{"id":14496,"date":"2014-06-11T00:03:22","date_gmt":"2014-06-10T16:03:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=14496"},"modified":"2014-06-12T12:54:28","modified_gmt":"2014-06-12T04:54:28","slug":"revilla-ends-senate-speech-with-melodramatic-music-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2014\/06\/11\/revilla-ends-senate-speech-with-melodramatic-music-video\/","title":{"rendered":"Revilla ends Senate speech with melodramatic music video"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Sen.<\/a>
Sen. Ramon ‘Bong’ Revilla Jr.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA, Philippines \u2013 In the melodramatic fashion that characterizes most of Philippine mass media, Senator Ramon \u201cBong\u201d Revilla Jr. on Monday concluded his privilege speech with a music-video presentation, highlighting his achievements in the Senate, as well as campaign sorties in the last elections.<\/p>\n

He closed his arguments regarding his alleged involvement in the infamous billion\u2013peso pork barrel scam with an almost five-minute video presentation, which featured him singing his own original song, \u201cSalamat Kaibigan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prior to the presentation, Revilla called for President Benigno Aquino III to lead the country towards unity and end political mudslinging, as he then proceeded to made good his promise to reveal his own \u201clist.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMay kahilingan muna ako sa inyo sa ating pansamantalang ating paghihiwalay (I have a wish before our temporary departure),\u201d Revilla said before revealing his \u201clist.\u201d
\nTopping Revilla\u2019s list? The Almighty Himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you for walking with me during these times of trial. Tulad ng lagi, alam ko pong hindi Niyo ako pababayaan. Alam kong hindi Mo pababayaan ang bayan,\u201d the beleaguered senator said.<\/p>\n

Second on his list were his father and his family; whom he cited as his continued sources of strength.<\/p>\n

Third on the list, his colleagues, whom he addressed individually.<\/p>\n

To Senate President Franklin Drilon, Revilla voiced hopes that the former would be able to successfully fight for rebuild the institution.<\/p>\n

\u201cIpaglaban mo ang institusyong ito (fight for this institution,),\u201d he told Drilon.
\nLaughter broke through the initial emotional drama expressed by Revilla at the start of his speech when he addressed Senators Lito Lapid , Joseph \u201cJV\u201d Ejercito, and Jose \u201cJinggoy\u201d Estrada.<\/p>\n

\u201cKaibigang Lito, ikaw ang Leon Guerrero ng masang Pilipino. Bida ka talaga ng masa (Lito, my friend, you are the Leon Guerrero of the Filipino masses. You are the hero of the masses,)\u201d he said of Lapid.<\/p>\n

And to Estrada, Revilla said: \u201cKosa, hanggang dito ba naman magkasama tayo? Pinagtatawanan siguro tayo ni Daboy ngayon (Kosa, even up to this point in time, we are together? Daboy must be laughing at us now.)\u201d<\/p>\n

This, Revilla said in reference to the late actor Rudy Fernandez, nicknamed Daboy. Revilla, Estrada and Fernandez were all part of the \u201cshowbiz\u201d scene, and became close friends. Estrada also faces plunder charges.<\/p>\n

As Revilla spoke to Ejercito, Estrada\u2019s half-brother, laughter once more broke out inside the gallery .<\/p>\n

\u201cSa maikling panahon ng pagkakasama natin, nakita ko ang puso mo ng tulad ng iyong ama. Isa lang ang hiling ko, sana magkasundo na kayo ng kapatid mo (In the brief span of time that we spent together, I saw that your heart is like your father\u2019s. I ask only one thing of you, that you try to get along with your brother,)\u201d Revilla said.<\/p>\n

Estrada and Ejercito, who are at odds with each other, are both sons of former President and Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada from different mothers.<\/p>\n

To Senator Teofisto Guingona III, chairman of the Senate blue ribbon committee and investigating body of tha pork barrel scam, Revilla said \u201cKaibigan pa rin kita (You are still my friend), no matter what. Lead the blue ribbon committee in fulfilling its true mandate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSenator (Juan Ponce) Enrile, you are undoubtedly the ultimate statesman,\u201d Revilla said. \u201cSenator Cynthia isa kang inspirasyon ng sipag at tyaga; kay Senator (Francis) Chiz (Escudero): Please be careful with your Heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

He likewise voiced his thanks to former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who is also charged with plunder.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2019This isn\u2019t the end for us. God is preparing us for something better,\u2019 Revilla told Sen. Estrada.<\/p>\n

This all led up to his soap-opera inspired dramatic moment, as Revilla asked Senate technicians to play his music video.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaraming salamat po (Thank you very much),\u201d Revilla said to end his presentation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA, Philippines \u2013 In the melodramatic fashion that characterizes most of Philippine mass media, Senator Ramon \u201cBong\u201d Revilla Jr. on …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":767,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,95],"tags":[707,4998,5001,5002,706,4433,1553,708,4999,5000,5003],"class_list":["post-14496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news-ph","tag-barrel","tag-bong","tag-kaibigan","tag-ko","tag-pork","tag-privilege","tag-revilla","tag-scam","tag-senator","tag-song","tag-speech","mauthors-angie-duarte","mauthors-philippine-canadian-inquirer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14496\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}