MY mother used to work for the Congress of the Philippines in the late 60s until it was abolished after the declaration of Martial Law in 1972. I know this by heart because she would always tell us stories about our nation's glory days before their office was shut down, and her eyes would light up each time. The highlight of my mother's stories would always be the great congressmen and senators in those days, all of whom were honorable statesmen and great speakers who made people flock to the Senate halls just to listen to their speeches. But then she would always end with sadness in her eyes, and her face would fall at how the quality of our politicians has severely dipped from when she was my age. Our glory days have surely passed, she would always say. On a positive note, I think there still are rare gems in a sea of stooges today. One of the better speakers, and I'd be quick to say that this does not in any way or at all reflect my political preferences, is Sen. Grace Poe. I think she has a wonderful turn of phrase. One of my favorite lines that stuck with me from a memorable interview of hers back when she was running for the presidency in 2016 was when she was asked to comment about people who said things that were not necessarily connected to her qualifications. She said: 'I'm not bothered by them. I think they just want to get a rise out of me.' I'm a sucker for idioms, and she pulled that one out with such grace. No pun intended. To get a rise out of someone means to do something just to make him or her angry or upset. And the icing on the cake is her deep, raspy voice which I feel helps her establish her credibility and authority.
