Senator Imee Marcos strutted into the Senate like a triumphant beauty queen — or perhaps more like a pageant judge who never got crowned — declaring with exaggerated pride that she was “present!” on the first day of the 19th Senate’s reconvening.

It was a theatrical comeback, timed suspiciously well after her rather awkward snubbing at the gates of Rodrigo Duterte’s hallowed The Hague hideaway, where she was reportedly denied entry like an uninvited tita at a private birthday bash.

But never mind the rejection; Imee spun her attendance into a badge of statesmanship, as if simply showing up to work merited applause. Her Senate presence became less a matter of duty and more a political redemption tour. One might even say she traded the ICC’s closed doors for the Senate’s open mic — and she’s determined to remind the nation that even if she can’t see Duterte, she can still be seen.