By: Telly Gonzaga-Ocampo

SAMOKA OY! – A Reflection

The current quagmire in the Senate is causing confusion in the minds of people who belong to the “in-between” – those who are trying to weigh what is happening, without the noise of partisan shouting.  We are not for BBM, neither are we the Dutertyds.  Wala na lang gyud mi kasabot sa mga panghitabo. It is because the signal has been drowned by the static sound of self-interest.  

I read the editorial of the Bohol Tribune last Sunday. It was aptly highlighted by Atty. Greg Austra’s “When power forgets its purpose”.  
His words cut deeper than any privilege speech.  

I am old enough to remember, and to compare, the kind of Congress we once had both in the upper and lower houses. There were statesmen, not performers. Men and women like Recto, Ambrosio Padilla, Teodoro Locsin, Manuel Pelaez, Raul Manglapus, Carlos Garcia, Diokno, Climaco, Fernando Lopez, Lagumbay, Tecla Ziga and Tanada. They argued, yes. But they argued for the republic.  

In recent years, we still had names that carried weight: Raul Roco, Perez, Tolentino.  They were leaders who understood that a seat in Congress was borrowed, not owned.  

Today, propriety and respect are lost in both chambers. What they have now is their insatiable desire for power and greed, a hunger that no amount of airtime can satisfy. They have never thought of the sufferings of the people while they rehearse their lines for the next viral clip.  
Here they are spending money on debates about their wrong priorities, as if legislation were a talk show.They have never thought of the trillions  of dollars in foreign debts that we, their children, will inherit.  

THE IN-BETWEEN

THE STATESMEN

Kaluoy natong ordinary citizens, mura lang ta ug nagingkib ug teratera sa mga ayuda.  We line up, we wait, we bow our heads for crumbs, while the feast is happening upstairs. The middle class is gradually regressing to poverty level, squeezed between inflation and indifference. And we have become their political capital, counted only during elections and forgotten after.  

You may think I’m crossing the line of my being a culture and heritage column. But for me, culture is simply lifestyle. And the lifestyle of the people who govern and the governed is the truest measure of a nation’s soul. When leaders choose spectacle over service, that too becomes our culture. When citizens accept patronage over dignity, that too becomes our heritage.  

Lastly, I’m hoping people will fight for the anti-dynasty bill. If Congress will not fight it, we will crumble the dynasties in 2028. Not with violence, but with votes, with memory, with refusal. Let’s pray for that. Let’s work for that.

The best description we could give to the situation today is: Samoka oy!

“ANTI-DINASTY BILL”