Skeletons in the Chamber

A Bloc Divided

Another day ending in the letter Y, another day of back-to-back committee hearings for Reese. The Minority bloc, a tight-knit group of five, was stretched to its limits. Hearings piled on one another, leaving Reese gasping for air between sessions.

As her final hearing for the morning concluded, Reese glanced at her watch.

Oh right, Minority caucus nga pala.

Reese made an about-face turn and started marching to one of the conference rooms when along the way, she ran into Kira Pangilinan, the Senate Minority Leader, rushing in the opposite direction.

Huh? May caucus tayo, diba?

When their eyes met, Kira then called Reese to grab her attention. "Reese?"

"Kira, where are you going?" Reese asked them, puzzled as to why they were heading the other way.

Kira, however, appeared frazzled and in a race against time...and seemed dressed to the nines in an expensive forest green suit, which was unusual for them, given Kira's propensity for more laidback fare.

"Sorry, Reese, pwede ikaw muna ulit mag-run ng caucus?" Kira said, glancing at their watch. "May meeting kasi ako in...two minutes."

"Again? Third time this week, Kira," Reese stared at Kira, clearly annoyed at this display of flakiness.

Kira clasped their hands in a praying motion. "Sorry, Reese, emergency lang talaga."

"Fine, I'll update you later," Reese said, blindsided yet again, but alas there's no time for arguments.

Ako na lang ba palagi mag-a-adjust?

As Deputy Minority Leader, stand-ins were inevitable, but lately, Kira was unraveling. 

First was the occasional delay, which Reese wrote off as a busy schedule. But then, Kira becomes a ghost at caucuses, leaving Reese to navigate crucial decisions alone before Kira swoops in, stealing the credit at the eleventh hour.

Even worse than their absence was the change in them. The Kira that Reese knew was a firebrand during debates, especially on social justice, agriculture, and food security – their cornerstone issues. These were the reasons Reese had aligned with them in the first place, after all. However recently, Kira would arrive at plenary sessions ill-prepared, sometimes even disappearing mid-session, causing delays. Then there were the hushed, hurried meetings with the Lallie, the Senate President, about who knows what.

Even worse, when Reese tried to bring up her issues to Kira, they merely passed off some kind of joke. Kira certainly loved clowning around, but the Kira of old knew to be serious when they needed to be.

Kira? Selling us out? They wouldn't do that... would they?

Reese's fingers twitched towards her phone, then clenched into a fist. Confronting them now wouldn't solve anything, much as the urge to do so became stronger by the minute.

Fine.

Committee Room, Senate of the Philippines

The moment she arrived in the meeting room, the other members of the Minority bloc were already waiting to start. Neri tapped his pen rhythmically on the table, Koko was slouched in his chair, and Chel wore the anxious determination of the freshman senator she was.

"Si Kira, pupunta ba?" Neri inquired.

Reese slumped back in her chair, the sigh whistling out past teeth gritted in exhaustion. "May meeting siya with SP Lallie...again."

Her voice was brittle, the sting of disappointment sharper than the fatigue seeping into her aching bones.

Koko leaned back and adjusted his seat. "So tayo-tayo na naman ulit?"