Frank Frank?

E·N·Q·U·I·R·Y
DEMAREE J.B. RAVAL

Frank Frank?
Sunday, 08 01, 2004

A man’s judgment invariably judges him. Though he may be forceful and passionate in speech, he nevertheless would remain hollow if he does not have the discernment to form sound opinions and make sensible decisions. Truly, nothing gives away a man for what he is more effectively than his attitude of forming a judgment upon a controversial issue.

Consider, therefore, the good sense and sound judgment of the following statement: “We must examine our tax collection efficiency before we consider new tax measures. We must determine whether a good portion of the revenues under our present laws are indeed collected. It is not acceptable to impose new taxes, especially on those who are already heavily burdened, when there appears to be so much revenue leakage and tax evasion going on.”

Fighting words from a senator in the Opposition? Not quite - but one could readily figure out that these words are spoken in opposition . . . to the wishes of the presumptive President in Malacañang, no less. The rejection slip, as it were, was delivered by Franklin M. Drilon in his inaugural speech as President of the Senate in the 13th Congress.

At the Senate Gallery, my seat mate, Ed Tumangan, who is a relative of the presumptive President, muttered: “That is totally unexpected!”, and almost fell off his seat when Drilon solemnly articulated those fighting words. To the assembled guests at the inaugural, that portion of the speech surely must have sounded like an ominous roll of thunder that presages a storm, a political low-pressure area that does not augur well for Malacañang. The presumptive President had better take heed, or else…

Unexpected, indeed, for barely a month ago, Drilon had been instrumental in bringing in the votes for, and setting the proclamation of, his candidate for President on a very, very fast track.

His political persuasion aside, Drilon was just being frank. But the trouble with being frank is that one has to be necessarily honest, often in a blunt and forthright manner. Thus, we laud Drilon for his frankness, for his judgment of calling any new tax as a burden undeserved. Why, indeed, should government impose additional taxes when it cannot even collect all of what it should be paid by now? Worse, the people who are going to be hard hit by new taxes are those who can barely afford to buy the ever shrinking P2 pan de sal.

The legislative agenda of Drilon, who is obviously working double time to leave a legacy of a productive and “coup-less” Senate, sounded more like a counter-SONA, pre-empting what the opposition senators would have loved to present - measures to arrest the ballooning fiscal deficit, combat the rampant corruption, postpone Charter change (Cha-cha), achieve peace in Mindanao rather than engage in a nationally divisive interventionism abroad that we can ill afford.

At the risk of coining a terrible pun, I’d say that the Drilon we in the legal profession and the Sigma Rho Fraternity used to know is back in his old form: He is frank and he drills on.

Barely two years into his post as Justice secretary, Drilon had woven an effective network of volunteers to guarantee his candidacy for a high national office, largely at the prodding of Sen. Edgardo Angara, his fraternity brother and law partner. By the time he left Padre Faura for the Senate, Drilon had built around the country imposing edifices that are now familiarly called Halls of Justice. These functioning halls are monuments to Drilon’s leadership.

Early on, Drilon had anticipated the gargantuan multiplication of court cases and, with the cooperation of stalwarts of the legal profession, prudently cajoled the government to construct respectable and functional structures for investigation and adjudication to replace the decrepit structures in the country.

As senator, Drilon launched a schoolbuilding program that is innovative and which might as well serve as a model for judicious use of the pork barrel. With the beneficiaries themselves undertaking the construction of schoolhouses (with a toilet for every room, to boot), the cost was amazingly cut down to just half of what the government would spend were it to undertake the construction.

Under his shadow, the growth of his new political party had been nothing less than phenomenal. Whereas previously the membership of the Liberal Party could fit into a Beetle (some used to jest that it was only Drilon inside), now Drilon has to hire ten tourist buses to accommodate those who now adhere to the tenets of a party defined by former Senate President Jovito Salonga.

One year into his presidency of the Senate in the 13th Congress, the issue of Cha-cha will start to divide (again) the nation and, presumably, the Senate. Drilon will have to wield his vast powers to keep under a tight rein the multifarious permutations of a rambunctious constitutional convention or constituent assembly.

Already bruised and battered by many past political battles - worse during the immediate past Senate that had an amorphous majority and a cohesive minority that asserted its might at every turn - Drilon, if he has to go on being frank, fearless, and obtuse whenever necessary, will have to hone his powers of judgment, notwithstanding the comfortable prospect of being able to lead unhampered with a majority group of 13 senators.

But then the ability to survive three years of internecine coups in the past Congress does speak of some ineluctable type of Drilon leadership. So now Drilon leads. The senators follow - not necessarily along the same path Drilon has mapped out, but rather towards the general direction that he outlined in the goals of his presidency.

At the nominations last Monday, his heir apparent, Senator Manuel Villar, said: “(Drilon) can ably steer the commitment of every member of this Chamber to vigorously pursue the much-needed legislative agenda to address the looming crisis in the country.” From one peer to another, these are laudatory words.

Meanwhile, let’s see how Drilon will lead the Senate of a Congress whose ordinal number is the superstition-laden 13.



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