Angels and demons

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The 15th Congress, something which Filipinos hoped would be a fresh start, is hell-bent on turning out to be the same old story when it opens tomorrow.

Expected to welcome the newly elected chief executive to the legislative chambers will be House Speaker Feliciano “Sonny” Belmonte and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, whose names have graced Philippine politics longer than the president’s late mother.

Belmonte, who once held the House speakership for a short term, is former Quezon City mayor and a formidable ally of former President Corazon Aquino.

When the Aquino matriarch’s death spurred the candidacy of Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, Belmonte jumped to the Liberal Party (LP) from Lakas-Kampi-CMD of which he is a long-standing member, honoring the Aquino-Belmonte ties.

Enrile, on the other hand, worked his way to popularity by starting out as the infamous Defense Minister of strongman Ferdinand Marcos.

Known as the “architect of martial law” since the alleged attempt on assassinating him was used as one of the premises for declaring military rule. He redeemed himself by becoming a hero when he led a military breakaway with Fidel Ramos, who also became president of the Philippines, fuelling the bloodless revolution. It was Enrile and Ramos to whom the late Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin rallied the Filipinos in EDSA.

Therefore as Aquino delivers his first state of the nation address, he shall be flanked by a historical ally and a historical foe. Only time can tell, however, who shall prove to be the angel and who the devil will be.

Reports described Enrile as the leader of a “unity Senate,” a legislative body working toward the same goal regardless of loyalties. At the onset, Enrile, who ran in the slate of former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada, is portrayed as heading a legislative utopia.

Belmonte, meanwhile, mustered an overwhelming majority vote of 227 lawmakers, reducing the minority to 29 votes. He shall preside over the chamber he shares with Imelda Marcos, one half of the conjugal dictatorship that marred this country’s history, and former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who allegedly ran for a seat in Congress in an effort to evade prosecution and to win back the top position in government as the Philippines’ first prime minister.

The unity foreseen for the legislature offers hope for the Philippines, a country haunted by woe for division in the House of Representatives and the Senate. But history tells us how the longer people stay in power, the more power corrupts them.

May Enrile and Belmonte turn from traditional politics and reflect the hope of the Filipino nation. But let us not keep our hopes up. It pays to be cynical.