Hontiveros Senate bid gets boost from two Pia Cayetano, Santiago

Risa Hontiveros. Noy Morcoso lll/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines—Former Akbayan  Representative Risa Hontiveros’ senatorial  bid   got a boost  Friday from two  known  feisty  senators, who  like  her, have  strongly  fought for the passage of the  Reproductive  Health  bill.

With  Hontiveros in the Senate,  Senator  Pia Cayetano said the  fight for  the rights of women would become  easier.

“Kailangan ko si Risa— dadali ang buhay, bibilis  ang pagpasa ng mga batas, hindi na ako magkakamot ng ulo, hindi na hahaba ang buhok ko, may panahon akong mag exercise ng konti, maghanap ng boyfriend (I need Risa—life will be easier, the passage of laws will be faster, I won’t be scratching my head, my hair won’t grow long, I have time to exercise a bit, and find a boyfriend),” Cayetano  said in jest at  a joint press conference in Quezon City.

“On that basis alone isn’t it Risa Hontiveros should be in the Senate,” she said.

Turning serious, Cayetano  said the Senate needs   a “fighter’  like Hontiveros  to promote everybody’s  rights on  issues not only concerning women.

Senator Miriam  Defensor-Santiago also  threw  her  support behind  Hontiveros and defended   her from what she described  as “politics of hatred”  being waged  by anti-RH groups.

But  first, Santiago explained  why she came  late in the press conference: “Kaya ako na-late papunta dito dahil galing sa bahay ko, may nakita akong mama sa harap ng Ateneo, sabi ko sa driver ko, stop at bumaba  ako. Sabi ko sa kanya iboboto mo ba si Risa  Hontiveros? Sabi nya pag iisipan ko.  E gago  ka pala e (I was late because  on my way  here from our house, I saw a man  in front of Ateneo and I told  my driver to stop. I asked the man, will  you vote for Risa Hontiveros?  He said he will think about  it. You’re crazy).”

Santiago  lambasted Hontivero’s  critics for allegedly  engaging in a “politics of  hatred.”

“Our highest spiritual authority  says  when he was asked: What is love? Or what is the  highest commandment . First of all, Jesus  said: God is love. If God is love, then why are we engaging in a politics of hatred?” Santiago asked.

Santiago clarified that the  passage of the RH bill  did  not mean  that sex will no longer be allowed.

“Those saying that are priests who never had sex that’s why they’re talking out of infinite ignorance,”  she said.