Will the real Leon Guerrero please show up?

He was on a dead end of the road, madly chased down by two bandits with their smoking pistols aimed at him. He checks his .38 caliber revolver and discovered he had just one more bullet left there. Two against one. Is this the end of the road for the quick-handed pistolero?

Just when you think this was the end of the line for the big screen hero, he pulls out a dagger, places the blade in between the bore of his pistol, then pulls the trigger. The blade slices the blazing metal and, like guided missiles, darted towards its target. The two villains fall down one after the other from the half-slug that hit them.

Not even Steven Spielberg or Quentin Tarantino could have thought of that in their movies.

Yes, only a Lito Lapid can.

I must admit, when I was a kid I was a big fan of action movies starring the bemoustached stuntman from Pangasinan. He was the consummate hero and gentleman. He was always at the right place at the right time, whether rescuing a damsel from her would-be rapists or as a horse-riding Leon Guerrero saving a boy from a rushing train.

Those movie antics have made Lito Lapid a household hero among Filipino masses who thought that his acrobatic stunts leaping from one building to another or evading a barrage of bullets are enough reason to make this on-screen hero their hero in the halls of Senate.

Senator Lapid is now the chairman of the Senate Committee on Games, Amusement and Sports. I do not know the wisdom behind the order the three subjects were arranged in this committee, but Sports is last after Games and Amusement. This Committee is one of the 37 Committees in the Senate and by all sheer luck this was the chairmanship that fell on the table of Senator Lapid.

Alright, I would not doubt Senator Lapid’s capabilities as far as amusement is concerned. In this subject matter, he is the lead star of the Senate, whatever that means. Games and Sports are almost synonymous and this is the sad part.

Why of all committees it had to be sports, already a least prioritized item on the Philippines’ development agenda, which fell on the hands of Senator Lapid? Makes me wonder. Is sports that cursed?

For the record, Senator Lapid reportedly owns the dubious distinction of having the most absences in Senate. And if ever he attends a session, you will find yourself lucky if he ever talks at all.

Sports legislation is among the cures Philippine sports needed. Senator Pia Cayetano and Senator Angara passed separate Senate Bills calling for the creation of the Philippine Sports High School and the Philippine Sports University. Both bills can be consolidated once the Committee hears the proposed bill.

Problem is, there has been no call for a hearing by the Games, Amusement and Sports Committee. Worse, Senator Lapid is rarely found in his seat. How can we file these bills that needed to be passed in order to give sports a necessary shot in the arm if the Committee cannot call a hearing?

In his movies, Senator Lapid would always be ahead of the law enforcers. He would take the bandits with him and bring them to the arms of the law. But that was the movies. In the Senate, he is reportedly missed by his peers. His table at the session hall is like a deserted village left ransacked by bandits out of his cowboy movies.

Will the real Leon Guerrero please show up?

There he was on the dead end of the road chased by bills that needed to be heard. If Senator Lapid is not happy with his Committee, or at least one-third of it, he better give it to those who can steer it better and get the legislative machine moving.

This is no longer the silver screen. He cannot fire back with an empty pistol. Not even with a dull dagger.