Drilon yields Senate floor for last time, challenges colleagues to do better

Four-termer Senator Franklin Drilon on Wednesday yielded the floor for the last time, telling his younger colleagues not to take democracy for granted and recalling how much he had to learn when he first walked the Senate halls.

The four-time Senate President—who was also pro-tempore and majority leader—announced his retirement as a legislator while leading the opposition in the Senate as minority leader.

"My dear colleagues, the work of democracy is never finished. The challenge is to do better, to never be complacent, to never be disillusioned by our imperfect democracy or be attracted by the tempting notion that we have too much of it," Drilon said.

"Democracy is the reason why we stand here today, all 24 independent republics, able to speak and disagree freely, able to do the duty we have been elected to fulfill. Let us never take it for granted," he added. 

The senior lawmaker earned the reputation under the Duterte administration as a no nonsense interpellator who posed probing questions on measures sponsored on the floor by younger senators. 

One of the senators who had to answer Drilon's inquiries expressed his appreciation for being "schooled" by the retiring lawmaker.

‘Lucky to be schooled’

Administration Senator Ronald Dela Rosa said he was grateful for the opportunity to be put under the "microscope" of the Senate minority leader.

"I have had much to learn, but no learning is wasted if one is blessed with an excellent model," Dela Rosa said.

"Hindi ko po pipigilin ang sarili kong sabihin na masuwerte ako na nakasama ko si Senator Drilon. Nakasama sa kwentuhan, sa debate, sa pagbuo ng mga batas na makakabuti sa bayan," he added.

Dela Rosa said he pitied incoming senators Raffy Tulfo, Robin Padilla, and Mark Villar.

"They are deprived of the chance of going to school under you. And I am very lucky, sir... to be schooled by you," Dela Rosa said.

The "gentleman from Iloilo" said he had to earn his place in the Senate through hard work even though he already had 25 years of practicing law, and nine years in the executive branch as secretary of labor, and of Justice, and as executive secretary.

"While my education and work experience served me well, the Senate was tougher than I expected. I had much to learn," Drilon said.

Drilon said it was "daunting" for  him to hear and see on the Senate floor the likes of Edgardo Angara, Neptali Gonzales, ErnestoMaceda, Blas Ople, Ernesto Herrera, Raul Roco, Leticia Shahani, Juan Ponce Enrile, Alberto Romulo, Francisco Tatad, and Vicente Sotto—the incumbent Senate President, who himself is bowing out after June 30.

‘Hard choices’

He recalled the times when he had to make "hard choices" as Senate President such as when then Senator Teofisto Guingona Jr. delivered the "I Accuse" speech in 2022 which led to the impeachment of former President Joseph Estrada.

Drilon also mentioned the Oakwood Mutiny in 2003, the longest canvassing that he presided over in 2004, the "Hello, Garci" controversy, and the executive-legislative stand-off brought about by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's Executive Order 464 in 2005, which prompted the Supreme Court ruling on Senate v. Ermita, the pork barrel scam controversy which greeted the 16th Congress in 2013, among others.

"Our duty to the people includes that great and heavy responsibility of protecting the independence and integrity of the Senate as an institution of democracy," Drilon said.

"And so even as Senate President, I welcomed, with great pain, an investigation on a project that I helped steer, not only to clear my name, but also to ensure that public trust in the institution is maintained," he added.

"It was a humbling, sobering decision, which made me realize that the work we do here is much larger than ourselves," Drilon said.

The Senate's assertion of independence also led to the Supreme Court decision in Pangilinan v. Cayetano.

‘Sober second thought’

"My dear colleagues, the Senate is said to be a chamber of sober second thought. With a national mandate, we are expected to think beyond the constituency of a sector or district. We legislate not only based on present experiences but with a recognition that these laws will outlive us all," he said.

"We have to lend our efforts towards strengthening our institutions, regardless of who is at the helm. And perhaps that is what shaped my stance on certain contentious measures deliberated in this chamber," he added.

Drilon said he wanted to leave a legacy along the lines of the laws that he had authored.

Some of major pieces of legislation which he authored and sponsored were the Dual Citizenship Law or the Citizenship Retention and Re-acquisition Act of 2003, the Sin Tax Reform Law, the GOCC Governance Act of 2011, the amendments to the Public Service Act and Retail Trade Liberalization Act, the Revised Corporation Code, the Tax Incentives Management and Transparency Act or the TIMTA, to cite a few.

"As a lawyer, I built my living on winning arguments. I am trained to make things difficult for my adversaries. But that is not the minority leader that I strived to be," Drilon said.

"Being part of the minority or the opposition should always be anchored on the public good, and not on the urge to obstruct or to be proven right," he added.

"There are twenty-four of us in the chamber. Each of us received a mandate from the people. My dear colleagues, there is great value in listening," Drilon said.

"That is why early in my career as a Senator, although I was never 'schooled', I allowed myself to be taught and mentored," he added.

He acknowledged his fellow lawmakers, saying he is proud and honored to have worked with his colleagues in the Senate.

‘No more grand dreams’

"I am forever grateful to the senators, past and present, for electing me Senate President four times. It was truly an honor to lead the institution in nearly nine of my 24 years as senator," he said.

"After being in public life for more than thirty five years, I am stepping back to my private space to spend more time for myself and with my loved ones. What used to be pockets of time carved out of my schedule for family will now be replaced by unlimited time at home. How time makes fools of us all," he added.

In ending his speech, Drilon said he is at the stage of life where "one no longer has grand dreams for himself, only memories."

"And you all will be in my memory. I hope that I can be in yours. Remember me fondly and kindly. And as with many great Senators before me, it is with immense gratitude and profound pride that the gentleman Iloilo, for the last time, yields the floor," he ended. —NB, GMA News