Philippine legislators just don't seem to make the grade. It is no wonder then that the Philippines is in such a sorry state.Bishop Pueblos (left) who received a Mitsubishi SUV worth P1.7 million from former President Gloria Arroyo along with other bishops swear-in before the Senate Blue Ribbon committee Philippine Senators display arrogance and hubris together with timidity and a shallowness of comprehension that makes televised senate hearings so dismaying to watch.
Case in point was Wednesday's Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing where Senators invited the Catholic Bishops implicated in the "PCSO-Pajero" controversy to explain their side of the story. The televised hearing got off on the wrong foot when Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago who started off by stating that she was a "sick person" then proceeded with a harangue about how only great legal minds like hers can fully grasp the true meaning of the constitution.
Blue Ribbon committee chair Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri then proceeded with what seemed to be his impression of a hotel concierge by announcing the name of each person of any consequence in attendance and greeting them with a "good morning." A nice and homey gesture but a total waste of taxpayer's time and money.
Then it was Senator Jingoy Estrada's turn in the limelight. Estrada never fails to amuse the viewing public because he acts so cocky and self-assured...but then he opens his mouth to speak and everyone feels let down and disappointed.
An hour or so into the hearing, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile tires of the hullabaloo with the bishops and allows them to take leave. The relief on the bishops faces as they left the chamber said it all. They came prepared for a grilling but what they got was an incoherent question and answer zarzuela that got to the bottom of nothing!
And as if to prove beyond doubt that the Senators had their heads so far up their wazoos they Vehicles being returned by Philippine Bishops are parked outsidecould no longer think straight, some legislators even suggested that the bishops should go ahead and keep the vehicles they were giving back to the government—as though the Senators had the final say in the matter.
The bishops wanted to return the vehicles because they finally came to the realization that they should never have accepted them in the first place. The Catholic Church, being a religion pays no taxes and as such has no business asking favors from the PCSO—a government agency funded directly or indirectly through peoples taxes. Other charities or organizations that actually pay taxes, or even local governments, and NGOs that are taxed and thus contribute to the government's tax pool deserve those vehicles more so than a religious organization like the Catholic Church, which pays no taxes at all.
In the bible, Jesus Christ mostly walked except on Palm Sunday when He rode a donkey into Jerusalem. Filipino bishops who live in gated mansions and ride around in air-conditioned luxury vehicles are about as far removed from being Christ-like as Paris Hilton is from being like Mother Theresa.
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