OPINION: Things Senator Cynthia Villar Said That Makes Her Out Of This World

Sometimes we would really expect nothing much from our “public servants”, however some of them would really surprise us, not only with their sense of leadership but of how far-fetched their privilege is.  

And Senator Cynthia Villar is one of them. Here are some of her “quotable” quotes that make her out of this world. 

1.VILLAR’S OPINION ON NURSES IN 2013

"Actually, hindi naman kailangan ng nurse na matapos ang BSN (BS Nursing). Kasi itong mga nurses, gusto lang nilang maging room nurse." 

("Actually, the nurses don't need to finish a BSN (BS Nursing) degree, because they only want to become room nurses.")

Villar has apologized for this statement before. But what can she say about it now, when these nurses whom she once offended are among the many underpaid frontliners in the fight against COVID-19? 

2.VILLAR’S TAKE ON FARMERS IN 2019

“I think, PHP17 is the, really, the regular price of palay. It’s too much to as na maging PHP21 or PHP 20 kasi it’s not normal.” 

How is PHP3 too much to ask? Sadly, the plight of the farmers is still unheard within her concrete subdivisions built on once wet rice fields. 

3.VILLAR'S GRUDGE ON RESEARCH 

Her professors should be disappointed. In last year's 2020 budget hearing. Villar, again, didn't think twice.

"Bakit parang lahat ng inyong budget puro research? Baliw na baliw kayo sa research. Aanhin ninyo ba 'yung research? Ako, matalino akong tao, pero hindi ko maintindihan 'yang research niyo, lalo na 'yung farmer. Gusto ba ng farmer ang research? Hindi ba gusto nila tulungan niyo sila?"

("Why is all your budget intended only for research? You are all crazy about research. What will you do with it? I'm a smart person but I don't understand that research of yours, what more a farmer? Does the farmer want research? Don't they want you to help them?)

If it weren't for research, the country wouldn't be to where it is today, and as the chairperson of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, she should've known that better than anyone else. 

4.VILLAR'S RECENT MIDDLE CLASS REMARK

“So bakit bibigyan ‘yung middle-class? Eh may trabaho sila, kahit lockdown, nagsususweldo sila.”

("Why should the middle class be given (subsidy)? Despite the lockdown, they have work, they still earn salaries.”)

The senator needs to get out more or better yet, be online more. 

The only class that isn't heavily affected by this pandemic is the ruling class, and Villar exemplary displays which class she belongs to. 

She may have apologized for most of her offensive statements; however, this does not deny the fact that her privilege (and her lack of acknowledgment that she has it) is really out of this world. We’d only continue to hope that she’d have a redeeming character arc, especially during these testing times. 

The phrase “we’re on the same boat” has been going on rounds on social media lately, and this phrase dismisses the fact that not all of us has privilege. Truth is, we are not on the same boat. We are travelling on the same rough ocean yet some ride on steel ships, well-made yachts, and boats that can withstand the rain but for some, make-shift boats made of drift wood or bamboo are what they’re braving on in this journey. And turning a blind-eye on that makes you reek of privilege. 

A stink that comes from (mostly) the upper-class and it’s a devastating world when public servants (who should be at the helm of understanding privilege) are not using their position to elevate those below them.