Talk First, Think Later

Privilege Speech (Part 1)

It's 1am at the Robredo household.

Risa, who decided to sleep in the condo for the night, got up to get some snacks in the kitchen to silence the growling in her stomach. As soon as she got down, the sounds of a keyboard clacking away filled the space.

She traced where the sound was coming from until she found Leni typing away on her laptop with a cup of tea right next to her. "Pangga, 1am na, and you're still working?"

Leni's eyes remained focused on her laptop and kept on typing.

"Ga, baka masira ung keyboard.", Risa said. "Hinay-hinay lang diyan.

Risa's interest piqued at Leni's work and to satisfy that, she slid to the spot right next to her to check out what she's typing and wore her eyeglasses to get a better read. Leni's scrolling a bit too fast to keep up, but certain keywords made her raise an eyebrow.

"Environment Justice is Social Justice...interesting choice of topic there."

Leni paused her typing and glanced at Risa's direction. "Ano sa tingin mo? Okay ba for a privilege speech?"

Risa skimmed the contents of the document and nodded her approval. "Looks good. I'm sure many people will listen tomorrow."

"Promise?"

"You always have this way of connecting with the audience, love.", Risa said, beaming at her. "You can read an entire phonebook and people will cling to every work you say."

Leni blushed at Risa's compliment and failed to contain the smile on her face. "Salamat, Ris. By the way, may tanong pala ako..."

"Ano yun, love?", Risa replied while munching on some chips.

"Sino ang presiding tomorrow?"

Risa pondered for a bit. "Well, Migz is out tomorrow, so most likely it's going to be Loren..."

As soon as Leni heard a certain name, she resumed typing, this time even more furiously as the words started flowing. At this point, Risa put two and two together and...

"Oh my God, Leni!"

Leni's heart jumped at Risa's sudden comment. "Risa, ginulat mo naman ako."

"No wonder the way this speech is written looks very familiar", Risa asked. "Not that I can stop you but..."

"Bakit? Tuloy ko pa ba?"

"If I advise against it, will you still do it."

"...Oo."

"Yun naman pala, eh.", Risa said, throwing her hands up. "Panindigan mo na yan at sayang ang effort mo."

The following day, another session is about to start with Loren once again presiding over today.

Once the roll call has completed and the reference of business was done, Win Gatchalian, the Majority Leader stood on the podium for the next part of the agenda. "Madam President, I would like to recognize the Lady Senator from Naga City, Senator Leni Robredo, who wishes to speak on a matter of personal and public privilege."

"Senator Robredo has been recognized.", Loren replied from the rostrum.

Leni stood up and made her way to the podium close to the back of the session hall and opened the copy of the speech she wrote last night. "Thank you Madam President."

She then cleared her throat and started her speech. "To my distinguished colleagues, I rise to raise the alarm on the importance of emphasizing the interconnectedness of environmental justice and social justice."

As Leni went on with her speech, Risa gave Leni a warm smile before craning her neck to get a better view of the back. All the other senators have flocked their way back into the session hall and even the gallery has filled up with spectators.

The bigger feat? No one's doing anything else except listen to Leni's every word.

Never in her 9 years in the Senate has she seen the session hall filled to the brim just for a privilege speech.

Risa beamed with pride seeing Leni in her element in the Senate. While it's no secret that Leni can command audiences of any size, especially in campaign sorties, seeing her do the same as an elected Senator was another level altogether. Then, she took a glance of the visibly seething woman sitting atop the rostrum and felt a twinge of guilt.

Part of her wished she stopped Leni from continuing on with this last night, but then she looked at the pink leather band on her wrist and reminded herself that this isn't her battle to fight.

"Thank you, Madam President.", Leni concluded her speech.

As soon as Leni ended, every single person rose up and gave her a standing ovation. Risa then approached her and enveloped Leni into a tight embrace.

"I'm so proud of you, Pangga.", Risa said with a wide grin on her face.

"Salamat, Ris.", Leni replied. "Salamat na hanggang ngayon, ikaw pa rin ang biggest cheerleader ko."

Tears fell down Risa's face as she kissed Leni's forehead. "I'm your biggest cheerleader then, your biggest cheerleader now, and will always be your biggest cheerleader."

A single tear rolled on Leni's cheek, but she wiped it off before heading back for the round of interpellations coming her way.