Mr. Speaker, fellow Members of Congress.

Before anything else, I wish to introduce myself inasmuch as the theme of my speech directly relates with who I am, and where I come from.

I am a worker. The sole worker in this august body. While I stand before you as party-list representative, I remain the President of a local trade union—the union at Mr. Lucio Tan’s Fortune Tobacco Corporation.

Unlike most of you, even as I had some collegiate education, I am with an academic title or degree. For this, and for speaking in the Filipino language, I beg the indulgence of those who have professed their discomfort with the use of the Tagalog-influenced native tongue—particularly colleagues from the Visayas and Mindanao.

Nevertheless, this is not why I mentioned my being a worker. Rather, my being a worker is the main reason for my rising before you..

Fellow representatives, I speak before this chamber as a worker because the Filipino workers want to be heard by Congress.

I will admit I had my reservations before agreeing to stand before you. A hesitation not because I am new to public speaking for I grew up in the protest movement and matured in the parliament of the streets. Many times I stood at the gates of the House, on a makeshift platform, endlessly criticizing a Congress we viewed as a symbol of what was wrong in Government.

In the parliament of the streets, our rhetoric and narration of the people’s sufferings, kindled a glimmer of hope while fanning the flames of social change. My character and the principles I hold on to have not changed even as I now speak in a different venue, in clothes I am not used to wearing and interacting with people I have not previously worked with.

What has changed, Mr. Speaker, is my environment.

I am surrounded today not by the poor nor by fellow workers in the parliament of the streets. Now, in this parliament, I am surrounded by the legislators of capitalism, the majority of whom come from the ranks of the affluent. Standing in this chamber is like being in the mouth of a mammoth. Hence who would not hesitate to speak and stand alone before all of you.

I have doubts if this august body is ready to listen to a simple worker. I fear that by bringing forth the protests and seething criticisms of the Filipino workers, the representatives of capital will gang up on me.

What if a veteran barrister, accustomed in formal debate, uses to the hilt the accrued knowledge of legal technicalities I am not yet familiar with? What if the many capitalist-representatives fire a volley of detailed statistics I am not aware of?

While the members of Congress, most of whom are advocates of capitalism, routinely and ardently are at loggerheads on even the most trivial issues, what may ensue should a worker like myself rise to question the very system that is source of the suffering of the masses. What may happen if a worker stands to express the workers’ collective condemnation of a Congress deemed as being deaf to their pleas.

Still, Mr. Speaker, my standing before you means that I am freed of my apprehensions and am wholeheartedly convinced to say what has to be said, to fight for what has to be fought for, to bring the voice of the parliament of the streets into the halls of Congress—all this even if we shall lock horns and bleed in the process.

First and foremost, I wish to bring forth as a member of Congress that I am here to try to articulate society’s cry for change—profound social change.

President Joseph Ejercito Estrada admitted in his recent State of the Nation Address that even as our economy prospered in the past six years, forty percent (40%) of the national income went to the richest ten percent (10%) while the poorest ten percent (10%) of our countrymen got a mere two percent (2%).

This presidential avowal is the clearest sign of an unjust society because the wealth created by the sweat and toil of our people is inequitably distributed. Nevertheless, the President made no mention of how to correct this fundamental flaw of capitalism. The measures enunciated do not seek to change the reality that the majority suffer because a privileged few get the bulk of the nation’s wealth.

While the President appears not ready for such level of change, the query now posed is how ready is the current Congress?

Reform of Congress, Mr. Speaker, is my theme for this afternoon.

I know that there are members in Congress who talk of reform. I wish to contribute to such discussion but from the point of the worker, from the perspective of the toiling masses.

For us, relevant reform of Congress has one meaning. Simply stated, Congress must be relevant to the workers’ daily life and that the toiling masses feel its presence vis-à-vis their problems.

The first step for this, Mr. Speaker, is to realize the truth that ordinary workers do not feel that Congress prioritizes their basic problems. That Congress has not given given flesh to their aspirations. That Congress does not empathize with the sacrifices workers’ make. That Congress is not aligned with the causes they hold so dearly and fight for.

