Ilonggo leaders who should be in senate

“A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.”

—Lao Tzu

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

WE need Ilonggos in the Philippine Senate to replace former Senate President Franklin “Frank” Drilon who has retired from public service.

Based on their recent national exposure, the frontrunners should be Iloilo 3rd district Rep. Lorenz “Nonoy” Defensor, Iloilo first district Rep. Janette Loreto-Garin, DILG Undersecretary Jed Patrick Mabilog, and Iloilo 4th district Rep. Ferjenel “Ferj” Biron.

The three solons actively participated when the House of Representatives Committee on Justice tackled and approved the committee report and resolution setting forth the Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio a month ago.

There is no doubt they were able to give the voters from Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao who watched the dramatic event a glimpse of how good they are and what they can do for the country once they are elected in the Upper Chamber.

Defensor has the edge because he is expected to make heads turn as one of the House prosecutors in the vice president’s impeachment trial in July, which will be watched by millions of Filipinos in the Philippines and abroad.

Mabilog, on the other hand, will have more opportunity to buoy up his name in the national level now that he is in the helm of the country’s premier department, which is in charge of the 228,000-strong PNP and the local chief executives from Aparri to Jolo.

 

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The senate today has become lackluster and cheap because of the absence of quality Ilonggo senators like the late Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Drilon, the magnificent World War II resistance leader Tomas Confesor, Jose Hontiveros, Jose Zulueta, to name only a fews.

They were some of the most prominent senators in Philippine history produced by Iloilo and were known for their significant contributions to national governance, jurisprudence, and lawmaking.

Defensor-Santiago, the best president the Philippines never had, was hailed as the "Iron Lady of Asia" and a globally recognized legal luminary, trial judge, and multi-term senator known for her fiery speeches and prolific bill-filing.

She “ate death threats” for breakfast.

Drilon, who is still very much active in today’s political discussions, is considered as an influential statesman who served multiple terms as Senate President.

He could have been a presidential timber before he announced his retirement from politics but opted to stay away from political intramural to pave the way for younger candidates for the country's highest elective office.

 

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Drilon is best remembered as one of the most active and prominent secretaries of the late former President Corazon “Cory” Aquino after the EDSA Revolution.

He is credited for sponsoring key economic and revenue laws and championing urban development projects in his hometown. He also served under the administrations of former Presidents Fidel V. Ramos and Joseph “Erap” Estrada.

Confesor was best known as the "Lion of the Visayas" and served as a senator after the war. He was known for his fierce loyalty to the republic and anti-corruption stance.

Hontiveros was a jurist and delegate to the 1934 Constitutional Convention who served as a Senator of the Insular Government and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.

Zulueta was an Ilonggo statesman who served in the Senate and held the position of Senate President during the 2nd Congress.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor-in-chief of two leading daily newspapers in Iloilo, Philippines.—Ed)

 

 

In shambles and disarray

“A man can fail many times, but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame somebody else.”

—John Burroughs

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

THE Marcos Jr. administration is in total disarray.

Many of its officials have been tempted and tainted by graft and corruption, including former House speaker and Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, the first cousin of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

The law enforcement has become a sitcom in the Sesame Street. If they can’t hunt down a coward and overweight ex-cop in the homeland, they can never net the fugitives cloaking in Paris and Vienna.

Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio has been impeached twice by the House of Representatives, and her trial is now scheduled in the Senate.

The Senate is in shambles. Both members in the majority and minority blocs behave like gangsters and characters in a mafia film. Many senators are facing arrest and jail terms for plunder and malversation of public funds.

Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano, who talks and acts like host of a late-night gossip talk show, is a sitting duck. No one respects him in the media.

 If you are part of the Marcos Jr. administration and you are not embarrassed, your face must be made of adobe.

 

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We first heard the words “tyranny of the majority” when we covered the Iloilo capitol beat in 1989.

That was the time when some members of the provincial board “made life difficult” for then Governor Simplicio “Sim” Griño by flexing their muscles, so to speak, to derail some of the programs of the executive branch.

We also witnessed how dreaded was the “tyranny of the majority" in the city government when some members of the city council choked the administrations of then Mayor Rodolfo “Roding” Ganzon and Mayor Mansueto “Mansing” Malabor.

Tyranny of the majority surfaced once again when members of the Philippine senate minority bloc walked out from the regular session May 26 to protest a contentious proposal by Senator Rodante Marcoleta to amend chamber rules, allowing senators to attend sessions and cast votes remotely.

The minority accused the majority of "railroading" the institutional shift without proper debate, a tactic they claimed was designed specifically to accommodate absent or detained allies.

 

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This time, the target of the tyranny of the majority was its own members, not the executive branch like in the cases we enumerated in the Iloilo capitol and city hall episodes.

