When a senator of the Republic, sworn to defend the Constitution, suggests that Congress should be abolished or the law bent to suit the whims of the moment, he does not champion the people—he betrays them. Senator Erwin Tulfo’s outrageous remarks are not just irresponsible, they are dangerous.
No lawmaker has the right to trample on the very oath he swore to uphold. That oath is sacred; it binds him not to convenience, not to populist applause, but to the rule of law and the survival of our democracy. To mock it with reckless declarations is to spit on the Constitution and to spit on the people who trusted him with their votes.
Let us be clear: bending the law is not “humanitarian.” It is lawlessness, plain and simple. It is the very mentality that breeds corruption, impunity, and indiscipline—the very diseases rotting our institutions today. If a senator can openly preach that laws may be ignored or twisted, what stops every citizen from doing the same?
Retired Justice Noel Tijam is correct: Tulfo has violated his oath of office. In a functioning democracy, such conduct deserves more than criticism—it demands accountability, even disqualification. At the very least, Tulfo should apologize and retract his statement. But an apology without repentance, without respect for the rule of law, is worthless.
This is the Senate of the Republic, not a circus for populist grandstanding. Tulfo must be reminded: you are not bigger than the Constitution. You are bound by it, as every Filipino is. Break it, and you break the nation.
The Filipino people deserve leaders who uphold the law, not peddlers of shortcuts and chaos. And those who cannot live up to their oath have no business holding office.
