E·N·Q·U·I·R·Y
DEMAREE J.B. RAVAL
DEMAREE J.B. RAVAL
Tito Sotto: A sonatina
Sunday, 04 26, 2007
Of the four former senators — Angara, Honasan, Oreta, Sotto — conveniently shunted out of the Genuine Opposition slate in favor of other candidates, Vicente “Tito” Sotto III received a shoving he least expected. If ever there was one, Tito was the closest to former President Joseph Estrada and the late Fernando Poe, Jr., around whom the current opposition to President Arroyo gravitates. His loyalty to these sturdy icons of the opposition has been beyond question, yet Tito now suffers the undeserved ignominy of being branded names he has not earned through either action or inaction. The most stinging of these sobriquets: a traitor to the cause of Erap and FPJ.
Say again — traitor? If the following acts are indeed traitorous, I will concede that Tito is one:
One recalls that Tito and I were together in a sleuthing job in 2004, uncovering the Manapat operations designed to deny the late FPJ his natural-born citizenship, and protecting the whistleblowers Vicelyn Taryn, Emman Llamera and Remmel Talabis. And then other memories come flooding back: his exposé on the Nora Aunor check; the manufactured election returns in the Senate premises; the sleepless nights he spent with FPJ on the campaign trail; his valiant effort to exposé the dirty electoral tricks of FPJ’s opponent; and the sacrifice he had given to the opposition in the aftermath of the revelations in the Garci tapes.
When I met Tito yesterday, after I had come out with my article on fellow oppositionist Tessie Aquino- Oreta, I did not sense the disappointment I expected of Tito over the snub that the opposition did to him and Tessie, Angara and Honasan. I met a Tito who is at peace with himself, a Tito who has calmly accepted his fate, knowing he has done no wrong, a Tito whose head remains unbowed despite the bludgeons of political chance and circumstance. He admitted, though, to finding himself in a fix similar to that of Tessie and Angara: as one who has, by joining Team Unity (TU), avoided looking into the eyes of his adversary, and shall now avoid becoming that which he was against previously.
And so, like the sacrificial goat burnt at the shrine of political expediency, Tito no longer finds a need to dwell on the mystery why he had to be immolated.
These days, Tito’s eyes have no time for looking back. The man is focused forward. It’s not as if the past is a reminder of failures, but rather as letting his past accomplishments speak for themselves — and for himself.
This two-term senator has earned his spurs. He topped the senatorial elections in 1992 and served two terms until 2004. He is credited for having authored/steered the passage of the Overseas Absentee Voting Law, the Seat Belts Use Act, the creation of Family Courts, the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Code, and the establishment by legislative fiat of bodies such as the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, the Film Development Council and the Optical Media Board. He sponsored the conversion into cities of former municipalities such as Makati, Marikina, Pasig, Parañaque and Muntinlupa.
Tito was twice bestowed the International Award of Honor by the International Narcotics Enforcement Officers Association in Florida and California, USA. As senator, he helped build and improve schools nationwide and directed budgetary support to medical institutions such as the Philippine General Hospital, National Kidney Institute, the Philippine Heart Center, the Lung Center, Quirino Memorial Hospital and the Vicente Sotto Medical Center.
As senator, Sotto, in both his capacities as Senate minority leader and majority leader of the Commission on Appointments, has been known to be a consensus-builder and a mediator, reconciling differences among colleagues into a happy and mutual concession.
Tito has proved himself as an achiever, worthy of the trust of the electorate. TU, he says, might as well be the vehicle for many of his advocacies, one thing that he cannot find in the current opposition platform of governance, which he describes as driven by consuming hate.
The Senate beckons once more, and Tito is determined to pursue his advocacy against the scourge of drugs. Tito vows to continue his fight against illegal drugs, which he started when he was vice-mayor of Quezon City and carried on in the Senate through his dogged stewardship of the Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, and the creation of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, of which he was the principal author and sponsor. “It has been five years since the passage of the law,” he says, “and it is about time we review it, fine-tune it, and make it more responsive to the times. Drug traffickers have become more creative and more sophisticated in dancing around the law. We should not allow them to outrun, outgun and outmaneuver our law enforcers and our justice system. We must plug all the loopholes so they will not be able to circumvent the law.”
Once back in the Senate, the improvement of the capabilities of the Philippine Coast Guard is part of Tito’s overall continuing advocacy against the menace of illegal drugs and prohibited substances. He understands that this is another investment in the future of a great number of our “spaced-out youth” who, directly affected by the influx of illegal drugs in the country, could not seem to know whether they are coming or going.
Composer of Magkaisa, that stirring anthem of the 1986 Edsa revolt, Tito will live up to his billing as Senate consensus-builder and mediator — a tunesmith, as it were, who will transform harmonious chords out of the discords of the men and women of the 14th Congress.
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