Tyranny is an overbearing use of power as it affects other people. Those under tyranny are not in control of their immediate future and lack protections to ensure their safety. Tyranny may be exerted physically, psychologically, or both.

Tyranny of the majority occurs when the majority attempts to use their numbers to exclude the rights of the minority and suppress dissenters. The minority has little or no recourse.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor-in-chief of two leading daily newspapers in Iloilo, Philippines.—Ed)

 

 

We need results

“Success isn't a result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire.”

—Arnold H. Glasow

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

OUR friendly advice to officials in charge of law enforcement under the Marcos Jr. administration is to refrain from constantly calling for press conferences and stay away from media limelight, if possible, if there is nothing positive or concrete matter to report to public.

A dozen regular press conferences can’t compensate for failure to arrest or bring to justice a growing number of fugitives like Gerald Bantag, Atong Ang, Harry Roque, Zaldy Co, Raddulan Sahiron, and now Bato Dela Rosa.

If they are effective and doing their job well, there is no need for these law enforcers to advertise their plans on how to arrest the prominent fugitives; there’s no need for empty press conferences.

The question remains to be when, not how. Results not bragging and swaggering.

Instead of showing off and competing for the headlines, officials of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Justice (DoJ), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Philippine National Police (PNP) should buckle down to work and prove to all and sundry they deserve to remain in their positions.

 

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WHY single out Bato?

The Mayors for Good Governance (M4GG) has criticized the continued absence of ICC-fugitive senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa and for receiving his salary worth P2.1 million (or P300,000 a month) in seven months of absence.

In a statement signed by members on May 25, 2026, M4GG, a national movement of over 200 reform-minded local chief executives committed to integrity, transparency, and people-first governance, called Dela Rosa’s act as “a great insult to millions of Filipinos who work hard and endure to support themselves and their families.”

We agree with the M4GG that Bato should not have been given salary while he was away and hiding from the law in the past seven months.

We also agree it was unfair and somehow anomalous for him to pocket the gargantuan amount, including his staff, when he did not report for work and was avoiding the law enforcers ready to get him by virtue of the warrant of arrest issued by the ICC for crimes against humanity.

 

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But why did the M4GG single out in one statement the fugitive senator when there are other mayors, governors, congresspeople, among other elected officials in the country, who did worse?

Was it because Bato’s case became the talk of the town when he recently surfaced to cast a vote for Alan Peter Cayetano to become senate president only to be allowed to escape after an ICC warrant of arrest was issued against him?  

If Bato’s case did not become earthshaking these past weeks and he did not appear to be a villain for escaping, would the M4GG issue such hard-hitting statement?

How about a statement of condemnation against senators, congresspeople, and cabinet officials who stole billions of pesos from kickbacks and other diabolical means via flood control and other infrastructure projects?   

According to its website, M4GG was founded on August 24, 2023 and “serves as an independent platform for mayors to collaborate, share best practices, and collectively stand against corruption while strengthening local autonomy and public trust.”

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor-in-chief of two leading daily newspapers in Iloilo, Philippines.—Ed)

 

Greatest performances of prosecutors, defendants

“Don't lower your expectations to meet your performance. Raise your level of performance to meet your expectations. Expect the best of yourself, and then do what is necessary to make it a reality.”

—Ralph Marston

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

WE are glad prosecutors and defendants who will clash during the impeachment trial of Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio have been identified.

They’re a mix of callow, unripe but sharp and seasoned trial luminaries from some of the country’s top law firms.

There’s no doubt stars and jacklegs among the House of Representatives and private prosecutors will either shine or plunge into the ravine when the historic trial begins in June or July 2026.

It will be the greatest performances of their lives in as far as their reputation and career in the legal and political arenas are concerned.

If they fumble, it will be hard to erase the lousiness from the mind of public. They must come to war armed to the teeth, so to speak.

If they sparkle, some of them will become icons in the legal profession and their political stocks will multiple.

In such a gaseous but peppery legal combat, there should be no room for carelessness and inadvertence. Good luck, attorneys.

 

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The trial involving the second highest elected official in the country will be watched “live” by millions of people, including those living outside the country who follow the political events and intramural in the Philippines.

Doubting Thomases who sneer at the so-called “Duterte or DDS senators” in the upper chamber acting as both "judges" and "triers of law and fact" can’t conclude with finality the “Duterte or DDS senators” will not vote for conviction.

They should give these ornate senator/judges the benefit of the doubt especially if the prosecutors will present incontrovertible and damning pieces of evidence that will leave no room for doubt.

Public opinion and, to some extent, pressure will certainly matter heavily on the decision of each senator/judge. Conscience is another thing.

It’s a vital, God-given internal faculty acting as a "judgment of reason" or moral compass.

