HOW DOES it feel to be a congressman?

Friends, relatives and even new acquaintances have been asking me this question for the past seven months. I tell them that my carefree activities, like jaywalking or buying pirated materials have been restricted.

I am somewhat hesitant to answer the question partly because I feel that I still do not have enough experience as a congressman. The regular first-termers in the House have been in office since 2007. I moved into my office (which is just bigger than a cubicle) only last August. I consider myself a neophyte among the neophytes.

It took several months before House employees were able to recognize me as a lawmaker. There are still times when security guards prevent me from entering the main building of the Batasan, especially when I am not wearing a barong. In some committee hearings, I have to convince the chair that I am allowed to speak freely because I am a congressman.

Perhaps because of my age, many of my colleagues, who are old enough to be my parents and even grandparents, presume that I am willing to be lectured about the intricacies of Philippine politics. In most cases, they are right. I am always interested to hear the unconventional and sometimes eccentric views of veteran politicians on various issues, like parochialism, nepotism, Charter change and the Hayden Kho sex videos.

But when I want to disagree with their opinion, I am torn between expressing my thoughts and acknowledging the wisdom of elders lest they might misconstrue my dissent as a misguided display of youthful arrogance.

During informal chats, I often find myself unable to get my senior colleagues interested in topics that are popular among the youth. I cannot joke about unfriending them since many do not have Facebook accounts. I often have to clarify the difference between vlogging, blogging and microblogging. Some wouldn?t appreciate how Netizens derive satisfaction by uploading short messages in the Internet through Twitter. To be fair, they also seem perplexed that I am an expert at googling but an ignoramus at golfing.

When it becomes evident that I cannot grab their attention by talking about RSS, Plurk, or Farmville, I yield by genuinely trying to be amused by their monologues. And so every day, I participate in fun conversations about prostates, diabetes and the many positive virtues of the incumbent President.

Being a politician-blogger is sometimes embarrassing. I find it awkward to talk to members of Congress after learning their dark secrets and alleged involvement in various scandals through YouTube, Google, and Bing. Once, I accidentally opened an unflattering web image of a lawmaker with a popular surname while inside the plenary.

Veteran members of the House of Representatives keep telling me it is the best place to retire. Another colleague described our job as the best in the world. Maybe they were referring to the fact that inactive House members continue receiving their monthly salaries. One can enjoy the perks of being a lawmaker even if he is spending time in prison or traveling on an extended vacation abroad. We are obliged to report for work from Mondays to Wednesdays only. Those who do not want to attend committee hearings in the mornings can go directly to the plenary hall at 4 p.m. We adjourn around 8 p.m.

Many writers have pointed out the perennial problem of absenteeism in the House. Others have decried the rising cost of legislation resulting from the inability of the House to muster a quorum. I have a personal complaint: I already memorized the names of all members of the 14th Congress, but I haven?t met all of them yet. I always bring a copy of the House directory to familiarize myself with the names and pictures of my colleagues, but I still have to meet all of them in person because some photoshopped faces do not match reality. I am hoping that some of my mysterious colleagues will finally appear and attend the remaining sessions before the start of the election campaign period.

House members are always caricatured as boring and boorish. This does not apply to all House members. We have many reasonable and intelligent legislators. They can be articulate, witty and funny, if they want to be so. There are veteran lawmakers who have never been absent from the plenary proceedings since 1987. There are many who come prepared for committee debates; they know what pertinent laws and programs to cite when defending or rejecting a bill and they can effectively argue their position without bullying their opponents. They don?t salivate over media attention.

But my admiration for these brilliant members of the House ceases the moment they transform into clueless apologists of the administration. Those who showed intellectual superiority in the committees become blind followers of Malacañang?s marching orders in the plenary. It is disappointing to watch independent thinkers toeing the party line just to secure much-needed but overrated administration support in the coming elections.

From the start, I wanted to be described as an activist lawmaker. I am a member of two parliaments: the parliament of the streets and the parliament located near Payatas. I advocate change through meaningful and progressive legislation. I believe that activism is needed to spur fundamental change in society.

Unfortunately, my activist background does not prevent some people from treating me like a traditional politician. My office is swamped with solicitation letters from senders who do not expect a rejection letter. I receive bundles of raffle tickets which are considered sold by the organizers. There are people who want to judge my performance as a legislator by counting the number of hard and soft projects of my office. I do not blame them since patronage politics is a dominant practice and culture in the country. But I detest the thinking of some people that youthful legislators have no option but to follow established political tradition.

I did not lose my license to be an idealist when I took my oath as a member of Congress. I did not ? and will not ? abandon activism to fulfill my duties as a lawmaker. In fact, embracing the principles of activism complements my role as a young legislator. I must remain an activist if I want to escape the curse of politicians who fight the system in their youth but end up defending it in their later years.

Through my work in Congress, I have the opportunity to prove the sincerity of activists in pushing a workable agenda of change. The prospect of introducing an alternative type of politics inside a conservative institution inspires me every time I feel cynical about my job. I rub elbows with landlords, warlords, and other ?lords? in Congress, but I can disregard this work hazard since I am more interested in seeing the number of people outside the gates of the Batasan getting bigger and stronger. A congressman has a term limit, but an activist can devote a lifetime in the noble struggle for lasting freedom, peace and justice.

Mong Palatino, 29, is a blogger and activist representing the Kabataan Party List in the House of Representatives.