Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa became a trending topic on Twitter on Wednesday after he made a joke during the end of a Senate regular session.
Dela Rosa laughed and said “sarap ng buhay” because the hearing was finished early without them having to leave their homes, and urged his fellow senators, “ganito na lang tayo palagi, ha”.
However, Dela Rosa’s joke did not sit well with netizens. A lot of people thought his remarks were insensitive, given the negative impacts of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on people’s lives and health, not to mention the economy.
Netizens believe it was not the right time to say “sarap ng buhay,” given the fact that people are dying and countless more are worried about losing their jobs and going hungry.
“What makes this so enraging is that Bato had the audacity to tease us with something we already know — na ang sarap ng buhay ng mga hintay-sweldo pero nganga sa trabaho. His stressing the shameful obvious more than paying attention to people’s silenced grievances is corruption,” fumed a netizen.
“Bato being happy that the session ended early shows how much he loves serving the people and how dedicated he is to his job – which in this case, is 1/100. Effort points only. If you ran to serve your country, you would want to get into discussions more, help solve problems,” added another.
Some netizens even used sarcasm to let off their steam. “Every time I look at my taxes and remember they fund Bato’s salary, I want to throw myself off a cliff,” commented one.
“Daily reminder: If you ever felt useless, just remember that we have Bato in the senate,” another tweet read.
One netizen even said that his expectations for Dela Rosa are already set very low, and yet “he keeps on being a disappointment.”
“This is what happens when we allow arrogant clowns into the legislature,” a netizen wrote. “Senator Bato, shame on you. You have shown the people how shallow you really are by uttering those words while the PH is in deep crisis. Your lack of ethical professionalism stinks.” (Czarina Nicole Ong Ki)
