Senate inquiry: a circus show

Senate inquiry: a circus show

I recently watched on television the Senate inquiry on the sex video scandal of Ms. Katrina Halili and Dr. Hayden Kho. I was expecting to see the inquiry to be conducted with due decorum. I was disappointed. What I saw was a circus.

Some people who were there are likened to vultures who were ready to make a kill or simply people who don’t want to miss a circus show in town. There was even a man who even unceremoniously drenched Dr. Kho. These are not encouraging signs for the Senate. The Senate deserves the kind of respect that is due it as the highest legislative body.

Senate inquiries are serious occasions. Resource persons are invited to these inquiries purposely to help the Senators craft better legislative measures. Hence, people who are privileged to attend any Senate inquiry must show some kind of respect to the proceedings. They should behave in a civil and respectful manner. Even the manner of dressing of people who attend Senate inquiries should be decent and appropriate to the occasion.

During the hearing, a Senator berated a legal counsel by saying that the latter has no authority to question the legislative intent of the Senate. As a student of law, what I know about legislative intent is that it is invoked when the language of a law is ambiguous. It is what lawmakers had in mind in passing an act or statute. It is obvious that the Senate inquiry was not aimed to discuss a law that legislative intent should be brought up. I was interested to find out the facial expression of the lawyer when this legislative intent was hurled at her. She must have found the Senator’s comment very amusing.

Let us show respect to the Senate when we attend its inquiries both in attire and demeanor. I hope that Senators should also show some respect to our people by showing that they are truly knowledgeable and capable legislators.