CARTOON BY: AARON PAUL C. CARIL
EDITORIAL
When power forgets its purpose
The past week exposed a truth many Filipinos have long suspected: when political ambition reaches fever pitch, public welfare becomes collateral damage. The 13 May 2026 gunfire inside the Senate, involving NBI agents allegedly acting on an ICC-related operation targeting Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, was not just a security breach—it was a constitutional earthquake. Shots fired inside the legislature of a democratic republic is not a “misencounter.” It is a failure of leadership somewhere in the chain of command. And the public deserves to know where that failure began.
Instead of clarity, the nation was treated to a parade of contradictions. The Ombudsman disclosed that the Senate refused to accept a subpoena for CCTV footage—an act he described as a rejection of due process. The Senate, in turn, questioned why the DOJ and NBI, both involved in the incident, were placed in charge of investigating themselves. Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida admitted he had prior knowledge of NBI movements around the time of the operation, raising even more questions about impartiality. Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano called it what it looked like: a conflict of interest dressed up as procedure.
Inside the chamber, the rhetoric grew sharper than the bullets that started this mess. Senator Risa Hontiveros demanded a full Senate inquiry, warning that silence would be complicity. Senator Pia Cayetano bristled, sparking a tense exchange that revealed the deeper fracture: whether the Senate would assert its constitutional oversight powers or retreat behind political caution. The debate was not merely procedural—it was existential. A legislature that cannot defend its own institutional dignity cannot defend the people’s.
Meanwhile, Senators Erwin Tulfo and Hontiveros lamented the surreal return to “business as usual,” as if the Senate had not just been the scene of an armed confrontation. Tulfo pointed out the absurdity of the competing narratives: Was the Senate “under attack”? Was the operation triggered by leadership changes? Was it an attempted escape? And why were minority senators being dragged into conspiracy theories simply because they went home after being excluded from a caucus that was abruptly limited to the majority? Tulfo’s reminder was the sharpest cut of all: it was the rank-and-file Senate employees—not the politicians—who were placed in danger.
What this week revealed is a political class too absorbed in defending turf and crafting narratives to confront the truth head-on. The Senate and the Executive both claim to champion accountability, yet both have spent more time trading insinuations than producing answers. While leaders posture, ordinary Filipinos continue to grapple with inflation, service backlogs, and local crises. The spectacle of power struggling against power has overshadowed the real work of governance—food security, transportation reform, disaster readiness, and healthcare gaps.
This is the moment for public officials to remember the oath they swore. The Senate must investigate without theatrics. The Executive must cooperate without defensiveness. Both must stop treating governance as a pre-campaign arena. Public office is not a shield for political survival; it is a mandate to serve. This week should not be a preview of the months ahead. It should be a warning: when power forgets its purpose, the people pay the price.