Ruminations of an (Ex-) Senate President

“There can be no permanent cure for graft and corruption with power-politics still a primary concern of our political parties.” – Claro M. Recto

What was intended to be a quick, unscheduled courtesy call to a long-time friend and former “boss” turned out to be an extended, delightfully engaging conversation on sacrifice and statesmanship, advancement and advocacies, as well as on the “sui generis” and volatile nature of the Senate leadership.

“It’s a good thing you decided to drop by before I finally transfer rooms,” the youthful PDP Laban Party Head smiled as he waved for me to come in. “I won’t be holding office here anymore by the time our next session starts in July.”

For Senator Koko Pimentel, surrendering the privileged trappings that once accompanied his position – the lofty confines of an ornate and spacious chamber, coffered by decorative moldings and punctuated by a heavy Narra-constructed, double pedestal partners’ desk where a number of landmark bills were passed under his watch for two years – was bittersweet. But having seen him only a day after stepping down from the Presidency of the Senate of the Philippines, the good Senator was, curiously, in high spirits.

While he had wanted to extend his term for a few more months to carry forward the momentum of improving the quality of life through education and tax reform – having recently passed the “Free Tuition Law” and the “Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law” under his leadership – he genuinely looks forward to the opportunity of doing what he loves best: crafting legislation. “I’m excited to go back to the business of authoring laws that will help make our country a better place to live in,” he excitedly declared.

This early, he has re-assumed the Chairmanships of the Committee on Trade, Commerce and Entrepreneurship, as well as the Committee on Electoral Reforms and People’s Participation. And with presumably more time on his hands, the good Senator vowed to advance the cause of federalism nationwide. Like his father before him, he is also an untiring advocate for the adoption of a Federal System of Government in the Philippines. “My grandfather, Lolo Aquio, began the concept of bringing Cooperative Development in our hometown in Cagayan de Oro; this is a concept that later gave birth to the cause of federalism in Europe,” he declared.

Our discussion then shifted into a healthy exchange of ideas of how a Federal System of Government can help bring to make government services more efficient to its local constituents. Had it not been for a Senate session that afternoon, we would have spent an entire day in an engaging dialogue about the subject.

Senator Koko – for all his musings of still unfinished business as a Senator – has already reached for a place in the Upper Chamber’s history. His election to the Senate Presidency not only marked the first time in the Philippine Senate’s hundred-year history that a son has followed the footsteps of his father as Senate President; his dramatic ascent to the public consciousness as one of the youngest legislators ever to assume its leadership in just five years since his contentious passage into this deliberative assembly is also noteworthy for its historic significance.

As a former colleague in JCI Manila (where he served as Director for Local Organization Management), as well as having served as his erstwhile speechwriter and communications consultant, I am supremely honored to be called his friend who has paid silent witness to the rise of this extraordinary leader, constantly seeking to empower every Filipino to be the productive citizen and positive force for change that will ultimately lead the country towards a progressive Philippine society. Certainly, Senator Koko Pimentel’s life story shall continue to spark a chronic, yearning noise, which could only be silenced by a more blaring clamor of a new generation of young leaders who are willing to take the same enormous risks he did and triumph again – all in the name of “Service to Humanity.”