For a while, we thought we stumbled upon a new breed of young politicians: brash, bold and unremitting. We thought we found a new breed of political players distinct from the pork barrel lords, the moralizing liberals and the deceitful leftists.
But we were wrong. This band of young politicians – nicknamed the Tres Niños – quickly fizzled. Their grandstanding quickly turned out to be reckless and unsustainable. Their tactics sophomoric.
Kiko “Meow Meow” Barzaga of Cavite, Lean Leviste of Batangas and Eli San Fernando of Kamanggagawa Party-list first seemed like a trio on fire. They designated themselves graft-busters, the antidotes to politics as usual. Then they were knocked out one after the other as politics-as-usual struck back.
Kiko Barzaga was a short-lived sensation. He took to social media making wild claims about his colleagues. He transformed the plenary hall of the House of Representatives into a set for his clowning. But his bizarre behavior raised questions about his mental health and his suitability for serious legislative work.
For making an annoyance of himself, Barzaga was penalized by the House ethics committee with a 60-day suspension. That suspension was extended last week by another 60 days.
Under suspension, Barzaga fell strangely quiet. He dutifully deleted from his social media accounts posts his colleagues found offensive. He basically fell out the political radar, threatened with removal from his seat in the chamber.
Lean Leviste put out a rather different act. Celebrated as a young tech entrepreneur, he was a billionaire at a very young age. Then he dabbled in politics and indulged in grandstanding.
Leviste is accused of forcibly taking official documents from the late DPWH undersecretary Catalina Cabral. The contents of those documents he has yet to fully disclose. Nevertheless, he accused several of his colleagues with involvement in the large-scale corruption that was uncovered at the DPWH.
Soon enough, serious questions were raised about his academic record at Yale, the unusual franchise he won for his solar energy projects with the help of his influential mother, the manner he handled his businesses and the propriety of his multi-billion sale of his companies that netted him billions in earnings.
For failing to meet his committed energy generation capacity, the Department of Energy slapped him a P24-billion penalty. The encompassing franchise that allowed him to raise billions in financing for his solar energy firms is now under serious review by his colleagues in the House as well as by the ombudsman.
Leviste was last heard applying for a six-month leave to travel to about two dozen countries. The reason for such extended and extensive travel itinerary was never fully disclosed. Many read the application for an extended travel leave as a form of political exile.
Like Barzaga, Leviste suddenly became scarce the past few weeks. It is not known if his prolonged tourism plan will push through.
Kamanggagawa Rep. Eli San Fernando throws the least splash of the three. Without even building up a legislative record fitting the sector he supposedly represents, San Fernando seized the Supreme Court’s ruling on the controversial PhilHealth funds as a useful springboard to mount his own grandstanding. The Court ruled the redirection of PhilHealth’s “excess funds” to the national treasury was unconstitutional.
San Fernando late last year called for the criminal prosecution – and even incarceration – of former finance secretary and now Executive Secretary Ralph Recto for taking the PhilHealth funds. Those funds have been restored to the agency under the 2026 national budget.
In initiating his attack on Recto, San Juan ignored the opinion of the Court and most of the legal community that the former’s action was in good faith. DOF Circular Order No. 003-2024 implementing the cash sweep was in compliance with Special Provision 1 (d), Chapter XLIII of the 2024 budget law that ordered the return to the national treasury of unused or unrestricted funds of state-run firms. The funds would then be used to finance key health, social services and infra programs.
The national government eventually used PhilHealth’s idle funds to, among others, settle long overdue payments to medical front-liners who served during the pandemic.
San Fernando, before launching his excessive call for prosecution/incarceration of Recto, ought to have read the Supreme Court ruling more carefully. The magistrates took pains to stress that no criminal liability could be attached to Recto because his own circulars as finance secretary was in compliance with the law passed by Congress. The circular carried the imprimatur of the Office of he Government Corporate Counsel, the Governance Commission for GOCCs, the Commission on Audit and even the PhilHealth board.
Because of his unwarranted attack on Recto, the Sangguniang Panlungsod of Lipa City declared San Juan persona non grata last December. Labor groups, recalling Recto helped enact about 30 pro-labor laws, did not support San Juan’s feeble attempt to grandstand.
Like his two other neophyte colleagues, San Juan gained no traction for his effort. He was equally reckless and chose an unsustainable track.
There is much to learn from the sad fate of the Tres Niños.
Before grandstanding, all three should have started their careers with a lot more humility. They have to first put in the legislative work for which they were elected. They should have studied the issues well and made sure they had a critical mass behind them.