a. absent (nasa district? nasa isang official trip? nagbabakasyon?)
b. late (dumarating ang marami after 5pm)
c. somewhere in batasan (inside the office entertaining guests and constituents, speaker’s office receiving or asking for official instructions, mitra hall participating in an extended committee hearing)
d. inside the members only lounge

The south wing lounge is an exclusive room for members of congress. It is a mysterious place. It functions as the ‘other plenary’ where legislative and political matters are discussed. This is also the room where lawmakers take their merienda or light dinner. There is also a smoking room and wash room inside the lounge.

My constituents are curious about the food we eat inside the lounge. Below is the list of food items we consumed in the past month:

December 15, 2009 Tuesday – pork barbecue, chicken barbecue, molo soup, puto binan, pansit guisado, fresh lumpia ubod, hamon, bibingka, spanish sardines, keso de bola, puto bumbong

January 18, 2010 Monday – pansit guisado, tuna panini sandwich, fried lumpia, chicken barbecue, pork barbecue, chicken and shrimp molo soup, assorted kakanin, buko pandan

January 19, 2010 Tuesday – roasted pumpkin and sweet potato soup, lasagna beef, bolognese sauce, chicken lollipop, potato chips, honey mustard sauce, tuna and cheese sandwich, herb garlic bread, ham and cheese sandwich, chocolate cake, fruit salad

January 20, 2010 Wednesday – pork siopao, pork siomai, chicken siopao, chicken siomai, westlake soup beef and tofu, chicken and mushroom efu noodles, lumpia sariwa, banana fritters, pichi-pichi

January 25, 2010 Monday – lugaw, ox tripes, bami guisado, vegetable ukoy, tokwa’t baboy, empanada, halo-halo, cheese rolls

January 26, 2010 Tuesday – frankfurt sausage, chili con carne, chicken sausage, fish and chips, chicken asparagus soup, spaghetti noodles, putanesca sauce, three mushroom sauce, blueberry cheesecake, mango crepes

January 27, 2010 Wednesday – beef brisket, chicken soup stock, seaweeds with century eggs, seafood rolls, lumpia shanghai chicken, tuna asado, lumpia shanghai pork, bacon asado, brazo de mercedes, almond with lychee

February 1, 2010 Monday – chicken macaroni soup, pancit malabon, pork chicharon, camaron calamares fritos, lumpiang bacolod, mini pandesal, spanish sardines, pork dinuguan, puto binan, suman pinipig, ginataang halo-halo, sago at gulaman.

February 2, 2010 Tuesday – cream of mushroom soup, pasta with bolognese pinoy style or roast vegetable and tuna, southern fried chicken, steamed buttered corn in cob, tacos with cheese tomato salsa, sour cream, beef, roast beef panini sandwich, cheese puff, banana coffee cake, sweetened banana

February 3, 2010 Wednesday – miso soup, chap chae, vegetable kakiage, grilled chicken teriyaki, japanese chicken siomai, sushi and maki, japanese pork siomai, caramel cake, avocado ice cream, vanilla ice cream

Everyday, there are fresh fruits (banana, pineapple, watermelon, papaya, manga) and mixed greens with italian, thousand island, or caesar dressing. Members can ask for coffee, tea, soda, bottled water, and red wine (even brandy). I think red wine is available only during the last few days before the end of regular sessions.

The normal procedure in the lounge: A lawmaker will select his/her preferred food items. Then the lawmaker will look for an unoccupied seat in the lounge. The food will be delivered by a waiter. Members also have the option to get the food directly from the food table. This allows us to eat in one sitting our desired food serving.

A special dinner is offered before Congress goes into recess (June, September, and December). A sample of the special menu: tuna or salmon sashimi, egg caviar salad, steak – medium rare, well-done with mashed potatoes, lechon, babyback ribs, maya-maya steamed fish, mixed slices of meat.

Lunch is provided by the speaker at the conference hall during the president’s annual state of the nation address. Sometimes, lawmakers celebrate their birthdays by contributing a few native delicacies in the lounge food table. During budget season, the lounge is open and lunch is available for members and special guests.

Since a perfect attendance is rarely achieved, what happens to the excess food? I believe it is distributed to Congress offices. Or in the case of kuripot lawmakers like me, I bring home some food items. After session is adjourned around 7:30-8pm, I always ask one of my staff members to accompany me in the lounge.

