By Hannah Torregoza Senator Paolo “Bam” Aquino IV on Tuesday compared his experience in the Senate to scenes one reads in “Choose Your Own Adventure” books. Sen. Bam Aquino (RIO DELUVIO / MANILA BULLETIN) “I’m often asked what it’s like to be a senator. And I always say it’s like those books I used to read when I was a young boy – Choose Your Own Adventure. I’m sure marami sa atin, nabasa pa iyon, (a lot of us have read that),” Aquino said during his valedictory speech in the Senate. “Here in the Senate, choose your own adventure. You get to choose how many sessions you attend, how many hearings you hold, how many reforms you push and make into law,” Aquino pointed out. “You get to choose if you wish to be more of a legislator or more of a fiscalizer, an advocate for a particularly important issue very close to your heart, or simply a voice of reason on all issues of importance.  You can be one of these or all of these or none of these, but in the end, it is your choice how you conduct yourself, your office and the vast opportunity and trust given to you by our people. It’s your choice,” he further said. Aquino, an opposition senator, failed in his re-election bid in the May 13, 2019 midterm elections. He is ending his Senate term this 17^th Congress. Within the halls of the Senate, the senator said he came to know fierce allies in the fight against poverty and had the pleasure of meeting, and working with kind and productive people. He took the opportunity to express his gratitude to his colleagues, his staff and the rest of the people he worked with. A member of the Senate minority bloc, the senator said he hopes that the Senate, in the 18^th Congress, will maintain its reputation as the last bastion of democracy in the country. “I hope with all of my heart, as I move on to my next adventure, that our beloved Senate, our last bastion of democracy in Philippine history, will always, always make that collective choice for the benefit of our people, especially the ‘last, the least and the lost’,” Aquino said. “To serve our country, to shape it and spearhead reforms for the majority of our people, this was a gift that I would always, always be grateful for,” the lawmaker stressed. Aquino said he hopes that the new senators who were given the opportunity to join the ranks of the Senate will take to heart the reason why they were elected. “And I hope that every individual who is given that unique opportunity to join the ranks of the Senate has this always in your hearts – that they have been entrusted with the hopes and dreams and aspirations of our people, and our countrymen, especially those in the fringes of our society, are waiting and hoping for the help and support that they desperately need,” he said. The Senate adopted Senate Resolution No. 1052, which expresses gratitude and appreciation of his invaluable contribution to the institution.