In welcoming Chinese New Year
NANCY'S WISH TO CONGRESS: 'STOP PARLIAMENTARY BULLYING'
...says level of civil discourse has gotten worse

Sen. Nancy Binay's wish for Chinese New Year is for some members of Congress to put a stop to parliamentary bullying.

As a fresh start in welcoming the Year of the Dragon, Binay appealed to colleagues in Congress to forgo engaging in the lowest levels of unpleasantries and regressive civility just to diminish and humiliate the Senate.

"Sad to say, the behavior of some of our colleagues in Congress has fallen too far below the standard which the public expect from members of the legislature. The bullying, the absurd spats, the unnecessary remarks have brought shame on both houses of congress," Binay said.

The senator was reacting to the baseless accusations hurled against Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva by a member of the house leadership.

For the past month, the word war between the House of Representatives and the Senate has become the political equivalent of the tabloid talk show, "Face-2-Face".

"It's simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that politics bring out the worst in us. Di naman konstitusyon ang problema. Kadalasan, mga politiko mismo ang problema," she pointed out.

According to Binay, unreasonable, immature and unacceptable behaviors do not stand on the side of accountability and moral responsibility as public officials.

"Aren't we all expected to uphold the highest standards of integrity and trust? We need to take a good long hard look at ourselves if we are indeed spotless or walking the halls of congress with our dirty feet. It is downright shameful to see members of Congress denigrating themselves by allowing juvenile instincts to overtake their more rational judgments, and abusing free speech for slander," the lady senator pointed out.

Binay added that the parliamentary bullying has become toxic and continues to betray the trust of the people.

"The people don't want serial bullies in government. Ang gusto ng tao yung matino at maayos na paggogobyerno. We owe them that," the senator noted.

BRING POSITIVE CHANGE

Binay said that the level of civil discourse has gotten worse, and instead of shamelessly throwing mud at each other, legislators should be the first ones to do some house cleaning.

"As representatives of the people, if we are really serious about change, why can't we all work for a positive work culture in our respective institutions. Instead of pushing for changing the charter as if it were the only medicine to cure an ailing country, why can't we put ourselves first in the People's Agenda--denounce the injustices in the system, help fight corruption in all levels of government, help stop the culture of patronage politics, and as legislators, change for the better," she noted.

With all the bickering and political noise, Binay said there should be some serious intent or effort to make a genuine change in the Philippine parliamentary culture.

"I appeal to everyone to stand down, and go back to work. Change should start in our institutions, and I do hope we all can get the people's respect back," she said.

"Before calling for any change, let's become better public servants first. I think that's the most patriotic thing we can do for our country and people," Binay said.