In the grand spectacle of the Congressional hearing on the SMNI franchise, Filipinos could be forgiven for thinking they stumbled upon a surreal circus. 

The resource persons, caught in the crossfire, exemplified a delicate dance between providing information and avoiding detention. It was a lesson in bureaucratic tightrope walking.

The legislators, masters of the elusive art of asking questions they wanted answered with a “yes,” engaged in a dazzling display of verbal acrobatics. A linguistic trapeze act left spectators bewildered, wondering if anyone had truly grasped the nettle of inquiry.

Meanwhile, the SMNI hosts, notorious for their unyielding on-air personas, transformed into docile kittens in the legislative lion’s den. Firm convictions crumbled into wishy-washy ambiguity, as if their microphones had been replaced with feathers.

As the host claimed her televised remark was a question and not an opinion and that she was merely echoing an entity she was once a spokesperson of, the audience couldn’t help but marvel at this linguistic contortionist’s attempt to dislocate responsibility. 

And the hunger strike? Even a fifth-grader could see through the transparent ploy to play victim.

As the circus unfolded, it became clear that in the political big top, everyone’s a clown.