The ‘senatoriables’

A part from conducting investigations and engaging in shouting matches, what else do senators do?

They sit as a court to try an impeached public official.

They ratify international treaties entered into by the country, and must concur with re-entry, such as in the case of the Rome Statute that created the International Criminal Court.

These are serious responsibilities, on top of their principal task of legislation with oversight functions.

Yet look at many of the characters who have been voted to the Senate in recent years, and weep. Look at several of the characters who are seeking Senate seats in 2025, plus the results of the latest surveys on “senatoriables,” and sob.

Our country seems to be sliding inexorably into a failed state, and much of it can be attributed to the choices we make during elections.

There are stringent educational and other requirements for acceptance into the civil service, the police and military. Many jobs require passing professional licensure examinations.

But for key elective positions whose duties have such deep impact on national and personal lives, there isn’t even a minimum educational requirement. How can you make Filipinos value formal education if even a grade school dropout can win election to high office?

In Singapore, the top government officials typically have doctorates or master’s degrees. Those in the lower rungs would be insulted if they would be led by a buffoon with substandard education.

And the quality of Singapore education is world-class. In the Program for International Student Assessment wherein Filipino 15-year-old students ranked at the bottom in mathematics and science literacy plus reading comprehension, their Singaporean peers ranked at the top alongside China in 2018 and No. 1 in PISA 2022.

It’s not mere coincidence that Singapore is where it is now, at the top of global good governance and quality of life indicators, while here we are, an ayuda-dependent nation, a land that offers such limited opportunities that its biggest export is its human resource.

In a recent edition of “Storycon” on One News, I asked OCTA Research president Ranjit Rye, a political science professor at the University of the Philippines, if survey respondents know what a senator’s job entails. He said OCTA may conduct a survey on this.

With the major political coalitions unveiling their senatorial slates, perhaps OCTA can now conduct such a study.

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While wringing our hands in despair over several of the senator-wannabes, at least it can be entertaining to watch how dramatically political winds shift in this country.

The alliance with the Dutertes has disappeared in the Senate slate unveiled by President Marcos last Thursday.

Sen. Francis Tolentino bolted Rodrigo Duterte’s Partido Demokratiko Pilipino in August for BBM’s dominant Partido Federal ng Pilipinas. This left only Senators Bong Go and Bato dela Rosa plus actor Phillip Salvador (don’t ask) in the PDP’s Senate lineup for 2025.

Tolentino is included in the Senate slate announced by BBM last Thursday. Marcos has cobbled together a formidable lineup that includes two of his rivals in the 2022 presidential race: former senators Panfilo Lacson (with running mate Tito Sotto) and Manny Pacquiao.

Besides Tolentino, the only remnant of the UniTeam in the Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas is supposed to be BBM’s elder sister (and Vice President Sara Duterte’s only friend in the ruling clan), Sen. Imee Marcos. But Ate Imee was conspicuously absent at the unveiling of the Alyansa slate last Thursday.

Maybe she felt no need for “plastic” moments with relatives such as First Lady Liza and cousin Martin Romualdez, head of the Lakas-CMD. Over the weekend, Senator Imee announced that she preferred to “stand alone” in her campaign. Lacson also said he would be running as an independent.

VP Sara said she would not be supporting any Senate slate, and would rather focus on her problems, which could soon include impeachment.

The progressive Makabayan bloc, which announced that it was crafting an impeachment complaint against the “bratinella to the max,” has a larger lineup of 11 bets than the Duterte party.

Makabayan unveiled its biggest Senate lineup since 1987 on the same day that BBM presented his candidates.

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Those in OCTA’s so-called Magic 12 in its latest survey are mostly those who have long enjoyed name recall, or are known for two things: programs that provide some form of ayuda or instant relief to pressing problems, or are perceived to be toughies.

They are seen to be attending to the two lowest levels of needs in Maslow’s hierarchy of human requirements: physiological including food, water and shelter, followed by safety, which includes health and economic security.

Voters can’t be faulted for such choices. They pick those who they think can best address their most urgent concerns. Thinking beyond those most basic needs, about the greater good and national interest, is a luxury for millions whose main concern is where to get their next meal – or how to improve the quality of the food beyond the threshold P21 per person per meal.

If we want a sea change in voter preferences, we need to raise the quality of life so that the needs that voters want public officials to address are higher up in the hierarchy of needs.

This will require time, dedicated effort and significant investments in improving the quality of universal education. Free education should not mean substandard.

It will require serious efforts to create an environment that is attractive to both local and foreign investments that generate jobs with decent compensation. The playing field must be level and not designed to accommodate cronies, political and special interests.

There must be a stable ecosystem that nurtures startups and promotes entrepreneurship starting at the ultra-micro level. I’ve tried my hand at entrepreneurship and I can attest that it can be hell doing business in this country. From the barangay level all the way up, the environment hinders rather than enables entrepreneurship, innovation and creativity.

Until the majority of voters can be lifted out of survival mode and given something better than substandard education, there’s no other way but down for the quality of our political establishment.

And we will get the government we deserve.