I thank the waiters, cooks, and helpers who provide us with excellent and gracious service inside the lounge. I hope to see them again on May 31 when Congress resumes session to canvass the presidential election results. I wish them well knowing that they don’t get paid when Congress is not convened.

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@adarna. Her name is Sarah Maramag, our Chief of Staff. She is a prolific writer and an outstanding political activist. She wrote for the Philippine Collegian during her undergrad years. She used to be a national staff officer of Anakbayan and College Editors Guild. Like me, she is a big fan of Eat Bulaga. She is afraid of cats.

@glygotiangco. She was president of the PUP Student Council during Edsa Dos. We were contemporaries in the National Union of Students. She is part of the People’s Chorale, an activist cultural group. She is our political affairs officer. She is single and very happy at the moment.

@jose. Jose Cosido is a former president of the College Editors Guild. He designed many of our official campaign materials. He is our projects officer. Jose recently figured in a Facebook “incident” but I think the evidence has been deleted.

@jmragaza. JM Ragaza is our media officer. He is also our website admin. Aside from writing our press statements, JM drafted two of my privilege speeches. JM loves to watch movies but he walks out every time the movie sucks. Case in point, JM didn’t finish the film screening of New Moon at SM.

@eightyseas. Airah Cadiogan is our legislative officer. She prepares interpellation guides, issue briefers, and committee spot reports. She wrote most of the bills and resolutions we filed this year. Airah spent two years in South Korea as an exchange student. Her love life is always a mystery.

@bikoy. Victor Villanueva is our researcher and legislative officer. He drafts bills and resolutions, plenary manifestations, and issue primers. He is an award-winning and famous blogger. Bikoy should start a food and travel blog.

@paul. Ka Paul is my close-in security. He is a veteran activist. He is now a lolo. Congrats!

@bern. Tito Bern is our driver. He is the oldest member of @kabataancrew. I consider him as part of my family. His laing recipe is the best.

@mongster. This is me. I often tweet my political activities. Through twitter, I share the url links of excellent and interesting web articles. I also announce new blog posting through twitter. Via SMS, I tweet while inside the plenary hall of Congress. I plurk my personal activities. I rarely open my Friendster and Facebook accounts.

Officially, I’m the boss since I’m the congressman. But this title is conveniently overlooked inside our office because we are all activists. Besides, halos magkakasing-edad kaming lahat. Pantay-pantay kami sa opisina. My advantage is that I have the biggest table and I don’t answer the phone.

This is how our office operates on a regular session day: Everybody scans the online news in the morning. We email news stories that are related to our work. We also email new updates from google alerts for Kabataan Partylist. We report for work before lunch. We arrive at 9:30am if there is a committee hearing in the morning. Airah or Bikoy prepares a summary of issues to be tackled in the committee. JM drafts a press release. Sarah will review these papers. Gly ensures the completion of administrative and political tasks inside the office. We meet to collectively discuss our position, statement, and tactics. Then I attend the plenary session at 4:00pm or 5:00pm to hobnob with the rich and powerful. The session highlights will be livetweeted by our staff. Around 7:30pm, one of the members of @kabataancrew will accompany me in the lounge for a light dinner.

I will let @venzie, the party secretary-general, to introduce our HQ staff. But I have to mention Anna and Carl, two of the founding members of Kabataan Partylist.

House Bills

a. Public Libraries Bill – HB06770: This will modernize the country’s public libraries by amending Republic Act 7743. We are proposing the establishment of e-library facilities in the country’s 1,231 public libraries. We also want to uphold the “public’s right to information and freedom of expression by prohibiting the exclusion of reading materials based on the origin, background and views of the creator or author.” Officials of the National Library are supportive of this bill.

b. Free SPED Bill – HB06771: This bill aims to provide free and appropriate basic education to all Filipino children and youth with special needs. It was my college professor who urged me to file this bill. Kabataan Partylist is also a co-author of the SPED Bill sponsored by the Committee on the Welfare of Children.

c. Styrofoam Ban Act of 2009 – HB06798: The full title of the bill – “An Act Declaring as Unlawful the Use of Expanded Polystyrene Food Service Containers and other Synthetic Materials Harmful to the Environment in all Educational Institutions and for other purposes.” By banning Styrofoam, we hope to promote environmental awareness and practice environmental protection in schools. This bill was suggested to me by an educator from Taguig.

