Through the looking glass

Cartoon by: Angeline Rose M. Donadilla

Watching the Philippines’ political landscape today feels like staring into a bizarre world where lawmakers can stomach to put themselves above the law, leaders ignore the cries of their own people to serve their own political agenda, and all of this happening in front of the very eyes of Filipinos, yet some citizens take the wrong message from it. With the events that transpired last week within the Senate alone, it mirrored an eerie reality where the powerful will do anything to protect themselves from accountability.

Senator Bato dela Rosa made a spectacle of his May 11 appearance after being absent from duty since November 2025. Upon his arrival, agents from National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) attempted to serve him a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for his involvement on Duterte’s war on drugs. An abrupt reorganization of the Senate let Senator Alan Peter Cayetano become Senate President and announced that Senator Bato will “enjoy protection from the Senate” and that only a Philippine warrant can arrest him.

What followed resembled less the proceedings of a democratic institution and became more of a public sensation when CCTV footage was released of Senator dela Rosa, his staff, and NBI agents running through the halls of the Senate Building in an apparent effort to avoid being served the ICC warrant. The following day, May 12, the Senate’s Sergeant--at-Arms Ret. Gen. Mao Aplasca apparently fired a warning shot at NBI agents who were in the Senate Building. In return, said agents also fired back in response. The presence of civilians and journalists underscored the severity of the situation. Yet among the chaos, the new majority bloc took the time to go on Facebook Live to frame that the Senate it is “under attack.”

The scenario of gunfire inside a legislative chamber deepens the sense of a looking-glass state—an institution designed to embody stability instead becomes a stage for chaos, disorder, and impunity.

By May 13, Senator dela Rosa had reportedly left the building and had once more disappeared. In a subsequent press briefing, now Senate President Cayetano undermined and accused his fellow senators of the minority bloc, stating that they were warned to leave early, and they were prioritizing politicking for the 2028 elections.

Senator Cayetano uttered these words and took away committee chairmanships such as education, agriculture, and health from senators Bam Aquino, Kiko Pangilinan, and Risa Hontiveros, respectively. Further consolidating control within the new majority bloc.

The Senate, one half of the highest legislative body, known to serve and create laws for the Philippine people; is slowly rebranding itself to be a chess game where pieces move according to shifting alliances rather than fixed institutional principles—political strategy slowly retracts from governance and moves toward control. While the country suffers from ongoing economic and socio-political issues, the Senate becomes less an instrument for the people and more of a field of political maneuvering, where power ultimately dictates the rules of play.

Supporters of the Senate majority may argue that resisting ICC intervention is a defense of Philippine sovereignty. But when protection appears to depend on political affiliation rather than legal principle, the argument of sovereignty risks becoming a shield against accountability rather than a constitutional safeguard.

Additionally, as the House impeached Vice President Sara Duterte for the second time, the next move lies in the Senate as articles of impeachment have been transmitted. But with 13 of those senators publicly aligning to protect Senator dela Rosa, it is not a far prediction that there will be an imbalance when it comes to perceiving an objective perspective in Sara Duterte’s corruption.

It is worth noting that all of this happened on television, social media livestreams, and on our screens. All of this happened to protect Bato dela Rosa who has said, “shit happens,” in response to a three-year old being fatally shot during the Duterte’s war on drugs. All of this happened to let Cayetano take the Senate reins who once said all those who died in the drug war were “criminal drug dealers” when they were not even given due process.

Our country is struggling. Not just economically. We are struggling to hold on to a shared sense of reality. Right now, public discourse is shaped by narratives or division that normalizes the exercise of power without consequence. Citizens are not merely confronted with corruption; they are gradually conditioned to see it as routine. The public must now become even more critical, demand accountability, and refuse the normalization of political impunity.

Our political environment is now somewhat resembling a looking-glass world; promises become performances, and public service becomes political theater—a way to appease and create this illusion that our country functions well.