In the House of Representatives, where members representing political districts and party-list organizations, are supposed to earn respect and admiration even from the public; are expected to be respectable adults with certain degree of intelligence, social awareness and empathy to the ordinary Filipino’s daily life of hardship and struggle—the situation obtaining on the ground is appalling.
To be a House member in this day and age is to be adept at transactional legislation, to show grit and greed in helping craft a national budget that is filled with holes and insertions to make way for lawmakers and their leaders to line their pockets with cash.
In this game, the most vicious is the former chair of the Committee on Appropriations who could not even properly preside over a committee hearing so that the Marikina congresswoman would have to take over.
His name is Elizaldy Co, and this name will live in the annals of Philippine history never to be forgotten—in the mold of Harry Stonehill.
The House of Representatives, however, has two young members who talk sense and are courageous enough to air their thoughts that make the high officials of the Executive department uncomfortable, even worried or worse, enraged.
They are Rep. Paolo Duterte of Davao City and Rep. Kiko Barzaga of Dasmarinas City in Cavite.
Congressman Duterte recently criticized Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., chief of the Armed Forces, for saying that America’s Typhon medium-range-capable missile system in Northern Luzon or perhaps Mindanao, can hit China and its facilities on man-made islands in the South China Sea.
Duterte did not mince his words:
“So, is this now our idea of defense — showing off for America even if... Filipinos will be the first to burn from another nation’s retaliation?” said Duterte after Brawner’s remarks. “General, before you boast about missiles that can reach China, can you guarantee that you can stop the retaliation? Or are you willing to gamble Filipino lives just to show how close you are to your ‘bosses’?”
“Who are you really serving, the Philippines or the CIA? We want peace, security and sovereignty, not missiles with someone else’s fingerprints.”
This criticism was dismissed outright by the Armed Forces of the Philippines and by Malacañang Palace through their spokespersons, as expected, with Claire Castro rationalizing that the Dutertes are pro-China.
The Armed Forces has a more professional reply, saying “General Brawner merely stated a technical fact about the [Typhon] system’s range and clarified that its presence is for training and capability-building purposes.” The military added: “We urge public officials and opinion leaders to exercise prudence and responsibility in their statements to avoid fueling misinformation or distrust toward our Armed Forces.”
Meanwhile, over in Cavite, Barzaga took to social media last Tuesday and claimed that the Philippine Coast Guard is a "waste of our government funds" and should be abolished. He also claimed the agency's operations in the West Philippine Sea could "cause World War III" and accused it of being a "corrupt organization" that hands out ranking positions to political figures.
PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Jay Tarriela replied that Barzaga's remarks were "misleading and inflammatory" and that they "grossly misrepresent" the agency's mandate.
Clearly, Barzaga was referring to the misadventures of the Coast Guard in the South China Sea which tend to inflate the situation and paint a chaotic situation where there was none. Just as in the latest incident in the vicinity of Pagasa Island, where it looked like vessels of the Philippines strayed into Chinese territory on purpose such that they could be rammed or attacked by water cannons.
Barzaga’s idea of abolishing the PCG might be considered extreme, but so is the suggestion that the House of Representatives and the Senate should be scrapped for masterminding and enabling this biggest corruption scandal involving billions of pesos in flood control projects that are either non-existent, ghost, or substandard.
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