d. Anti-‘No Permit, No Exam’ Policy – HB06799: This will ban the common school policy of preventing students from taking their periodic or final examinations due to unpaid tuition and other school fees. As a compromise to school owners, the final grades and transcript of records of students will not be released if they still have outstanding financial obligations. Congresswoman Cari of Leyte is a co-author of the bill.

e. SK Strengthening and Reform Act of 2009 – HB06870: Last August we met the national leadership of the Sangguniang Kabataan. We discussed the need to reform and strengthen the SK institution in response to the widespread observation that the SK body has lost its relevance. The output of the meeting became the guiding document in drafting HB 06870. Here are the pertinent features of our proposed SK Reform Bill: Instituting a uniform procedure for releasing and reviewing SK budgets; empowering the Katipunan ng Kabataan as the basic unit and consultative body of the SK; recognizing duly-elected SK officials as persons of authority in the community; clearly defining the procedures for succession and filling of vacancies; appropriately adjusting the calendar of SK elections; and to regularize training seminars by NGOs, national student and youth organizations, and Peoples’ Organizations for SK members. The bill also incorporates the earlier proposal to adjust the age requirement for SK officials.

f. BPO Workers’ Welfare and Protection Act of 2009 – HB06921: Employing half million young workers and generating billions of dollars in revenues, the Business Process Outsourcing sector is touted as the country’s sunshine industry. But the welfare of BPO workers is seldom reported by government, media, and industry analysts. There is a need to uphold the labor rights of BPO workers. Kabataan Partylist has filed a bill that would allow BPO workers to join and form unions, institutionalize an occupational safety and health policy, and ensure just compensation for BPO workers who attend work during non-working holidays.

House Resolutions

Kabataan Partylist has three resolutions on the issue of shortened voters’ registration: Extension of Voters’ Registration (HR01162), Day-off with Pay for Registrants (HR01336), and Extension of voters’ registration deadline in typhoon-affected regions (HR01443).

We sought an investigation on the following issues: UP Graduation Program Tuition Hike (HR01197), Vanishing Loads (HR01237), Smartmatic-TIM overpricing (HR01260), Anomalous purchase by DepEd of overpriced medical and dental supplies (HR01288), Abduction of an Anakbayan member in Cagayan (HR01411), DENR constructive dismissal of employees (HR01408), Military surveillance of National Artist Bienvenido Lumbera’s home (HR01421), Violent dispersal of a rally in front of Malacanang Palace (HR01337), and the imposition of a new tax on imported reading materials (HR01161).

The UP resolution was proposed by the university faculty regent. The Vanishing Load resolution was the House counterpart measure of a Senate resolution filed by Senator Bong Revilla. The Smartmatic-TIM resolution was drafted in reaction to a PCIJ report. The DENR resolution was lobbied by concerned employees of the agency. The rally which was violently dispersed was a student protest against the lavish dinner of Arroyo and her politician friends in New York.

Kabataan Partylist also co-authored (25) house bills, (1) joint resolution and more than (100) house resolutions of partylist representatives from Bayan Muna, Anakpawis, and Gabriela.

Privilege speeches. Committee memberships.

I delivered (3) privilege speeches: The Tragedy of Philippine Education (May 18, 2009),
The Call of Call Center Agents (August 17, 2009), and Who Owns Malacanang? (August 26, 2009)

I’m an official member of the minority in (4) committees: Youth and Sports, Information and Communications Technology, Dangerous Drugs, and Public Information. I’m also active in the Committees on Higher and Technical Education, and Basic Education.

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It took several months before House employees were able to recognize me as a lawmaker. There are still times when security guards would prevent me from entering the main building of the Batasan especially when I’m not wearing a barong. In some committee hearings, I have to convince the committee chairman that I’m allowed to speak freely because I’m a congressman.
Perhaps because of my age, many of my colleagues who are old enough to be my parents and even grandparents presume that I’m willing to be lectured about the intricacies of Philippine politics. In most cases, they are right. I’m always interested to hear the unconventional and sometimes eccentric views of veteran politicians on various issues like parochialism, nepotism, charter change and Hayden Kho sex videos. But when I want to disagree with their opinion, I’m torn between expressing my real thoughts and acknowledging the wisdom of elders. I’m worried they might misconstrue my dissenting perspective as a misguided display of youthful arrogance.

