Sen. Nancy Binay disclosed her wish this Chinese New Year and it is for some members of the 19th Congress to end what she described as ‘toxic parliamentary bullying’ amid heated discussions on the subject of constitutional reforms.
In welcoming the Year of the Dragon, Binay appealed to her fellow lawmakers to refrain from “engaging in the lowest levels of unpleasantries and regressive civility” aimed at diminishing the political integrity of the Senate.
“Sad to say, the behavior of some of our colleagues in Congress has fallen too far below the standard, which the public expect from members of the legislature. The bullying, the absurd spats, the unnecessary remarks have brought shame on both Houses of Congress,” Binay said in a statement.
She noted that for the past month, the word war between the House of Representatives and the Senate has become the political equivalent of the tabloid talk show, “Face-2-Face,” where conflict resolutions often take an ugly turn.
“It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that politics bring out the worst in us. ‘Di naman konstitusyon ang problema. Kadalasan, mga politiko mismo ang problema (The Constitution is not the problem. Often, the problem is the politicians themselves),” Binay pointed out.
According to the senator, unreasonable, immature and unacceptable behaviors do not stand on the side of accountability and moral responsibility as public officials. She encouraged fellow legislators to think twice before throwing baseless accusations against each other.
“We need to take a good long hard look at ourselves if we are indeed spotless or walking the halls of congress with our dirty feet. It is downright shameful to see members of Congress denigrating themselves by allowing juvenile instincts to overtake their more rational judgments, and abusing free speech for slander,” Binay said.
Binay added that the parliamentary bullying has become toxic and continues to betray the trust of the people. “The people don’t want serial bullies in government. Ang gusto ng tao yung matino at maayos na paggogobyerno (What the people want is sensible and proper governance). We owe them that,” the senator noted.