Relations between Malacañang and the Senate have been going downhill ever since they started trading barbs about senatorial inquiries, which Malacañang labeled as investigations in aid of persecution and destabilization.  Last year, people saw a number of inquiries on issues like jueteng, "Hello Garci," the fertilizer scandal, the Northrail project.

The issuance of Executive Order 464 barring Cabinet members and police and military officials from attending congressional hearings was triggered however when the Senators ordered the detention of National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales because they suspected him of stonewalling on the Venable US lobbying contract inquiry.  So there was the ludicrous sight of the National Security Adviser—whose blood pressure had shot up because of the intense grilling—reduced to eating a banana seen by the whole nation on nationwide television.  That's when Malacañang said enough, asserting that they will not have Cabinet officials treated shabbily and insultingly.

When Finance Secretary Margarito Teves, Trade Secretary Peter Favila and BIR Commissioner Jose Buñag failed to show up at a recent Senate hearing, the rift became more pronounced and intense.  Senators took this as an insult and a deliberate defiance of the Supreme Court's decision that said government officials could attend congressional hearings even without clearance from GMA.  The hot-tempered Juan Ponce Enrile blurted out, "The hell with you!"  It's clear that Malacañang and the Senate are headed for a collision course, but certainly not because the Cabinet officials "snubbed" the recent Senate hearing.

Traditionally, the Senate and the Palace have always been at odds with each other, even during the time of President Elpidio Quirino who had a bitter struggle with then Senate President Jose Avelino.  The tiff was over political domination, which clearly shows that even partymates can harbor enmity against each other.  But the bickering was never as intense as now, with so much animosity going on.

When GMA declared her support for Charter change, encouraging the shift from presidential to a parliamentary government with a unicameral body, the senators' hackles were raised.  Obviously, these senators wouldn't want to support something that would literally make them jobless.  As Joker Arroyo pointed out, "Senators won't write their own obituary."

Because senators were nationally elected, many of them feel that they have their own kingdoms and each one could afford to act as if he were independent of anybody.  But the underlying reason for the vehement opposition to Charter Change is because some senators have ambitions of becoming president, and they like being called "presidents-in-waiting."  After all, a number of them are not really shy in showing or hinting that they have presidential ambitions—Mar Roxas, Dick Gordon, Frank Drilon, Ralph Recto and Manny Villar.  And let's not forget even the actors-turned-senators like Bong Revilla and Lito Lapid hope to do an Erap.  That's probably why these "presidentiables" have taken populist positions on issues like the EVAT, carefully crafting a pro-people image to boost their popularity to the public.

There are a few exceptions like Joker Arroyo, acknowledged as a maverick.  Then there's Juan Ponce Enrile, who at 82 has probably relinquished all presidential ambitions so he could talk the way he wants to at this point.  As a matter of fact, he's probably one of the few who flaunts his wealth.  In Natipuan, Batangas, where he owns large tracts of land, there's a big sign there that says, "This property belongs to Juan Ponce Enrile" for everyone to see.  Perhaps he's already at that stage when he couldn't care less at this point in his life.  He even reduced Jamby Madrigal to tears a couple of months ago when he said that her parents were partying with the Marcoses, in reaction to Jamby's assertion that Enrile faked his ambush to justify the declaration of Martial Law.

It's suspected, however, that the octogenarian senator's irritation with Jamby stemmed from previous tiffs, like the time when Jamby replaced Enrile at the powerful Commission on Appointments.  Enrile called his female colleague "arrogant" when she failed to attend the confirmation hearings of DENR Secretary Mike Defensor.  She was claiming that the confirmation of Defensor was being railroaded.  A deeper reason could be Jamby's call for an investigation on Enrile's timber concession in Samar, for which Enrile accused her of misrepresenting facts so that her committee could take jurisdiction of the issue.

Juan Ponce Enrile is a brilliant lawyer and he is one man who could have been president if only he played his cards right.  He is known to lose his temper easily, and as they say, "ang pikon talo," unlike the wily, cigar-chomping FVR who was always calculated in his moves, Juan Ponce Enrile claimed he gave the presidency to Cory Aquino, and he tried to take it back.  In the end, Cory took him out.

But Enrile nowadays really couldn't care less, throwing a challenge to everybody and anybody.  In fact, he has dared anyone who wants to cross verbal and legal swords with him that they can do so at their own peril.  But the Senate and Congress as a whole are really coming back with a vengeance with the threat to revive hearings on "Hello Garci," the Northrail, jueteng, the fertilizer scam, and a renewed impeachment process against GMA because of the Supreme Court decision which declared some portions of Proclamation 1017 unconstitutional.  Naturally, international investors will get nervous once again at this renewed tussle between the Palace and the Senate.

In the end, this continuing fight between the elite and the power blocs about who should be president, what system of government this country should have, is really inconsequential to the poor whose numbers are growing rapidly at an alarming rate of four babies per minute.  Many are tired and weary of this endless verbal wrangling.  What they want to see are concrete actions that would convince them that things are going to get better for them.

Some already feel that no one is looking after their welfare, and the resentment for such inattention is simmering.  Chances are, as the number of poor people grows, we would be more chaotic than we ever were.  By then, whoever becomes the leader of 100 million Filipinos will have more problems than he could ever have imagined.

The collision course between the Palace and the Senate is inevitable.  But the real danger is the collision course between the power blocs, the elite and the poor—combined with a potential military intervention—a combustible mix that could very well become a reality.

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