We deserve more senators like him today . We have some today But most have unbecoming traits and begaviour as senators like Ninoy, Tañada, Salonga, Kalaw, Diokno , Puyat et al.
JOINT STATEMENT ON THE SENATE MINORITY WALKOUT
We strongly condemn what appears to be an attempt to rush a major change in the Senate Rules, especially when several members of the minority still wanted to speak and raise serious questions on the floor.
Bakit kailangang madaliin? Bakit kailangang pigilan ang mga gustong magsalita? Bakit kailangang i-divide ang house kung marami pang senador ang nagtatanong tungkol sa proseso?
Minamadali ba ang rule change na ito dahil gusto nilang maka boto si Senator Bato? At ngayong may mga ulat na may mga majority senators na maaaring arestuhin?
We walked out because what happened on the floor looked less like orderly deliberation. The proposed rule change affects how senators may attend sessions, participate in proceedings and exercise their mandate through remote means, and such a measure should be opened to healthy public debate instead of being rushed by the tyranny of the majority.
We have always welcomed healthy discussions on the floor, but this should mean allowing all members to be heard, not forcing the chamber to move at the speed preferred by the majority.
At the time the motion was taken up, there was no duly constituted Committee on Rules and there was not even an elected Majority Leader who could properly guide a rules amendment through the regular process.
How could there have been any action or discussion before the Committee on Rules when no Committee on Rules has been organized to date?
With due respect, the answer that no Senate rule had been violated does not settle the matter, because the rules cannot be treated as a matter of convenience when the very process for amending them is under serious question.
The timing raises a question that the public deserves to hear debated openly. Kaya pinili naming tumayo at iwan ang majority sa plenary. Kaya kami nagdesisyon to question the quorum and call for adjournment.
If the proposal is truly defensible, then let it pass through the proper route.
We owe it to the people who voted for us to do our mandate. This is why we want more time to discuss this further.
Happy Birthday, Mr. President. Under the present circumstances, your absence has become more pronounced.
ONE SOLITARY PUBLIC SERVAT
He was born into a dynasty,
but he never treated power as inheritance.
He studied, served, waited
and when history called,
he did not pretend to be extraordinary.
He held no dictatorship in his hands,
no cult of personality at his back.
He commanded no armies loyal to him,
owned no business empire,
and built no monuments to himself.
He governed with no theatrics.
He spoke plainly, often in Filipino,
often without flourish,
but always with a stubborn belief
that rules mattered
and institutions were worth defending.
He inherited a government accustomed to shortcuts
but he insisted on process.
He faced crises that demanded rage
and responded with restraint.
When decisions went against him,
he respected them
even when they constrained him.
He did not enrich himself in office.
He broke rice bowls that enriched the few.
He used resources of the state
to lift the poorest from poverty.
He did not weaponize government for personal vengeance.
He trusted that transparency, though slow,
would outlast noise.
He respected accountability,
even when charges were filed against him
and only later dismissed.
He faced a giant beyond our shores
and chose law over bravado.
Outmatched in arms,
he stood his ground with principle.
He brought a great power before the judgment of nations
and let the world decide.
When the ruling came,
it affirmed not might, but right
and proved that even the small,
when steadfast,
need not bow.
Under his stewardship, the economy grew.
The international financial community
granted the country investment-grade ratings
we had never known before.
We held our heads high abroad,
and nations around the world
respected and envied our standing.
He left office with no fortune,
no dynasty expanded,
no loyal machinery demanding his return.
He went back to private life
as quietly as he entered public service.
He died without calling himself a hero.
Nearly every reformist ideal we now invoke:
clean governance, independent institutions,
respect for the rule of law
passes, in some way,
through the choices he made
when he had the power to choose otherwise.
And though he governed for only six years
without spectacle or myth,
the question he left behind
continues to trouble the nation:
If leadership can be decent,
if power can be restrained,
if public office can be treated as a trust
THEN why do we keep settling for less?
UST WINS TRIPLE-OVERTIME THRILLER VS ATENEO‼️
The Tigers go Forth at the Blue Eagles' nest — and come away with their fourth win after outlasting Ateneo in three overtimes. #GoUSTe