Sen. Miriam Santiago and the UP Charter
Posted on | November 5, 2004 | No Comments
As with dreams at night, there are times when you just can’t help but wake up because of a sudden jerk. But, after a few minutes of catching your breath, you simply close your eyes again and return to your dream’s climax.
That was how I felt when I watched the first news airing of Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago’s ballistic (in the words of the Philippine Daily Inquirer) speech delivered on the occasion of UP Charter floor debates.
The item on the Senate plenary’s agenda was Committee Report No. 2, a.k.a. Senate Bill 1833 or the substitute bill for the several New UP Charter bills filed in the Upper House of the 13th Philippine Congress. The protagonists included a fresh batch of Senators-elect, a lot of which are alumni of the University of the Philippines, with a sprinkling of non-UP friends and sympathizers.
Senator Santiago was a wildcard, for never was it seen in the planning stages of presumably both pro and anti-UP Charter players (the majority Strengthening version) that an alumna and former law professor at that would take advantage of her power to corner a whole institution.
However, I would like to look at it in a way that considers the maternal instincts of the Senator, for she presented herself as a mother hen out to avenge the death of her chick at the hands of an elusive hawk. It could have been the case that UP as a whole was a convenient target.
I guess giving those to her would not really appease her anger that much, but would allow her, as it seems to be her intention, to pursue legal action against those whom she perceives to be the murderers of her son.
That being the case, why not give her requested documents? If it is justice that she seeks for her son, then by all means she should be commended as a tried and true mother. But if it is delay in the UP Charter proceedings that she’s after, then maybe the case of Ex-Senator John Osmeña can be dutifully recalled.
Whatever the reasons she may have and the answers that the University administration has, let’s clear this roadblock A.S.A.P. and get back to fulfilling the dream that is a Strengthened University through an updated Charter.
P.S.
I have yet to see genuine opposition to the Strengthening version of the UP Charter, that is opposition based on arguments against the content of the bill.
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