MANILA, Philippines – On her first day in the Senate on Monday, neophyte Senator Imee Marcos admitted that she was not to keen on becoming a senator.
Marcos, during the Senate’s flag raising ceremony, narrated how she avoided being senator for years.
“Sa pagkahaba haba ng panahon e napunta na din ako sa Senado ngayong umaga (After a long while I eventually ended up in the Senate this morning),” she said.
“Ang totoo, higit na sa isang dekada o dalawang dekada na naghahanap ako ng dahilan, iniiwasan, pinagtataguan itong araw na ito sapagkat sa isipan ko, ayaw kong maging senador (The truth is, I avoided the Senate for decades, I looked for reasons, I tried to hide from it because I didn’t want to be a senator),” she added.
Marcos then recalled her conversation with her father, the late former president Ferdinand Marcos, who also served as Senate president.
Chat with a Senate president
As a five-year-old kid then, she said she recalled her father’s “wicked humor very fondly.”
One day, she said she asked her father why he was spending hours at his office in their residence.
“Oh, he said, I’m a senator, we don’t go to work. We conspire to be president and we play golf. But mostly, we conspire to be president…” the newly-elected senator shared.
She said she was surprised by her father’s response, and has been wondering since then about the job description of a senator.
“Bakit ganun? Higit sa lahat, hindi naman ako nag go-golf. I really don’t play golf,” Marcos said.
The tasks ahead
Turning serious, Marcos asked her new Senate family to guide and help her “with the real work of genuine lawmaking” as she starts her six-year stint in the upper chamber.
“I believe that we can end extreme poverty and hunger in the next 10 years …” she said.
She also expressed hope that they could make the Senate “great again.” (Editor: Gilbert S. Gaviola)