MANILA – Even if they were heavily outnumbered, Sen. Franklin Drilon said the six-membered opposition bloc was still able to get a lot of things done in the just-concluded 17th Congress.
Drilon said the minority senators’ legislative scorecard painted a vivid picture of how productive they had been despite being on the opposition side.
“The 17th Congress has not been easy for the opposition. It is hard to be in the opposing side these days,” Drilon said. “We saw our colleague Sen. (Leila) de Lima detained. All of us in the minority were subjected to criticisms and attacks.”
“Despite all these, we soldiered on and remained focused on one goal: to get things done for the people,” he added.
Drilon authored three major laws: Amendments to the Revised Penal Code, the Philippine Identification System Act, and the Revised Corporation Code of the Philippines.
These landmark laws by the opposition included Bam Aquino’s Free Tuition Act, Risa Hontivero’s Mental Health Act, Francis Pangilinan’s Sagip Saka Act, Sonny Trillanes’ Magna Carta of the Poor, and de Lima’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program Institutionalization.
“We are proud of what we have done. We can look people in the eye, critics or otherwise, because we know that we did not fail them,” Drilon said. “It proves that the opposition has not been a hindrance in the passage of meaningful legislation and policy formulation.”
“What the minority has accomplished is a testament of our desire to serve and prove our worth to the people. At the same time, I would like to think that it is also a manifestation of a healthy working environment in the Senate, which we hope to see in the next Congress,” added Drilon. /PN
