The art and science of choosing excellent senators

By the time we elect senators in 2019, the Philippine government shall probably be a parliamentary-federal or a federal-presidential.

It is imperative that the first set of senators in the Federal Upper House should be men and women who represent the best and the brightest among our leaders, not a bunch of comedians, religious preachers, actors and sports champions.

We have had enough jokers in the past who were elected to the Senate by the aberrations of the majority of voters who choose blindly without any credible criteria. We should learn by now that we can no longer afford to make the Philippine parliament look like a comedy concert of incompetents who are very popular among the masses. It is high time that we elect again high caliber parliamentarians in the mold of the Laurels, and the Rectos (we have a Recto, but he is not claro), the Salongas and the Tolentinos, Dioknos and Tañadas, Manglapus and Soc Rodrigo. Women of substance like Geronima Pecson, Maria Kalaw Katigbak, Tecla Ziga, Helen Benitez and Lettecia Ramos-Shahani. And, of course, the one and only Miriam Defensor-Santiago.

Today, both the administration party, PDP-Laban and the opposition LP (or whatever ragtag remains of it), have serious problems. The administration is confused in the face of oversupply of senatorial wannabes. The opposition is facing a difficult problem because no one wants to run under it. It cannot even complete a senate slate. All bets seem to be afraid of running against the party of a very popular president, with a lot of taipans supporting its campaign. The oligarchs are the number one opportunists. They do not want to put their money in the camp of a “partido dejado.”

PDP Laban is even at a loss as to who will carry between two famous brothers: Jinggoy Estrada who is fresh from detention or JV Ejercito whose mother is facing a very precarious recall election in their turf in San Juan. The administration party is also cracking its head as to which list to carry, the Koko Pimentel list of that of Bebot Alvarez.

Since the trapos are going to neutralize each other, it is time to form a third force of professionals, educated but not elitists, socially-conscious and clean in terms of integrity and values. It is time for the academe, the youth, the business sector, and even religious associations (there is really no real separation of church and state in this country, after all) as well as civic clubs like Rotary, Lions, Jaycees, and the Integrated Bar, the professional associations of doctors, nurses, accountants, engineers, journalists, academicians, educators and student leaders, and other professionals.

There should be a choice presented to the people. This is not unprecedented. This was done by Raul Manglapus and Manuel Manahan in the national level in the sixties. This was also done here in Cebu by idealistic and passionate, honest and nationalistic Cebuanos, like Hilario Davide Jr., Marcelo Fernan, Valentino Legaspi and even by priests like Andres Flores of Toledo and Kintanar from Argao. And they won.

The next set of senators should be learned in law (even non-lawyers must know the law because they shall be lawmakers), must be excellent parliamentarians. They must be competent on national and global issues, geo-politics and international law. They should know how to behave in the Senate, and not make the senate sessions and committee hearings like a noon-time show or a boxing arena. When they open their mouths, they should spew out words of wisdom and inspiring nuggets of philosophy and high principles. And more important than being articulate is being men and women of probity and integrity.

Their lives should be commendable, not necessarily rich, and must not have records of plunder, corruption and shady deals. They must have solid family background and not a notorious womanizer or pedophile. In order words, our senators should be men and women of impeccable character and proven competence, people we can truly be proud of.

Well, as they say, we deserve the kind of officials we elect.

Thus, we, the people who are concerned about our country should come up with a massive education campaign to educate our voters to make sure they know the art and science of choosing the best and the most qualified, not the most popular.

And junk all bets with links to drugs.