In a move that betrays their staggering lack of self-awareness and prudence, the majority of the House of Representatives has voted to expel Rep. Kiko Barzaga yesterday, on grounds of “disorderly behavior” and “conduct unbecoming of a member of the House.”
I have never met Congressman Barzaga, though I have heard rumors he is informally linked to the so-called DDS network that does not, to put it mildly, like the likes of me. However, partisanship must be cast aside when the freedom of speech is under assault, and what the majority has done is the worst attack on this basic freedom carried out in the House in living memory.
While some of Barzaga’s acts were unconventional or irritating, by no means did they individually or collectively merit suspension, much less expulsion, as Kamanggagawa Representative Elijah San Fernando put it. They certainly do not rise to the level of a disturbing pattern of behavior that would justify disenfranchising those who voted him to office or assaulting the right to free speech, two of the most basic foundational principles of a democracy.
Beyond the pretensions of parliamentary propriety, this is ultimately nothing more but the censorship of one of the loudest critics of this administration, whose ability to widely reach the people on social media is increasingly more threatening to the powers that be. In their recommendation to expel Barzaga, the House Committee on Ethics says that Barzaga’s behavior “continuously reflects negatively on the image of the House of Representatives.”
In the wake of one of the worst corruption scandals that the country has faced, which has implicated many “Congtractors” and for which there has been no clear accountability, this is absurd. Barzaga’s branding of the House as a House of Crocodiles is a reflection of the sentiments of a vast number of people across different political persuasions, and his actions have done no more to tarnish the reputation of the House than the actions of almost everyone else who is there.
When I was in the House of Representatives in 2010, I deployed the same angry language in a privilege speech, calling the reign of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who was then a member of the House, as one characterized by “orgiastic compensation, brazen manipulation of government agencies and funds for political purposes, and massive waste of public money.” I also described her subordinates as behaving “like pigs,” with her as a role model on “how to behave with impunity” and asserted that the former president must be hauled from this august chamber to jail.” Like Barzaga, I was hauled before the House Ethics Committee and charged with “disorderly conduct” and recommended for suspension. But though many condemned my words and my conduct, most members of the 14th Congress realized the freedom of a member to speak his mind, no matter how brutal or coarse his words were to their ears, was a far more important value than decorum. I was unrepentant, like Barzaga, but unlike Barzaga, I was neither suspended nor expelled.
The clear danger which the House is refusing to see is to our democratic institutions. This decision sets a dangerous precedent where a majority could so whimsically decide to throw away the democratically-given mandate of another elected official. It lays out easily-invoked grounds for the silencing of any other elected official, creating a chilling effect.
Through its decision yesterday, the House majority is making two mistakes: one is the legal mistake of dispensing with the Constitutional right to free speech and second is the political mistake of burying their heads in the sand. The legacy of this Congress would be the continuous refusal to hear the anger of the people. And while they may not see much of Barzaga in the House after yesterday, it is inevitable that they will have to reckon with the popular backlash their utterly stupid move has provoked.
Let me end on a positive note. I am gratified that some of those who voted to suspend Congressman Barzaga a few months ago changed their minds and voted against his expulsion last night. Their vote honors the memory of the great champion of free speech, the late Representative Edcel Lagman, who would have risen to defend Barzaga had he been present last night, as he defended me in 2010.