DEATH EATERS IN CONGRESS

Early this week, Kabataan Party-list Rep. Mong Palatino delivered a speech titled She-Who-Cannot-Be-Named-in-the-Plenary, which captured media attention, bloggers and twitter followers alike. For one, the speech has an eye-catching title. “She-Who-Cannot-Be-Named-in-the-Plenary” was easily associated with Harry Potter’s He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, of course, is the She-Who-Cannot and Lord Voldemort is the He-Who-Must-Not.

After the speech was delivered, not only did it appall neophyte congressmen present at that time, but captured the senses and creative minds of online followers and associated it with anything that’s Lord Voldemort. (GMA became the Lord Voldemort of Congress. Lord Voldemort, a witch espousing dark magic, was responsible for the death of Harry Potter’s parents. He is so evil that anyone who comes his way is mercilessly murdered.)

One comment read: The chamber is now called the Chamber of Secrets...where lies and deceptions are everywhere.. and any attempt to disclose things are being stifled...and freedom of information is being blocked by all means possible. (Jeffy Mendiola, Twitter).

But more than the association to anything that’s Harry Potter, Rep. Palatino delivered a strong message: that lawmakers should not be stopped from making a stand and speaking up about the accountabilities of GMA in the name of decorum, that speeches bearing the words, papanagutin, magnanakaw, mamamatay-tao, should not be omitted in desperate attempts not to offend a member of Congress.

There is now an alarming situation where even members of Congress, who may stand and deliver privilege speeches, are under threat of censorship.

With GMA’s allies deeply indebted to their 'Lord', defending her against any possible mention of her alleged crimes during her presidency, we expect more ‘censorship’ to happen.

What transpired on Aug. 3, after Rep. Teddy Casino’s speech was several times slapped with moves to omit words ‘offensive to a fellow member of Congress’ is likely to happen again as She-Who-Cannot-Be-Named-in-the-Plenary’s allies are now ready to yield their wands by slashing and censoring speeches “offensive” to their ‘Lord’.

Just like in Harry Potter where the long-feared war has begun and Voldemort’s Death Eaters seized control of the Ministry of Magic, Congress is now feared to be overtaken by GMA’s own 'death eaters.'

Let us keep a close watch. Let us be wary of the ‘Dark Magic.’