The testimony of Ronnie Dayan, former bodyguard and boyfriend of Senator Leila de Lima before the House committee on justice probing the proliferation of drug syndicates in the New Bilibid Prison was expected to demolish the senator, but as things turned out, the embattled lawmaker gained sympathy not only from her female colleagues in the Upper Chamber but also from political pundits and mainstream media.
It was not just the way most committee members tried to extract salacious and lurid details of the illicit love affair, there were also administrative slip ups that added up to the outrageous conduct of the hearing.
Firstly, the House hearing started late. As if addressing the public and the media personnel who were already sending in spot reports and nothing was happening, Justice committee chairman Reynaldo Umali of Oriental Mindoro told committee members he was already in the Batasan by 9:30 that morning. Later, Rep. Umali announced the delay in the proceedings was caused by Mr. Ronnie Dayan who was still reviewing his sworn statement kuno.
Actually the resource person was not expected to appear until after certain preliminaries like the formal opening and reading and approval of the minutes of the previous hearing held in October 8. This last item would have taken at least an hour or two but Misamis Occidental Cong. Henry Oaminal who is committee vice chairman sought for a deferment. Simply put, the legislative staff was unable to submit the minutes more than a month after the previous hearing.
As Cong. Rey Umali tried to cover for the apparent disorganized program, a staff of his filled the gap by acknowledging the presence of committee members. After declaring the formal opening, Ronnie Dayan appeared in the company of his lawyer as if on cue.
After swearing to tell the truth and nothing but the truth, Dayan read from a prepared statement. It was difficult to follow his statements because he read poorly. I think there were corrections written over the document because he would falter now and then and the lawyer seated beside him would point to the portion in the document to keep his reading on track.
While this was going on, legislative staff and food servers were seen going to and fro while some committee members were busy talking and eating. The sound of their spoons and forks scraping the plates can be heard on the open microphone. At some point, Umali asked his colleagues to tone down their voices. As I watched the proceedings on cable news channel, the inquiry looked to me like a scene out of a public market.
In 1999, I had the privilege of covering the House legislative inquiry on illegal drugs by the ad hoc committee on illegal drugs chaired by then Cebu City Congressman Antonio Cuenco. Congressional probes on illegal drugs and the politicians who initiate such probes are often vilified for initiatives in aid of re-election but the House probe suddenly gained currency because two former employees of Peter Lim, Bernard Liu and Ananias Dy spilled the beans on the alleged illegal drug trade of the businessman and his brother.
I will never forget the way Tony Cuenco presided over opening of the House hearing held in Cebu City because I called him out then over the casual manner he handled the probe – as if he were a disc jockey who made crazy adlibs to fill in the “dead air”. This is broadcast parlance to indicate an interruption in the audio or video where nothing is seen or heard. The announcer on board who can’t fill in a dead air with some kind of chatter leaves the listening public wondering what happened.
I criticized Cong. Cuenco then for making unnecessary comments because a solemn style was needed otherwise the hearing would be trivialized. Any negative perception would impact on the overall administration of the legislative inquiry and truth would be the casualty, I said. When my article appeared on this paper, I got a call from the lawmaker, who said he took in all my comments in the same spirit that I wrote it – very well.
Covering the hearing back then, I also remember that the hearing would be suspended when it was time to eat a main meal, in this case, lunch. When the hearing is suspended, everybody, not just the congressmen but also their staff, resource persons and the media covering the event are given enough time to eat properly.
What does House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, or for that matter, justice committee chairman Rey Umali think of the sight of congressmen eating while the hearing takes place? In the Senate hearing on the death of Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa, I also notice senators eating while the hearing goes on and mind you, some are eating with gusto and not just toying with their food in front of the camera.
That the leadership in both chambers have chosen to ignore these unseemly practices is outrageous to say the least. But what can we expect? With some congressmen acting like voyeurs under the cover of an inquiry in aid of legislation everything else becomes normal if not commonplace.