Conscience functions as a built-in warning system—similar to pain sensors—that identifies right from wrong, guides behavior, enables moral reflection, and maintains personal integrity, often leading to peace or feelings of guilt.

Thus, even if some of them are dyed-in-the-wool diehards of the Duterte political clan, they might think twice about risking their own political future if they realize there’s no chance the vice president can wiggle out from the huge mess and thereafter say goodbye to her 2028 political ambition.

 

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In my opinion as a ring official and sports scribe, the 12-round WBC heavyweight world championship fight between defending champion Oleksandr Usyk and challenger, world kickboxing champion Rico Verhoeven, on May 23 at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt was stopped prematurely.

DAZN Pay-Per-View and the DAZN Ultimate Tier called it “the worst stoppage of heavyweight title fight history.” Not really.

There were world heavyweight title and non-title clashes in the past that also ended in controversy after the referee “haphazardly” intervened. The Usyk-Verhoeven bout was not the worst.

But I agree that the third man in the ring should have given the Dutch challenger the opportunity to continue fighting until the 12th and last stanza after absorbing a knockdown in the 11th round.

The challenger had the opportunity make history and pull off one of the greatest upsets ever in boxing as he was leading in the scorecards when the stoppage came.

Verhoeven was fighting the perfect fight for nearly 11 rounds, making Usyk look ordinary, and widely led on the scorecards. Usyk dropped Verhoeven with about 25 seconds left in the round. Then Usyk threw a flurry of shots after the bell had sounded, and the referee stepped in to stop the bout.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor-in-chief of two leading daily newspapers in Iloilo, Philippines.—Ed)

 

A lesson from Socrates for Pia, Bato

“Know thyself.”

―Socrates

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

THERE’S no law that prohibits members of the legislature from crying, but in the case of Pia Cayetano, she needed and wanted it.

In his 1972 hit song, Wildflower, Skylark belted, “Let her cry, for she’s a lady. Let her dream, for she's a child. Let the rain fall down upon her. She's a free and gentle flower, growing wild.”

Crying didn’t reduce Pia Cayetano as intellectual Lilliputian.

What she did was a complex physiological and emotional response that may have served her three primary purposes: social communication, emotional self-soothing, and biochemical release. Human nature.

Although he sent away the crying women in his jail, Socrates (c. 470–399 BC) believed women share the same natural capacities, intellect, and virtues as men, and are equally fit for governance and the military.

He believed the only fundamental difference is that women are generally physically weaker than men.

But the classical Greek philosopher from Athens, who popularized the famous saying, “I know that I know nothing,” didn’t like weeping women.

 

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When Socrates’ wife Xanthippe and the other women began weeping loudly before his execution, Socrates instructed his friend Crito to escort them home, as recounted by his student Plato in the Phaedo.

History tells us Socrates did this because he wanted to face his death with measured peace and dignified composure, believing that a man should pass away in quiet reverence rather than amidst wailing.

Later that day, historians recounted Socrates also lightly scolded his male followers for weeping, forcing them to hold back their tears.

Like Socrates, some members of the Senate minority bloc led by Panfilo Lacson and Erwin Tulfo may have felt the same way.

Aside from being alluded to when Pia Cayetano sobbed,” Walang ni isa sa inyong nangamusta sa amin” (no one from among you bothered to check if we’re okay) while recalling fearing for her life and saying goodbye to her children, men in the minority bloc may have felt slighted and uncomfortable like Socrates, the wisest man in Athens according to the Oracle of Delphi.

 

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Also, while ICC fugitive Bato Dela Rosa fled like a very scared rabbit, Socrates did the opposite when given the opportunity to escape from jail.

In fact, history tells us Socrates could have saved himself, but he chose to go to trial rather than enter voluntary exile.

In his defense speech, Socrates rebutted some but not all elements of the charges and famously declared that "the unexamined life is not worth living."

According to history, he could have proposed a reasonable penalty short of death but initially refused after being convicted.

Socrates finally rejected an offer of escape as inconsistent with his commitment never to do wrong (escaping would show disrespect for the laws and harm the reputations of his family and friends).

Socrates died in 399 BC by drinking a lethal dose of poison hemlock. An Athenian court convicted him of impiety and corrupting the youth, sentencing him to execution.

Rather than accepting exile or fleeing, he chose to abide by the law, peacefully accepting his fate among his followers.

Dela Rosa, 61, as of this writing, remained in hiding after escaping from the Philippine senate building at 2:30 o’clock in the morning on May 14, 2026.

Efforts to arrest him are now being undertaken by the NBI and PNP on orders from the Department of Justice after the Supreme Court rejected his petition for a TRO.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor-in-chief of two leading daily newspapers in Iloilo, Philippines.—Ed)