fullman

It isn’t just Rep. Cagas’ voice, for certain: Like former Rep. ‘Digs’ Dilangalen, Rep. Cagas has mastered the talent of ingratiating himself into one’s consciousness through sheer nuisance. During the plenary deliberation of the 2006 budget, for example, he kept on asking if “there’s light at the end of the tunnel.” It was his way of informing others that he has had enough of all those questions about how the budget will be spent, an obvious disdain of one of Congress’ raison d’etat. It was also his way of insinuating that those who were asking too much were only after some concessions or projects from line agencies, while majority congressmen like him, who had to be there to maintain a quorum, would not get as many perks as their ‘noisy’ colleagues. He kept on whining about the pork barrel, too, and complained that ‘the light at the end of the tunnel is mere candlelight’, as opposed, perhaps, to the glitter that he was expecting.

Rep. Cagas is also a poet. On March 28, 2006, a few days after the launching of the people’s initiative, he stood up and profusely defended the clamor of the people to amend the Constitution, which for him was in no way pushed by Malacanang, DILG officials, or acts of fraud and bribery. Note that poets chase their Muse in different ways (lie inside a coffin, or perhaps put a rotting apple in the drawers); for the resident poet of the House of Representatives, though, seeing hundreds of people adding their signatures to a petition that would extend his term and make him a Member of Parliament (MP) was inspiring enough. Indulge in a little poetry, my dear friends, and give yourselves some culture:

REP. CAGAS. …Let me read a poem I prepared myself which does not go directly about the Charter change. But I am talking of why not, why not. Why be afraid to do something new. It is about life. This will be an analogy, Mr. Speaker. The title is “Why Not?”

Life indeed is not always a bed of roses,
A bunch of thorns it sometimes imposes,
Yesterday we sang, today we wail,
Tomorrow who knows what life may spell.
Some people seem to complain and ask why,
Not minding what awaits behind the mountains high,
Aspire instead of things that never were,
Do it your way and why not, you’ll see the answer.
Conquering poverty needs persistence and hard work,
Wise spending and thrift makes all things worth,
In the midst of life’s angry waves and storms,
Determination beats walls despite height or forms.
Independence of mind we need to possess,
In making decisions and tough choices,
Smartly weighing the values of things,
Facing the consequences that they may bring.
In this world there is never a rocky hill,
When people embrace strength and iron will,
Bravely facing life’s unknown horizons,
Certainty you’ll grasp in all directions.
Nobody knows the real life’s meaning,
Except the divine Architect of everything,
In this world we only need to do our best,
Have faith in Him and He will do the rest.

It was his ardent support for Charter Change that led to his discovery of one of the most fundamental human values - a sense of self-worth. You see, Rep. Cagas assailed the Senate in the past because of its indolence – every term, according to him, Congress approves thousands of bills that the Senate keeps on ignoring. Rep. Cagas wants Senate, a useless institution, abolished. Perhaps out of rage, or just to get even, Senator Bong Revilla came out with a statement calling the bills passed by the Lower House substandard, since a third of them are bills of local application – to change the name of a street or a school, for instance. According to Rep. Cagas, Sen. Revilla referred to him as Rep. ‘Cagao’ in a press conference.

An enraged Rep. Cagas heatedly explained to his fellow legislators the importance of those bills and twitted Sen. Revilla for calling him ‘cagao’, which in the Visayan dialect means bacterial, virulent or plain dirty. Rep. Teddy Boy Locsin of Makati City later stood up and explained that word is hispanic in origin: it actually means ‘bowel movement’. Rep. Cagas was aghast: all he could say was ‘Oh my God.’