MANILA, Philippines – As the Senate celebrates its centennial, Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III looked back at how the chamber has stood the test of time – war, dictatorship, and coup d’etats, among others.

The Senate first convened on October 16, 1916 under Manuel Quezon, the first-ever Senate President. The Philippines then was still a colony of the United States.

The chamber was closed for a total of 25 years – 15 years under the Martial Law, 5 years during the bloody Japanese occupation, and 5 years from 1936 to 1941 when it was under a unicameral Congress. It also witnessed several coup attempts against former president Corazon Aquino.

“We have weathered war, dictatorship, and coups in our hundred years. We remained, we prevailed,” Pimentel said in a speech on Monday, October 17, a day after the 100th year anniversary of the chamber.

The Senate has also been vital in the ouster of a sitting president and a chief justice, among others.

Fortress of independence, protector of the people?

Minority Leader Ralph Recto recalled how the chamber has been a bastion of independence during the colonial period.

The Senate, he said, also served as the protector of Filipinos, in more ways than one. Senators past and present served “not as mere or mute witnesses but as lead actors.”

“When democracy was stifled, it did not go gently into the night; many of its members carried the torch until the second dawn of freedom,” Recto said in a speech.

“Whenever the state overreaches to dilute rights and snatch liberties, the Senate steps forward and stands in front of the people. Whenever a leader is tempted to perpetuate himself to power, the Senate foils his selfish ambition,” Recto added.

But not everything was smooth-sailing for the Senate and its members. The chamber’s reputation suffered due to various scandals and controversies. (READ: Senate approval rating plunges post-PDAF, DAP)

The latest to taint its name was the exposé on the misuse of the Priority Development Assistance Fund or pork barrel. The scandal, which broke in 2013, eventually led to the imprisonment of 3 senators – former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and former senators Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla Jr.

At present, the chamber’s independence is put to a test.

The Senate has been under scrutiny for its probe into the spate of extrajudicial killings under the Duterte administration, which eventually cleared the President of any liability and declared that the Davao Death Squad, whose creation he reportedly inspired when he was mayor, does not exist. (READ: Senate ends probe: Neither Duterte nor state sponsored killings)

Senate won’t perish

Amid critics’ fears of a possible dictatorial rule, Recto thanked Pimentel for his promise that he would not allow the Senate to perish under his term.

“It gave me great relief when I heard you made the solemn pledge, in the old Senate hall, where your father and my grandfather once walked, that as a custodian of its legacy, you will not allow the Senate to perish during your watch.

“Although yours is a powerful voice, it merely echoes what the people want, so that even if we sign our own death warrants, the sovereign would overrule us, out of the belief that their interests are served more by a Senate in existence than a Senate extinguished,” Recto said.

“It is also what the names on the wall near this hall would want. If they could speak, their centennial message would be that of another senator, that we must toil as hard as they did, be as vigilant as they have been, and better than they were because ‘the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die,'” Recto added. – Rappler.com