Ateneans, La Sallians, artists, women’s rights groups call on Senate majority to shape up

MANILA, Philippines – Various groups, including universities where Senate majority lawmakers graduated, and organizations they have patronized, have gone public with their disappointment at the senators they had once been proud of.

Atenean alumni, various bodies from De La Salle schools, The Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service (TOWNS), artist groups, women’s rights groups, and farmers’ rights groups are among the latest to issue statements in the days after the escape of Senator Ronald dela Rosa and moves by the majority lawmakers, led by Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano, to allow online voting in the upper chamber.

Ateneans speak up about Ateneans in the Senate majority

Cayetano, Senators Jinggoy Estrada, and Camille Villar, all graduates of Ateneo de Manila University, received a rebuke from over 400 Ateneo faculty members, student, alumni, and staff who signed a statement entitled, “THE CALL TO BE THE LIGHT.” 

The Ateneans condemned the three senators’ “actions [that] keep the truth hidden, and keep the light of truth covered under deceit and secrecy.” 

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This sentiment was echoed by the Ateneo Law School Student Council: “There is no expression of Lux in Domino [Light in the Lord] when an Atenean Senator shrouds himself in darkness.”

This followed a statement made by Cayetano’s 1997 Ateneo Law School batchmates.

La Salle schools on alumni in Senate majority

Two bodies from La Salle schools issued sharp criticisms for Cayetano, an alumni of De La Salle Santiago Zobel. Fellow Majority Senator Bong Go is an alumnus of La Salle Greenhills.

Without naming specific senators, the presidents of La Salle schools slammed the protection invoked by Cayetano for Dela Rosa, the violence that unfolded within Senate walls prior to his escape, and the “shameless public posturing” afterwards. 

“The true measure of being Lasallian is the courage to do what is right when the insulation of power makes it costly,” the presidents of La Salle Schools said.

The DLSU Legislative Assembly, the policy-making body of the student government of DLSU, also called on the Lasallians in government to not set aside the values imparted by the institution during their education and called for the removal of Cayetano.

Women empowerment groups, artists speak up about Loren

The Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service (TOWNS) Foundation, an award-giving body for outstanding Filipino women, expressed their disappointment with Legarda, a past honoree, urging her to reflect on whether her actions honor the values on which they recognized her.

“Our distinction is not solely based on achievement, but on courage of conscience — the willingness to defend what is right even when it is difficult or unpopular… We continue to hope that she will rise to that challenge, not only for her own legacy, but for the country she once inspired many to serve,” the foundation said.

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Kislap Diwa, a group of artists under the patronage of Legarda, also expressed their dismay over the senator’s recent political actions: “Championship of the arts is not measured by past patronage. It is measured by the courage to stand against political convenience when it is costly to do so. On this, the Senator has failed.”

The group has since formally disassociated from Legarda and her office, withdrawing their consent to their names being used as part of her cultural legacy. 

“This severance is offered without theatrics. It is a fulfillment of the artist’s obligation to the Republic: to speak plainly when power falters and to refuse the use of our names in the service of what we cannot defend,” Kislap Diwa artists and poets state.

Legarda has long been an advocate for the promotion of Philippine culture and arts, being instrumental in the passage of the National Cultural Heritage Act and having titles bestowed from indigenous peoples groups for her advocacy.

Other artist groups Concerned Artists of the Philippines, Artista ng Rebolusyong Pangkultra and Artist Alliance for Peasant Rights, along with other theater practitioners, artists, and artist collectives, called the recent Senate chaos political theatrics, a circus to serve as a diversion from holding government officials accountable and from the millions of Filipinos enduring in poverty and neglect.

“As long as we are continuously denied justice by the state and its anti-people forces, we refuse to be rendered as a captive audience, but instead choose to be active and determined actors in the struggle for genuine accountability,” said Artista ng Rebolusyong Pangkultra and Artist Alliance for Peasant Rights in their unity statement.

‘Circus of clowns’

The Student Council Alliance of the Philippines, the largest alliance of student councils and organizations in the country, voiced their support for the Senate minority and called on the Filipino youth and the broader student movement to “stand vigilant and speak out against the erosion of accountability and democratic processes.”

“Bring back the Senate that genuinely serves the Filipino people—not this circus of clowns and machinery of impunity,” the alliance said.

Meanwhile, the World March of Women-Philippines, a global feminist movement, joined by youth, women, workers, indigenous people’s rights and human rights groups and organizations, described the Senate as a “haven of foolishness” that “coddles a person with a warrant of arrest from the International Criminal Court.” They also state that “families of EJK victims deserve justice, not foolish comedic acts.” 

In their joint statement, the groups also expressed concern over the leadership of Cayetano and Legarda in the Senate wasting previous efforts of women legislators such as representatives Gerville Luistro and Leila de Lima, who led the impeachment of Sarah Duterte with 257 votes in the House of Representatives. 

The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) also called on the Senate to stop coddling Senator Bato dela Rosa, urging them to stop distracting the public and hold dela Rosa and Vice President Sara Duterte accountable for the “broader struggle against corruption, state violence, and the culture of impunity that continues to burden ordinary Filipinos, especially farmers and the peasant masses.” – Gabie Torre/Rappler.com