We are asked, Is it right to prioritize labor issues?

Mr. Speaker, the majority of our people are workers and they are the most productive members of society. They produce our nation’s wealth. Our people are those who live by their labor, a life of toil and sweat for a pittance of wages. Even the bulk of those we call "urban poor" are workers, albeit differently skilled and of differing job tenure. Even in the countryside, the majority are agricultural workers—living by selling their labor to landowners or capitalist.

Mr. Speaker, is it not right therefore that we recognize their problems and aspirations and begin prioritizing these? Still, how can these be prioritized when most of the members of Congress can not understand the priorities of masses? How can the masses feel that Congress is with, and for, them when Congress itself does feel their sufferings and plaints?

This is another matter we must discuss and ponder.

Internal reforms of Congress is impossible, considering the class composition of Congress, without the fundamental requisite of wholehearted integration by Congress in the lives of the masses.

The fervor for change—particularly when going against ones economic interest and political ambitions—is a matter of conviction and commitment. Reform is impossible without sincere concern and empathy for the welfare of the toiling masses. Furthermore, it is impossible to engender such pro-people conviction without in-depth integration in their lives.

Mr. Speaker, Congressional inquiries in aid of legislation are inadequate to bring about such deep conviction and to craft laws necessary and truly for the masses. In-depth integration, not formal investigations, is required to place ourselves in the "shoes" of the masses, to imbibe their trials, and to feel their hand-to-mouth existence. To feel their pulse, we must sleep in their makeshift homes, and share their meals. We must realize how truly heroic and great these simple people are—persevering workers who can still smile while enduring a life of hardship and oppression.

If we are serious about reforming this institution and seek to be truly relevant to our people’s lives, Mr. Speaker, I propose that we resolve to declare a regular and continuing integration with the people by the members of Congress. Let us make this integration a requisite for executing our duties as representatives of the people.

Mr. Speaker, I am a member and leader of the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP, Unity of Filipino Workers), a militant political organization affiliated with Sanlakas, the latter being the multi-sectoral coalition I represent here in Congress. The BMP’s main objective is a political revolution, a workers revolution to overhaul the capitalist system.

I mention my affiliation with BMP to emphasize the resolution I proposed. Such resolution, at first glance, seem inconsistent with the nature and principles of BMP. With such resolution, some might opine that I am parlaying the illusion that members of Kongress—despite being defenders of capitalism and inspite of their upper class origin—may change their views, begin to sympathize with the masses and become intruments of relevant reforms.

We at Sanlakas and BMP are not afraid of taunts and jeers. We were criticized for joining the last elections because we helped, as other groups see it, encouraged participation in a useless political exercise of a deceptive democracy. Moreso now that our first proposal to the House of Representatives is to invite all of you to the squatter colonies, factories, picketlines and barricades. It is as if I am encouraging the people to believe that hope remains for this institution to change for their benefit.

Mr. Speaker, we in BMP, aside from our militancy and revolutionary stance think simply. All we care for is the welfare of the worker, the masses. What we ask for, the intent of my resolution for reform, is no doubt for the good of our people. I am not at fault if the resolution is rejected, rather it would be this institutions failing for refusing to heed the call for reforms, for refusing to embrace the people’s welfare. Still, if due to the resolution, one or a few members of Congress turn their backs on their class and truly embrace the interests of the working class, then it is an occasion for celebration, a victory for our people.

Mr. Speaker, I realize that I may change my views despite being a worker for the past eighteen years. My militancy may be diluted by my term in Congress. This may very well happen should I distance myself from my class and be overwhelmed by the system this institution represents. Many are those who once were progressive but, having tasted power, got addicted to their office and was digested by this system.

I do not want such metamorphosis to happen to me. I hope not to turn my back on the class I come from because my concept of honor and dignity stem from my being a worker. As the worker seeking freedom from the bondage of capital and not as capital’s wage-slave. A worker aspiring for a society that honors our toil and sweat, a society wherein everybody lives and prospers on their own efforts and not by exploiting their fellow.

Thank you very much, and good afternoon to you all.