In the high-stakes world of politics, love and betrayal often walk hand in hand. Six years ago, Alicia Go, a psychology student, fell in love with a mysterious woman she met while living away from home for college. That woman was Theresia Aguerro, t...
Risa wakes up at 7 AM. She needs to prepare for the upcoming Hearing for the SOGIE Equality Bill. After getting out of bed, she decides to open her phone, which she usually uses to contact Alicia and the kids. When she opens it, she sees a lot of text messages from Alicia. She opens one and it’s full of "Kamusta" and other messages. She smiles as she hears Alicia's voice again after two weeks of ignoring her. Then, she receives a new message from Karen.
"I heard Mayor Alice was confined in the hospital one week ago, did you hear about it, Sen. Risa?" Karen messaged. She was in shock. She didn’t know because she had been so busy with the upcoming hearing and meetings for the Angat Lahat Party-list, now led by former VP Leni. She immediately calls Karen, and Karen answers right away.
"Anong nangyari?" she says in panic.
"Based on what I heard, dinugo siya—"
"Dinugo? Oh my God!" She jumps out of bed and grabs her phone to text Ate Gie to book her a ticket to Banawi.
"Please calm down, Sen. Risa. She’s okay now. From what I know, she’s fine," Karen assures her.
"Okay, thank you for the information. Please keep me updated about them, okay?"
"Yes, Sen. Risa." Risa hangs up the phone and calls Ate Gie again.
"Come on, answer the call, Ate Gie," she says, trembling at the thought of what happened to Alicia. She had endured all the days without seeing or talking to her loved ones. She was shaking as Ate Gie took so long to answer the call, making her even more worried.
"Hello, Sen. Risa."
"Thank God you finally answered my call. Mag-book ka ng ticket pauwi ng Banawi. Kailangan kong makauwi ng Santander ngayon." She hangs up and packs her things. She can’t take it anymore. She had been pretending for the past weeks, trying to ignore Alicia, but this time she didn’t want to pretend any longer.
---
The hearing went well, and she continued defending the thoughts on how the bill would affect and benefit the country. Senator Risa explained her perspective on how it improves the morality of a person and dignifies every gender.
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"Being a senator, it’s my duty to make and approve laws for the safety and well-being of our fellow Filipinos. We are their voice, so why should we be silent and blind to the real problems of our country? Discrimination is a primary cause of poverty. Why? Because many people use power to destroy and change the lives of powerless Filipinos. They are victims of power-tripping and have no choice but to accept and live with those words and discrimination to survive and sustain their needs. So, I am here, continuing what the late Senator Miriam Santiago started, and we hope this bill will finally be granted after almost 20 years of defending it. That’s all, and thank you, Mr. Chair and to my colleagues." Risa concluded her final speech for the SOGIE Equality Bill at the hearing. She felt relieved and satisfied with what happened during that final hearing for the bill. Now, they just had to wait for the President's approval and the House of Representatives.