During informal chats at the lounge, I often find myself unable to interest my senior citizen colleagues with topics that are popular among the youth. I cannot joke about unfriending them since many do not have facebook accounts. I often have to clarify the difference between vloginng, blogging and microblogging. Some of them couldn’t appreciate how netizens derive satisfaction by uploading short messages in the internet through twitter. To be fair, they too seem perplexed that I am quite an expert at googling but ignorant of golfing.

When it became evident that I cannot grab their attention by talking about RSS, plurk, or farmville, I yield by genuinely trying to be amused with their monologues. And so everyday, I participate in fun conversations about prostates, diabetes, and the many positive virtues of the incumbent president.

Being a politician-blogger is sometimes embarrassing. Well, embarrassing in front of people who are not used to seeing persons taking pictures of the food they eat. Politicians hire official photographers to document all their activities. I don’t have an official photographer. Imagine me in a committee hearing taking pictures of almost everybody in the room. It is awkward to talk to members of Congress after learning their dark secrets and alleged involvement in various scandals through youtube, google, and bing. I accidentally opened an unflattering web image of a lawmaker with a popular surname while inside the plenary.

Veteran members of the House have been reminding me that the Lower House is the best place to retire. Another colleague described our job as the best in the world. Maybe they were referring to the fact that inactive House members can continue to receive their monthly salaries. One can enjoy the perks of being a lawmaker even if he/she is spending time in prison or travelling on an extended vacation abroad. We are obliged to report for work from Mondays to Wednesdays only. Those who are not interested to attend committee hearings in the mornings can go directly to the plenary hall at 4pm. We adjourn around 8pm.

Many writers have already pointed out the perennial problem of absenteeism in the Lower House. Others have also decried the rising cost of legislation resulting from the inability of the House to muster a quorum. I have a personal complaint: I already memorized the names of all members of the 14th Congress but I haven’t met all of them yet. I always bring a copy of the House directory to familiarize myself with the names and pictures of my colleagues but I still have to meet them in person because sometimes our photoshopped faces do not match reality. I am hoping that some of my mysterious colleagues will finally appear and attend the last remaining sessions before the start of the Christmas break.

House members are always caricatured as boring, brute, and boorish. This is not applicable to all House members. We have many reasonable and intelligent legislators. They can be articulate, witty, and, funny if they want to. There are veteran lawmakers who have never been absent from the plenary proceedings since 1987. There are many lawmakers who come prepared during committee debates; they know what pertinent laws and programs to cite when defending or rejecting a bill; they can effectively argue their position without bullying their opponents. They don’t salivate over media attention.

But my admiration for these brilliant members of the House ceases the moment they transform into clueless apologists of the ruling administration. Those who showed their intellectual superiority in the committees become blind followers of the Malacanang marching orders in the plenary. It is disappointing to watch independent thinkers toeing the party line just to secure the much needed but overrated administration support in the upcoming 2010 elections.

From the start, I want to be described as an activist lawmaker. I’m a member of two parliaments: the parliament of the streets and the parliament in Batasan located near Payatas. I’m an activist who is advocating change through meaningful and progressive legislation. I’m a lawmaker who believes that activism is needed to spur fundamental change in society.

Unfortunately, my activist background does not prevent some people from treating me as a traditional politician who is expected to behave in the traditional way. My office is swamped with solicitation letters from senders who do not expect a rejection letter. I always receive bundles of raffle tickets which are considered sold by the organizers. There are people who want to judge my performance as a legislator by counting the number of hard and soft projects of my office. I do not blame this attitude and behavior since patronage politics is a dominant practice and culture in the country. But I detest the thinking of some people that youth legislators like me have no option but to emulate the established political tradition.

I did not lose my license to be an idealist when I took my oath as a member of Congress. I did not and would not abandon activism just to fulfill my duties as a lawmaker. In fact, embracing the principles of activism complements my role as a young legislator. I must remain an activist if I want to escape the curse of politicians who fights the system in their youth but ends up defending it in their later years.

Through my work in Congress, I have the opportunity to prove the sincerity of activists in pushing a workable agenda of change. The prospect of introducing an alternative type of politics inside a conservative institution gives me the inspiration every time I feel cynical about my job. Yes, I rub elbows with landlords, warlords, and other ‘lords’ in Congress but I can disregard this work hazard since I’m more interested in seeing the number of people outside the gates of Batasan getting bigger and stronger. A congressman has term limits but an activist can devote a lifetime in the noble but difficult struggle for lasting freedom, peace, and justice.

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