IN contrast to the long-drawn drama that characterized the choice of House Speaker, the 24-man Senate quickly picked its leader as the 18th Congress opened on Monday (July 22) hours before the President’s State of the Nation Address (Sona).
Sen. Vicente C. Sotto III was elected Senate President anew after he was nominated for the post by Sen. Ralph Recto, who also kept his post as Senate President Pro Tempore. Majority Floor Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri and Minority Leader Frank Drilon also kept their posts.
Twenty-two of the 24 senators were present as the 18th Senate opened. The absentees were Sen. Leila de Lima, who is detained on various charges; and Sen. Manny Pacquiao, who was prevented by doctors from taking a flight back to Manila so soon after a bruising fight with Keith Thurman in Las Vegas.
In a brief interview, Senate President Sotto listed three bills on top of their priority list including the proposed Anti-Terrorism law, and bills updating the Public Service Act and the Foreign Investment Act.
At the same time Sotto III acknowledged “the trust and confidence of our countrymen that were given to the 17th Congress and the Senate, and so we would like to continue that legacy.”
The Senate leader listed amendments to update the Human Security Act “which will eventually called the Anti-Terrorism Act, and then the amendments also to to the Public Service Act and the Foreign Investment Act.”
“Those are some of the bills that I know were left from the 17th Congress that we wanted to prioritize, but for lack of time,” he added.
Asked about the senators’ expectations when President Duterte delivers his State-of-the-Nation address, the Senate leader replied: “We expect him to ask Congress to pass some of the bills that were not taken up during the last Congress, and that he will seek the support of Congress again so that programs, particularly the Build-Build-Build Program, will continue and that the other programs will be supported.”
Sotto, however, was unsure if the death penalty will be listed as a priority bill. “I really can’t tell. Perhaps, it is a priority to debate on it. I would rather say that instead of saying that it is a priority measure, [because] it is one issue that is very divisive.”
Below is the full text of the Nomination Speech of Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph G. Recto for the retention of Sotto as Senate President:
The truth is, Senator Tito is better in writing laws than in writing songs. He is better in putting ideas into policies than words into music.
Yes, he might have built an impressive catalogue of songs, but this does not compare to his greatest hits in lawmaking.
He has amassed these in more than 30 years, from that day in 1988 when he first banged the gavel as presiding officer of the Quezon City Council, to that Wednesday night last month when he gavelled the closing of business of the productive Senate of the 17th Congress.
On his own, he has authored laws too many to count, on every issue that matters.
But while the Senate scoreboard displays the names of the sponsors of a bill, it does not tally the hours one has spent in finalizing and finessing a measure others had authored but one seeks to improve.
In this, Tito, through many congresses, had shown mastery of parliamentary skills, honed by years of serving as majority leader, and matched only by the generosity to share it.
Tito has an ear for music–and they say an eye for beauty too, as shown by his lovely wife– and this willingness to listen more than to speak, he had applied in composing laws too.
Kahit presiding officer siya, nakikinig ‘yan, at bigla na lang may itatanong sa sponsor, o kaya mag-i-interject sa interpellation, and sometimes he will wade into the middle of it, yield the chair, and join the merry debate on the floor.
There is another aspect that this keen perception of his has served the Senate. An expert in retail politics, Tito has kept his ear constantly pressed to the ground. When you have Tito, you do not need a political weather vane to gauge the public sentiment.
When a major bill is being discussed, I have made it a point to always ask,“Tito, ano kaya tingin ng tao dito?” because more important than the prose of legislation is the public reception to it.
And he has always been prescient in his prediction, but it does not mean he will always go where the wind blows, or to rush where the applause is waiting, because in many fights he had waged, he would rather be right than popular.
As an artist, Tito knows that no matter how beautiful the score, it depends on the symphony which will play it, and in this Tito has proven himself as the skillful conductor of 24 independent republics who like to toot their own horn, beat their own drum and sing their own song.
And this is the same formula which two other Senate Presidents in this assembly – Frank and Koko – had employed in making sure that despite our diversity, that despite the fact that we may not always sing in perfect harmony always— but as a whole, we must not sing out of tune with the people.
The people’s impression of the Senate is what they see on TV, of 24 men and women sitting in this hall, or grilling witnesses in one of the rooms.
The fact is, most of our labors are done outside the glare of klieg lights—in conference rooms where the humdrum of policymaking is endured for hours.
The beating heart of the Senate is not in this volleyball court-size chamber which comes to life at 3pm three times a week, but in rooms where policies are discussed and debated.
The session hall may be the showroom, but the production line lies somewhere else. It has been said that the Senate in session is the Senate in exhibition. But the Senate conducting committee hearings is a Senate at work.
And on this, Tito has shown to be an adept manager. Working behind the scenes. Always checking if the production line of laws is moving. And above all, giving each one of us the independence to pursue our advocacies.
And he assesses a bill solely on its merits, and never the political persuasion of the one sponsoring it. The Sotto rule on bill analysis is this: When it is good for the country, the majority-minority divide dissolves.
It is for the many reasons I have just mentioned that I nominate the retention of Vicente Castelo Sotto III as our Senate President.
Image credits: Roy Domingo