The Honorable Endorsers

I can't believe I will agree with the Hon. Miriam Defensor Santiago.

Earlier this week, Sen. Santiago lashed out at her colleagues who endorse various products. A trip along EDSA would bear her out. There, you would see billboards of the honorable members of the Senate endorsing various products ranging from detergents to beauty products.

A male senator endorses a skin clinic, his smiling face and clear white skin serving as proof of the expertise of the clinic he endorses. He says he sees nothing wrong with what he's endorsing because even men need to take care of their skin too,

Another honorable senator endorses a glutathione pill, which is currently in the middle of a controversy for false claims. Some news anchor alleged that the pill contains less gluta than it purports to contain.

On TV, several advertisements also feature honorable members of the senate. There's one that feature a male senator who earlier announced his desire to become our next president. He is endorsing a detergent powder. His alibi is that he's teaching buyers to save by buying in bulk because it is cheaper!

My favorite features a lady senator who claims that with a new variant of Downy, one needs to rinse her laundry once. Lady senator says what she's doing is public service because she's teaching people to be environmentally friendly since they will save a lot of clean water by using less water.

Imagine the scenario when one of their colleagues endorses a competing brand. Will they bring the debate in the Senate floor? Will one senator say that his skin clinic is better than that of his colleague. Or worse will our lady senator propose a bill to ban detergents and fabric softener that will cause environmental damages and use more water than necessary? That will be the day indeed!

I hope somebody joins Sen. Santiago in denouncing these endorsements by the Senate members. Although she alleges that her colleagues are clandestinely campaigning for their bid in the 2010 presidential campaign, I personally think that this endorsements cheapen the offices of these lawmakers. They should be above these things and remember what they were in Senate for in the first place.