House session near Taal a foolish political stunt
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2020 17:07:45 +0000
How we wish that we could simply laugh at the political stunt pulled off by the House of Representatives, which convened a session in Batangas City in relative proximity to the smoldering Taal Volcano. Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano justified the out-of-town session, saying it was a symbolic gesture of compassion for the victims of the eruption that now number about 350,000.
It was some kind of show, alright. But it was more like grandstanding than a sincere gesture to emphatize with the evacuees, many of whom may never return to their homes located within the danger zone at present.
Cayetano mentioned that the congressmen made the trip to Batangas to hear directly from evacuees, the largest group of whom was sheltered just 3 kilometers from their out-of-town plenary venue. We wonder if the evacuees would have preferred a trip to Quezon City instead, if only for a respite from life in an evacuation center.
In any case, we doubt that the House Speaker and other lawmakers there made the trip to actually listen. More likely, they were there to get facetime in media. Not all noticed the gimmickry, though. One newspaper even called the trip “historic.” Don’t laugh. Search the web.
Maybe we are just hard to please. Our view of the trip may have been different if the Speaker and his colleagues went for entertainment value. Imagine the drama — and media attention — the lawmakers would have commanded if they actually went closer to Taal, if not on the island perhaps to the edge of the crater itself. And for a soundbite, the Speaker could have paraphrased from the 1987 movie “Full Metal Jacket”: “I love the smell of volcanic ash in the morning.” (For those who forgot, the original line by American actor Robert Duvall was: “I love the smell of napalm in the morning.”)
If the congressmen find a Vietnam War movie too heavy, they could instead take inspiration from “Joe Versus the Volcano.” In that 1990 Hollywood comedy, the lead character played by Tom Hanks was diagnosed with a supposedly incurable but dubious brain disease. He abandons his dreary city life and winds up in a South Pacific island, where he is convinced by the superstitious natives to jump into an “angry” volcano as a sacrifice.
Of course, the character does not go through with the ritual. It’s just a comedy, after all.
Serious roles not played
The same may be said about many of the things that happen in the House of Representatives — that they are good for laughs. To be fair to Speaker Cayetano, the House has been in the funny business even before his time.
Before he became Speaker, the earlier batch of congressmen dilly-dallied on the 2019 budget, delaying its passage and causing the Philippines to miss its economic growth target for last year. Again in fairness, there were other factors, but none other was self-inflicted.
No wonder that there are occasional calls to abolish the House. For the record, we are not for that. We believe that the House has a serious role to play not only in our democracy, but also in national development.
How we wish, though, that more of our lawmakers take their roles seriously and spend their time in crafting effective legislation, including a new national land use act and the other packages of the tax reform program, among many others. They could even start work on next year’s national budget earlier this time.
Speaker Cayetano fought for leadership by arguing that an experienced lawmaker like himself would be more effective in getting things done. It is time to deliver, Mr. Speaker.
It is time, as well, for all lawmakers to put country above their self interests. Unless they manage to do so, the next political stunt that they should consider would be to offer sacrifices to Taal. The Speaker himself could lead a party up its slopes. Of course, that would not silence any volcano. But for sure, they would be all over the news.