate’s current state of distraction. Now that the intramurals among the Senators are shifting to a higher gear, fears of a prematurely lame-duck Senate are growing.

The Senate is unfortunately in a tizzy now that there is little time left for this 14th Congress. They are set to adjourn sine die next week. They won’t be back until last week of July. By that time, every politician would be all psyched up for the May 2010 elections.

Just this week, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile spewed out emotional words that cast aspersions on the character and integrity of his colleague, Senate minority leader Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr. The latter responded with equally hurting words that recalled Enrile’s role during the martial law regime of the late deposed President Ferdinand Marcos.

The deep-seated animosity between the two is out in the open again. The Villar controversy, unfortunately, triggered it. And the way things look, the Enrile-Pimentel feud is not something that people can expect to be settled by a public show of gentlemen’s handshake at the Senate floor in the near future.

The battle lines dividing the majority and minority Senators will be more clearly drawn as the remaining months of 2009 pass by. The division promises to be more bitter and cruel. The controversy and its distractive effects on the Senate seemed headed for further aggravation with the recent filing of a complaint before the Senate ethics committee by former Cavite Congressman Gilbert Remulla against Madrigal.

Remulla, who has been acting spokesman on the C-5 controversy for Villar as the president of their Nacionalista Party (NP), has officially asked the Senate ethics committee to investigate Madrigal for the “un-parliamentary language” and “disorderly behavior” of the “Honorable” Senator. This was after Madrigal publicly accused Remulla as “corruption king of Cavite” and described the Remulla family as “land-grabbers” before reporters after the Senate session.

Madrigal appears to be ready to escalate the political war. She claims to possess evidence to prove her allegations and disprove Remulla’s criticisms of her as “kuryente queen,” or the street lingo meaning a source of false information. Naturally, the young Remulla, who himself was once a broadcast reporter, is very well aware that Madrigal’s tirades went beyond the limits of her privilege as a Senator and unleashed out of the Senate halls. Therefore, Madrigal’s attacks were not covered by parliamentary immunity.

While the Senators are at it, the fear is that valuable pieces of legislation pending before the body would end up the casualty in the ongoing conflict. Among the potential casualties are the proposed extension of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) and the bill to amend the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) of 2001.

Other pending bills that may not move while the Senate is distracted are the Pag-Ibig Charter amendments, the picture-based warnings on tobacco products, the proposed Philippine Disaster Risk Management Act, and the proposal for the creation of a Climate Change Commission. These bills have potential impact on the lives of large segments of the population, particularly the middle class and the marginalized. Other proposed legislations with similar impact are the proposed Magna Carta for Homeowners and a bill seeking to push for the legitimization of children born to underage unwed parents.

But Senators Bong Revilla (running for vice president), Jamby Madrigal and Jinggoy Estrada (re-electionists) spent time to conduct public hearing on a rather personal, private affair that has no national import. We were treated to a circus-like, “ala showbiz Q & A” on sleazy sex video scandal under the guise of “inquiry in aid of legislation.” Woe to us.

It is ironic that just a little over a month ago, in a Senate press release copies of which reached our desk, Senate President Enrile promised that the Senate will put priority to the passage of legislation that have high socio-economic impact “to stimulate the economy and provide safety nets for Filipinos in the face of the global financial slowdown.”

He gave assurances the Senate “will perform its task of pro-people legislation and un-encumbered by any political ambition or personal interests.” The Senate president made this public commitment: “When the Senate opens, petty politics will take a back seat and we will prioritize the discussions of socio-economic bills needed to address the current problems of the country.”

Enrile was sincere, for sure, when he made those promises. But the distractions have set in. What is clear though, there is more promise of bigger battle royales at the Senate. It can only confirm earlier fears that the Senate’s legislative work has become the first major casualty of the 2010 election fever.