Congressional vaudeville

By Jose B. Maroma, Jr.

I am no longer annoyed by the gaudy acrobatics at the House of Representatives. I have accepted it as a way of life, for which you and I are partly to blame.

Thomas Jefferson cautioned to vote wisely because, “we get the government that we deserve.”

I tell myself I might as well watch and be amused. In my twilight years, I have neither the stamina nor the fire in my belly to step forward and mix it up with the young generation.

We all know that the squabble is a fight for the spoils of victory – committee chairmanships, pork-barrel allocations and many other perks. What we are witnessing on TV is actually a product of behind-the-scenes maneuvering, horsetrading and scripted plays.

Manifestos of support are not necessarily spontaneous, they are sometimes schemed – a case of scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.

Two nights ago, a TV talk show panelist recalled a famous off-the-cuff remark of Speaker Ramon Mitra Jr., an astute dealmaker wise to the vagaries of his colleagues in the House.

I researched but could not confirm the exact words but Mitra, speaking of written petitions prompted by wheeling and dealing, said something like this: in the House you may pass around a roll of toilet paper, and they will sign it. The biting off guarded remark may have been said in jest but it rings with frustration and candor.

Actually, jockeying for privilege is in our political genes, as it is in other countries too. We only vary in the degree of avarice. In the victory dinner, some insist on choice cuts, others settle for seconds, yet others will scramble for mere crumbs.

The Senate is not exempt from its own power plays, maybe in a different setting.

Many of us are familiar with this infamous statement of Senate President Jose Avelino in a no-holds-barred grudge caucus of party leaders with President Quirino, “What are we in power for?” I researched newspaper accounts of that confrontation and here’s the rest of the candid rhetoric.

“Why should we pretend to be saints when in reality we are not? We are not angels. When we die, we will all go to hell. It is better to be in hell because in that place there are no investigations, no secretary of justice, no secretary of the interior to go after us. When Jesus Christ died on the cross, He made a distinction between the good crook and the bad crook. We can aspire to be good crooks.”

The language used is uncouth, but the message is delivered.

As a footnote, Avelino was suspended by the Senate on the prompting of President Quirino.

If I recall correctly, he was reinstated, never served the sentence, never paid a fine but was later appointed to important positions in government. Sounds familiar?

The author is a retired civil engineer from Cabatuan, Iloilo. He likes to spend his time reading and writing on the burning issues of the day